Hate to break it to you, Toronto: the rest of Canada thinks your tap water kind of sucks.
Almost 38 per cent of Ontarians think Toronto tap water tastes great, a new poll conducted by Santevia Water Systems has found, but the rest of the country thinks that the water pouring from the taps in Canada's largest city is, well, a bit bad.
Santevia, an alkaline water products company, found that very few Canadians outside of Ontario think Toronto's tap water tastes good. Specifically, only two per cent of respondents in the Prairies, 2.5 per cent in B.C., and three per cent in Atlantic Canada believe Toronto has the best tasting water in the country.
B.C. residents seem very pleased with their tap water, with almost 60 per cent of respondents claiming their water as the best tasting in the country.
Check out Stantevia's findings in the infographic. Story continues below:
"It's not that surprising," Santevia CEO Yvonne Anderson told HuffPost Canada about the propensity for Canadians to favour their own local drinking water. "I've travelled all over North America and, for the most part, everyone, everywhere thinks their local water tastes the best."
The poll also found that west coast dwellers drink more tap water than anyone else in the country — 60 per cent responded that it's the water product they drink the most, while the national average sits at 54 per cent.
However, despite thinking their water tastes the best, the poll also found that B.C. residents were most likely to filter their water.
Anderson said additional filtering of water can be a good thing — removing harmful contaminants and bacteria keeps us healthy — but she said it's also important to leave some minerals in the water.
"Minerals make water taste great and are likely why we see such high satisfaction in B.C.'s drinking water," she said.
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Anderson said minerals help to maintain a positive body alkalinity, which promotes a healthy pH balance to ward off viruses, fungus, yeast and bacteria. Using typical filtrations systems, like a Brita, or drinking too much bottled water, doesn't give the body a proper amount of minerals needed for optimal health, she said.
"In some cases, it's better to use unfiltered tap water, or use a product to reintroduce some of those minerals that are taken out during filtration."
Atlantic Canadians self-reported the worst tasting water in the country, with almost 11 per cent of respondents saying their water tastes "bad," and 17 per cent unhappy with their local drinking water system.
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