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The 10 Best Cities For Clean Drinking Water

forbes.com — If you're like most Americans, you probably don't know a lot about the quality of your tap water. Using data on contamination levels provided by community water systems and compiled by the University of Cincinnati, Forbes.com determined some of the U.S. cities with the cleanest drinking water. Check out how your city stacks up.

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  • ssn697, on 04/16/2008, -16/+12If it weren't for Tulsa, I could say I have had a sip of tap water in every one of those cities.

    I DRINK YOUR WATER!!!
    • braeden0613, on 04/16/2008, -3/+3a big who cares goes out to this post...
      • ssn697, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5Thank you for caring enough to post an "I don't care" comment. My life now has meaning...
  • DeskFlyer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+16610. Tulsa, OK
    9. Pittsburgh, PA
    8. Tampa, FL
    7. Las Vegas, NV
    6. Boise City, ID
    5. Birmingham, AL
    4. Miami, FL
    3. Sioux Falls, ND
    2. Austin, TX
    1. Des Moines, IA
    • guyinjapan, on 04/16/2008, -2/+19Damn, Austin actually has clean water? And here I've been spending all this money on water filters... I stop giving Brita my money today.
      • Atxguitarist, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9Hey going from Austin to San Antonio water is a bitch. The water in San Antonio smells and taste horrible. Can I have your Brita filter? lol
      • bethehammer, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2Man Austin and San Antonio water is hell but Galveston water is pure filth - San Marcos water is bearable considering the water tastes like Guadalupe River water
    • DorranKame, on 04/16/2008, -4/+2Des Moines -- that's right!

      I live on the border of Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin, where one of our suburbs was actually rated the "best" and "cleanest" drinking water in the country. Our water here is darn good too.

      But Davenport, IA .... blechh. Nasty. Des Moines / Dubuque / Asbury Iowa all have great water, though.
      • ChaosProfessor, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4let me guess Dubuque , i live right across the border in Potosi did you know that Dubuqe has google street view now?
        • DorranKame, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2Bingo. I actually just discovered that recently - I'm surprised as to how many little streets they got indexed.

          Potosi... heh. I've been there once.
      • theeldest, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Well *****.

        I grew up in Dubuque-ish, went to school in Ames (almost Des Moines, really) and recently moved to Austin.

        I just keep moving down the totem pole.
        • thelostviking22, on 04/25/2008, -1/+0oh i'll move down your totem pole.
    • Masterteedy, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9Sioux Falls is in SD, not ND, just saying.
      • DeskFlyer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Damnit. Thanks for the correction.
    • dcollins, on 04/16/2008, -6/+12No Love for NYC?
      • UGM2099, on 04/16/2008, -4/+7Yeah I love NYC tap water and I lived in #1 Des Moines for 4 years and it was seriously disgusting. This list is wack.
      • Farnn, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1I think the problem may stem from the fact that they mention consumer confidence as one of the criteria. Most New Yorkers probably don't know how good the tap water actually is.
    • woofers07, on 04/16/2008, -0/+45Thank you for the list, ***** forbes.com and their ***** ***** layout.
      • darthjure, on 04/16/2008, -4/+2I agree - except without the cussing...
    • dinostabOMG, on 04/16/2008, -5/+3Glad to see Birmingham is at #5 - at least civil rights protesters don't have to worry about getting cholera or anything when the cops blast them with the firehose.
      • blazerin05, on 04/16/2008, -3/+5HAHA! You made a joke about something from over 40 years ago that has absolutely no relation to the article! Yay for you!
    • ladyarcher85, on 04/16/2008, -0/+12Thank you! I don't want to go through another forbes slideshow.
    • kutateli, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Des Moines, IA? Really? As someone who has lived in Iowa for 5 years, let me say that the water there tastes like *****.
    • blueRAP, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3I've got family from Des Moines.. It now makes sense why they complain about the water here in Oklahoma City when they come to visit
    • airwalke, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Des Moines has some fine water in general, but it really went to ***** during the snow melt. Showers, toilets, tap water all smelled like chlorine for weeks.
    • clearwaterlab, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3Yeah, this list sucks, Portland, OR should be on the list, as studies have shown that the fluoride in the water makes it the cleanest in the country.
    • squishee, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Las Vegas water tastes like a kid shoveled some dust into a water bottle. I met a guy there who said his brother in law used to work for the city and claimed the water was clean but refused to drink it because it tasted like crap.
    • cdahlkvist, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I'm surprised St. Paul, MN wasn't on the list.

