Video · Tap Water Quality
Tap Water Taste Test: Kitchen Tap vs a Bottle
In this tap water taste test, a teen gives the family's kitchen tap a zero and bottled water a ten. Disinfectant and minerals are the usual reasons tap water tastes off, and a test tells you which.
Job footageSwiftPro
- Topic
- Tap Water Quality
- Length
- 0:38
- Posted
- September 4, 2026
- Shot by
- The SwiftPro crew, Northern Virginia
What you’re seeing in this video
In a family kitchen, a tech in a black shirt fills glasses at the sink while a teen in glasses and a yellow hoodie sits at the table to taste.
The verdict is blunt. The tap water is some of the worst the teen has ever tasted, and it's what goes into their water bottle every day, so sometimes it gets dumped and refilled at school instead. The bottled water tastes much better. On a scale of 1 to 10, the glass from the tap gets a zero and the bottle gets a ten.
This is probably like some of the worst water I've ever tasted in my life. And that everyday I fill my water bottle up, taste so bad throughout the day. I would sometimes just not drink it all and then refill it with the school water cuz that's how bad it tastes. Compared to bottled water, this tastes so much better than this.
Doesn't even taste bad compared to our sink water. So, what scale of 1 to 10 for the glass? Zero. Not even a three?
No. Four? What about the bottle? Uh 10.
Do you want to know what's in your water? Go to myfreewaterreport.com today.
Why it matters in your house
- If your family is skipping the tap, you're buying bottled water and tossing plastic every week. A test and the right filter usually fix the taste for good.
- Most city water in Northern Virginia is disinfected with chlorine or chloramine, which leaves a pool-like taste. A carbon filter at the kitchen sink takes most of it out.
- A bad taste that shows up suddenly is different from one you've always had. Call your water utility about sudden changes, and test if the taste never goes away.
Why does my tap water taste worse than bottled water?
Usually it's the disinfectant, chlorine or chloramine, plus minerals and whatever your home's pipes add. Bottled water is often filtered, so it tastes like almost nothing. Tap water isn't necessarily worse, but if your family won't drink it, a water test shows what's causing the taste and which filter actually fixes it.
Want it done at your place? See Tap Water Quality at SwiftPro or call (703) 997-9757.
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0:22TTHM in Water: A Glass of Northern Virginia Tap Water
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