Improve the quality of your water
Our tap water is contaminated. The number of contaminants in our water supply is too large and too depressing to count.1 They even includes substances that are purposely added to our water, like fluoride, which has been linked to lower IQ in children,2 and chlorine/chloramine disinfectants, which have been linked to bladder cancer.3 If you want to know the details of the water in your area, go to the following website and type in your zip code:
https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/
One option is a reverse osmosis filtration system. This system is the best remedy if your tap water is disinfected with chlorine (as opposed to chloramine). This system will remove most contaminants, including chlorine and fluoride, but it has the disadvantage of also removing beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium.
Simple inline refrigerator filters are getting better and better, but still not as good as reverse osmosis. Make sure your refrigerator filter is certified to remove 95-99% of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals:
Unfortunately, it is much more difficult remove chloramine, the type of disinfectant used in about 1/3 of the US tap water supply. Reverse osmosis removes very little. Specialized filters containing large amounts of catalytic carbon are required. In addition to the above-described issue of causing bladder cancer, chloramine also destroys the vitamin B1 in your food,4 so tap water is probably not the best thing to cook with, even after filtration.
I’m not a big fan of room temperature table top filters, like the Berkey. These are prone to bacterial growth.5 I think closed systems, with small holding tanks and/or refrigerated holding tanks are least likely to be contaminated with bacteria, though even these may be contaminated.6
Having said all that, I’ve personally decided to not use a reverse osmosis system, since my tap water is disinfected with chloramine. Instead, I buy cheap Crystal Geyser spring water in plastic gallon jugs.7 I pour this water into a Brita Elite filter pitcher to get rid of any residual contaminants in the spring water, including contaminants related to the plastic jug itself. I like the Brita Elite because it leaves in beneficial minerals, like calcium and magnesium. (PUR filters remove these minerals.) As soon as the water is filtered, I pour it into a borosilicate glass pitcher for longer storage. I keep everything in the fridge. I use this water for drinking and for cooking.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37739995/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36639015/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12594192/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42668/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8740859/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32942620/
https://inruqrymqosbfeygykdx.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/website/items/95/2022_-_CGWCBottledWaterReport-English.pdf