      They have reps from other all over the world coming there all the time to see how they are purifying their water.

      I don't live there anymore. I live in Minneapolis (the water here is horrible) but St. Paul has some of the best tap water I have ever tasted and I know they have consistently scored huge ratings on water quality.

      The lakes they get water from are spring fed and no boats are allowed on them. The water is pretty clean and pure in the lake even before being filtered.
  • Divals, on 04/16/2008, -3/+31Pittsburgh? Seriously? The water here tastes like death.
    • elint6, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3Life is full of *****.
    • sirbeta, on 04/16/2008, -5/+2I might feel inclined to ask exactly how you know the taste of death. Er, you know what? I don't want to know.
    • Arthemys, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7Maybe you're just used to the taste of Dasani?
    • banido, on 04/16/2008, -1/+7Cake or Death?
    • Vermea, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Clean death, apparently.
    • nonsensicalexis, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Ummm, I think our water is fine.
    • bonds, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2This water's name is Robert Paulson.
    • dooms13, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1No way man, West View Water Authority FTW!
    • cap11235, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3That's why they call it Pittsburgh.
  • WeirdEdsel, on 04/16/2008, -0/+38What the hell is with these types of layouts?

    Also, I live in Boise, ID and I've never heard it called "Boise City." Heh.
    • sirbeta, on 04/16/2008, -0/+12They get to show you 20 ads, opposed to 2.
    • SteveHamn, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2Well anything that's NW of Denver and isn't Seattle doesn't exist to the rest of the US. So I'm suprised they got they got the spelling right.
    • danger127, on 04/17/2008, -1/+1And your water sucks too.

      Not as bad as ontario though.
  • Persian5Life, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9it would be interesting if they made another list showing nations.
  • OneLess, on 04/16/2008, -2/+30Kind of odd that no Hawaiian city made that list; they have excellent water.
    • LexisNexis, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6I was about to say! Naturally filtered and no additives like fluoride.
      • danomagnum, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3I don't know if you used spell check but A+ for spelling fluoride correctly
        • bjornski, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4You say that as if spelling is difficult.

          "Did you just congratulate me for reading?" -Huey Freeman
    • Raisedshoulder, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6Also where the hell is Anchorage, AK? Their drinking water tastes like bottled water.
    • commitone, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5Agreed. I found Hawaii's tap water taste better than the bottled ones.
  • iSkylla, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8Water in NJ is terrible, they dump massive amounts of chlorine into it and I know it's especially bad when I turn on the tap, and I can smell the water.

    Because of that, I have a reverse osmosis setup for my water so I don't have to drink that crap.
    • elint6, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Out of curiosity: does that procedure remove necessary solutes from the water too?
      • iSkylla, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5I really don't know. It was used for a salt water setup which I no longer have because I don't have the time. All I knww is that it removes all the heavy metals from the water, and the chemicals like chlorine from the water. If I were to the regular water on any fish setup, salt water or fresh, the fish would die. That mistake was only made once. Since I don't have the fish anymore, I use it to purify drinking water and it tastes great, the same if not better than bottled water. It's just really clean.

        The filters however, are very expensive, thank god they last for a while.
        • elint6, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3The reason why I asked is that chlorine exists as chloride anions in water. There are other cations and anions that are necessary in potable water so there isn't a huge difference in osmotic pressure (indeed, drinking distilled water regularly will kill you). So if this apparataus removes heavy metals (as cations) and chloride anions, then it could possible remove other ions too. Just hoping you're being careful, especially if you have children...

