What is ideal drinking water quality?

Most municipal water in North America meets government standards. Those standards are designed for public safety at scale, where utilities must treat and move billions of liters through aging pipes. As a result, many guidelines aim to keep contaminants “as low as reasonably possible.” That phrase balances health risk with practical realities like legacy infrastructure, treatment costs, and distribution complexity.

But “reasonably possible” is not the same as ideal. Ideal water quality is optimized for your health, not for the constraints of a city system. For example, a regulatory guideline may permit a small amount of lead because some pipes are old. From a personal health perspective, the ideal amount of lead is zero. The same goes for other unwanted substances—chlorine byproducts, PFAS, microplastics, and agricultural runoff—even when they fall below legal limits.

So what does ideal look like? It means water that:
• Minimizes harmful contaminants to non-detectable levels.
• Preserves or restores beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium for taste and hydration.
• Is fresh, neutral in odor, and pleasant to drink—encouraging you to drink enough daily.

Achieving this ideal is rarely possible at the city level. It is best accomplished at the point of use—right where you drink. Point-of-use filtration treats water just before it hits your glass, capturing contaminants that can enter between the treatment plant and your tap and refining what broad municipal systems cannot. It gives you control over quality, consistency, and taste in your home or workplace.

In short, government standards set a necessary baseline for public safety. Ideal drinking water goes further: it is cleaner, better-tasting, and tailored to you—most reliably delivered by point-of-use filtration at the tap. Investing in a robust point-of-use system is the most practical path forward for everyday wellness.