It starts as weather
Rain over North Texas
Every glass of tap water in Dallas–Fort Worth started as rain falling on a watershed north of the city.
One
It lands in a lake
Ray Roberts, Lewisville, Grapevine, Lavon, Ray Hubbard. Which lake yours comes from depends on which utility serves your street.
Two
It sits, and it picks things up
Minerals from the ground it runs over. That is where hardness comes from — calcium and magnesium, measured in grains.
Three
The utility treats it
Filtered, disinfected with chloramine so it stays safe through the pipes, and tested against the standard the city publishes every year.
Four
Then miles of pipe — or a truck
Mains, the service line, your own plumbing, the water heater. Or the other way: bottled at a plant and driven to the door.
Five
It reaches your kitchen
This is the only place the water actually matters, and the only place nobody has tested it.
The point
Find out what yours is
The utility's report tells you what left the plant. A test at your tap tells you what arrived. That one is free.