          - fellow NJer...not all of us are douchebags, btw, like in that picture that was popular a few weeks back.
    • SmellyFingers, on 04/16/2008, -2/+5Water in New Jersey is terrible? Wow, big shocker.
    • lostarchitect, on 04/16/2008, -2/+8it's all the hair gel washing down the drains.
      • elint6, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2Yup. Here you go. I knew that was coming.
    • farfegnugen, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Where I'm from they also add in tons of fluoride. (Union County)
    • n3bulous, on 04/16/2008, -1/+0Depends on where you are in NJ. In South NJ, the water's damn good. The well water is nasty, though.
    • solid12345, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Water in New Jersey? They use coke instead of fluoride right?
  • mGARANDEUR1, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6The article mentions nothing about chlorine levels in the water.
    • heystoopid, on 04/16/2008, -2/+1try googling "Haloacetic Acids" and there is your answer .
  • shadowmoose, on 04/16/2008, -5/+1You mean to tell me these huge cities with all the pollution have better drinking water then my small city in northern California?
    • Rikkochet, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Probably, since they have sufficient taxpayers to justify great water purification and delivery systems.
  • gambit2121, on 04/16/2008, -0/+25I'm more interested about the worst drinking water than the best...
    • TheAstronomer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1LA...I double brita here.
    • Picaroon, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2Phoenix, AZ. If you come here, try drinking it to quench your thirst. It won't work. That's assuming you can actually swallow it given that it tastes like a pool.
    • braeden0613, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2san angelo and waco, tx...just terrible...cant even use it for ice
  • mecharabbit, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3Hmmmm...let's see, should I move to Des Moines, or buy a reverse-osmosis filter system...?
    • sagekoala, on 04/16/2008, -1/+0trust me ... des moines water is crap ... buy the R/O system and enjoy the best water to ever grace your lips
    • callmejordy265, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1It's about the same price either way.
  • wontstoptalking, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1My town (Vernon Hills, il) now has some of the cleanest in the world thanks to a radon scare in the 80s. We changed to Lake Michigan water.
  • faizal5k, on 04/16/2008, -4/+4pic on #6, Boise, Idaho:
    That's just not fair in a water gun fight.
    • h0ms4r, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Don't know why you're getting buried. I love that photo!
  • smbrower, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2mmmm....water, looks like i need to keep getting filters though i'm nowhere near anyplace on the list
  • fodbirdy, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4 We got nominated for best tasting tap water a few months ago but I guess Los Angeles didn't make the list
    • lostarchitect, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5that's because they just dump prozac in the LA water supply now.
  • killbert24, on 04/16/2008, -6/+2What about Johannesburg, Africa?
  • marlinmayo, on 04/16/2008, -3/+4This list isn't completely accurate. Memphis isn't on the list. Memphis has some of the best water in the nation (you can even research it online).
    • jaypmcdonald, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1It was once even sold as bottled water a while back. It was labeled as "Pure Memphis" and was nothing but Memphis tap water.
      • marlinmayo, on 04/16/2008, -1/+0Yeah, I remember that. People still bought into it, though. The only time I've ever bought bottled water is if I'm in another city that doesn't have good water (like New York City), but even the bottled water holds no comparison to Memphis tap water.
        • cannarymburns, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1don't be stupid... new york gets its tap water from the catskill mopuntains.
          • marlinmayo, on 05/01/2008, -0/+0try Memphis water and then we'll talk
        • Farnn, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1I'd say something about you being a dumbass because the water in NYC is actually very good, but you are spending even more money in the city so I won't complain. Helps keep our taxes down since you tourists bring in twenty billion a year.
          • marlinmayo, on 05/01/2008, -0/+0i'm not one of those "typical" tourists. i have friends that i visit in the city from time to time. and memphis water > NYC water by a long shot!
  • Jo9100, on 04/16/2008, -1/+34Ahhh not Forbes again... damn I hate their ad-loaded 10-paged articles
    • heystoopid, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6it is worse then being rick rolled !
    • DeathJux, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Seriously, this ***** has got to be on a paid-for-diggs scheme.

