Taste Buds Don't Lie: Recycled Water Tastes as Good as Bottled Water

We're talking about toilet to tap. There, we said it.

1 minute read

August 18, 2018, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Bottled Water

Selins / Shutterstock

David Downey reports on the results of a blind taste test conducted by researchers at the University of California, Riverside that pitted recycled water (otherwise known as toilet-to-tap water) against bottled water and tap water.

The researchers "found that people prefer [recycled water] flavor over tap water and that they like it as much as bottled water."

How could that be? UCR’s Daniel Harmon explains, as quoted in the article: "Bottled water and recycled water go through more or less identical purification processes," otherwise known as reverse osmosis.

"The study is encouraging, water officials say, because it comes at a time when Southern California is having to rely increasingly more on recycled water, and not just for turf and crop irrigation," according to Downey.

Friday, August 17, 2018 in The Mercury News

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