What's wrong with tap water in Tenerife?

[Nova]

Apart from the tap water here on the coast not tasting very nice, why don't we drink it?  Is it actually unsafe?

[Michael]

I don't trust water that foams when you turn the tap on. 

[Nova]

Yet I shower in in, brush my teeth with it and wash vegetables with it, all of which would be a bit tricky to do with bottled water 

[Michael]

Yet I shower in in, brush my teeth with it and wash vegetables with it, all of which would be a bit tricky to do with bottled water 

And so would I, but I cannot bring myself to drink it. Even tea tastes funny made with it.

Logic tells me it's not gonna kill me but water that foams? 

[Perikles]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the tap water where we are, altitude 900 metres. All water comes from springs at this height and higher, but by the time it gets to the coast via an antiquated system of metal pipes and holding tanks, it has picked up all kinds of undesirable additives.

Apart from aything else, I'm guessing that it finishes up as a very dilute essence of cockroach, so veggies wouldn't drink it anyway. 

Not as high an insect and rodent content as chocolate, though. 

[Guanche]

I drink it all the time, absolutely no problem. But I do notice a difference in the taste down in Santa Cruz, a chemical taste.... or something.

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

We're at 600m and drink ours.  Tastes fine. 

We do not have water trucks coming around here where you can refill your 8l bottles like they do at the coast.  I take that to mean the water is regarded as safe to drink. 

I know one guy who brings his empty 8l bottles to refill at his house on the mountain road where we walk the dogs. 

[Perikles]

I know one guy who brings his empty 8l bottles to refill at his house on the mountain road where we walk the dogs.

I've often caught people filling their 8l bottles outside our house, too. The tiny problem with that is it's our metered water supply. It's mainly locals who have fields further up the road, where they have agricultural water supplies stored in reservoirs hence undrinkable, and they need drinking water now and again.

I don't mind, it's worth the 0.4 cents every bottle costs me just to see how guilty they look when I catch them. 

[poker]

Tap water on the coast is a mix of desalinated water from the plant near the Las Americas police station and the good drinkable mountain water ( what our friends up abouve have )  .

Our neighbour worked at this plant and once was invited to look how it works . Basacly an enourmous reversed osmosis systhem and then they still ad some chemicals then this water gets mixed with the mountain water and send of in to the pipes all over the coast .
The salty brane they have left over geys pumped back into the sea .

[Michael]

Call me an old cynic but I can't help wondering if the company involved in making the tap water taste not so nice is also involved in producing/selling bottled water?