      I always scream when I see their layout, and immediately close it.
    • isibjimbo, on 04/16/2008, -0/+210 pages 10 cities
  • dxgg, on 04/16/2008, -0/+19More pages = more ads
    Of course, many of us never see them. :)
  • COlson87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+18Website: Why only have 3 ad impressions per visitor when we could have 30!
    • OneLess, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3If they keep it up, eventually they might be able to make it on some sort of list of 500 high-revenue companies.
  • Masterteedy, on 04/16/2008, -3/+0Go South Dakota!
  • tranklan, on 04/16/2008, -4/+16Regardless of where you live, public tap water is way better to drink than any alternative.
    Approximately 65% of bottled water is produced and sold in the same state, so the FDA (the federal govt) has no control over the local industry. The FDA standards for the water it can control are insane... the FDA only requires testing for contamination once per week, testing for synthetic organic chemicals once per quarter, and does not outlaw the presence of e-coli/fecal material in the water supply. Sucks, eh?

    Bottled water starts water wars, and kills us all.
    It is bad for the environment (production and transportation), is economically infeasible for consumers (it costs more per ounce than gas), and is bad for consumers health.
  • sagekoala, on 04/16/2008, -3/+2I have Des Moines water ... its not really that good. I started drinking water out of my reverse osmosis unit and won't drink the crap from the tap anymore.
  • ZenMojo, on 04/16/2008, -2/+4Another mediocre reason to love my hometown. Austin rules!
  • MrBlack08, on 04/16/2008, -3/+2whose else just scan them all for your city? i did. and now I will be drinking coke only, friggin kansas.
  • pradaaddict, on 04/16/2008, -2/+1I'd like to see how American cities stack up against international cities when it comes to clean water. I bet the water in Canada and Scandinavia is a hell of a lot better.
    • nitramf82, on 04/16/2008, -1/+0And this is based on.... what? No Scandinavian countries on any of the studies I've seen.
      • bmson, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Norway and Iceland have glacial water.
        • solid12345, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1So it is you guys who are melting the glaciers not our CO2 emissions!
    • Farnn, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1People in this country are terribly spoiled when it comes to good water. In China no one drinks the water, the first appliance any household gets is a water boiler so they don't have to drink that crap. And that is just one of the many many countries with crappy tap water.
  • dbcoder, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3I knew Austin would be on the list :D !!!. When I got here the water was one of the first things I noticed, and I never lived in a place with better water (and I've lived in a ton of places), but apparently Des Moines has Austin beat. Damn, I guess Austin can't be the best at everything.

    If you want truly disgusting water, visit Rowlett, Texas. *Shudders*
    • jasonmantey, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I want to know where in Austin they tested this. My experiences are exactly the opposite - I just moved here from the midwest (MI, both rural and Detroit) and I think Austin has terrible water, especially after a heavy rain.
  • zoxx, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4Score one for Iowa. woo!
    Sorry. I don't get to say that often.
  • JingleHymrShmit, on 04/16/2008, -2/+3Source: The University of Cincinnati's 2006 "The United States Drinking Water Quality Study Report"
    Isn't there any newer data?
  • iridesce, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1Anyone who has tasted the water in Olympia, Washington knows the truth - " It's the water " ( OK, I know, that's Tumwater ... ) Hmmm, maybe the rain and the trees have something to do with it ....
    • bjornski, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1That used to be the slogan for Leinenkugel beer, too. Good stuff.

      /not so much their "stock" brew, but their tailored ones are awesome.
      • iridesce, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I drank alot of Leinenkugel while in college in Illinois in the day. Cheers
  • WSPanic201, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3I think I will grab myself a glass of Des Moines tap right now. I'm selling 24 oz. bottles of freshly tapped D-Town for $1.00. Let me know.
  • Puffles, on 04/16/2008, -1/+17Where is New York, NY? We have one of the best filtration systems in the country! Our tap water tastes way better than the bottled stuff.
    • lostarchitect, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5i hear it's good, too, and i do drink it often, but i worry about our water tunnel situation.
    • Railz, on 04/16/2008, -0/+10I have to agree. New York water is actual natural mountain water.
    • Edudris, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5New York, New York tap water holds legendary value, so most likely I'd guess they disqualified it before the judging began, barring Copepods.

      Seriously, I moved from NY to San Diego, CA almost four years ago, and I still say that New York tap water tastes better than most bottled water I can get out west.
      • RoshanK, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I moved from New York to Houston and realized how horrible water can taste.
    • Farnn, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1Actually the water in NYC is not very heavily filtered. The source upstate is relatively clean and little filtration is needed.
  • ufia, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1Doesn't clean water tastes like chlorine?
    • GoldenPearl, on 04/16/2008, -2/+0Clean water tastes like chlorine.

      If it doesn't taste like chlorine it is probably from the kiddie pool.
  • Jazzillion, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8I lived in Miami and the water was metallic tasting with an odd bitter after taste. Now that I have moved to Portland, OR, the water tastes clean and crisp with no aftertaste, but was nowhere on the list. Just sayin'.
  • turk555, on 04/16/2008, -1/+0We are known for corn,caucasus, and now water! But seriously I live in a city 30 minutes from Des Moines, and our water tastes so much better here than in Des Moines. I guess this is suppose to be for large cities only.
  • oygad, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1austin's water actually does taste better
    • jasonmantey, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I completely disagree. I moved down here for grad school this past year, and Austin's water is complete garbage compared to most other waters I've had. I have lived in rural MI, PA, and the city of Detroit, and Austin just doesn't compare. You can tell whenever it rains because the water tastes (literally) like dirt after a heavy rain (most of the city water comes from a river).

      If you don't have a filter / reverse osmosis system here.... it's not a good combo.
      • sporkey, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I think it depends on where you live. I live in the clarksville area and have very nice water.
  • domomike, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2This is only a list of large and well-known cities. My small city has incredibly clean and amazingly crisp drinking water. The water here has been tested to be cleaner than water bottle water and I can definitely say it tastes better (crisper, fresher) than water bottle water.
    • Farnn, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1This article was 10 best CITIES for clean drinking water. Your TOWN has no place on this list.
  • louiebaur, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1My city isn't on there and I know why the water sucks
  • Puisapres, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1Very happy that Birmingham's on the list...I live here and the water IS very good
  • dannyboy3020, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4How many people in the U.S. actually get sick from their tap water?
  • devila2208, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4I can't believe Memphis wasn't on the list. That's one of the only things we're number one in...that and murder rates :-/
  • yogurtslinger, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1Des Moines my ass!!!! I can smell the chlorine, and anytime I unfortunately have to drink it I feel sick to my stomach.

    And how about all of that tasty fluoride that is actually poisonous? You don't believe me? look at the back of your toothpaste tube, it says to call poison control is you happen to swallow more than a pea size bit of toothpaste.
  • Danby123, on 04/16/2008, -2/+2the thing is, if you live in the US, your water is fine. worrying about water is third-world countries job.
    • Railz, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1They don't have to worry about their water being full of chemicals that can alter the chemistry of the mind and body.
  • Gella321, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4I find it strange that Des Moines is even on this list. I figured we'd be last with all the hog farms around here and the horribly polluted Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.
    Edit: I just realized that we have one of the most advanced water treatment facilities (due to the heavily polluted nearby rivers) in the nation, so I guess that might explain it.
    • internetwinner, on 04/16/2008, -0/+0Yeah the DNR doesn't fool around when it comes to water testing. Raccoon River is a joke though. It's a homeless persons' bathhouse.
    • qwikmr2, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I am pretty sure even the homeless are afraid to use it as a bath. I have even seen fishing from the Bridge near waterworks park. I can't imagine that anything from there would even be edible. Its also conveniently located near the waste treatment plant. I lost a favorite Disk (disk golf) into the river and no way I am going to get it.
  • kentifer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada the water is most excellent. We're the first major city to get our water from the glaciers flowing through the north Saskatchewan river.
    • jake8689, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1wait canada has running water or is a stream you put a bucket in to collect the water
  • DarkReign16, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Sweet, I live right next to Tulsa. I moved from Phoenix, and the water is DEFINITELY an improvement.
  • negativenancy, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1What about that place with the legendary Arrowhead Lake?
  • ninjasenses, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1Water filters FTW.
    • watergenerator, on 08/21/2008, -0/+0Atmospheric Water Generators - that's my thing.
  • loginas, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Clean water is essential to health!
  • mitch37, on 04/16/2008, -1/+8excluding the rest of the world FTW.
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