BY PAM LOBLEY

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

NOW THAT'S FUNNY

Some towns really have it all.  Livingston, New Jersey, has a reputation for excellent schools, beautiful homes and now … the best tasting tap water.  That’s right, Livingston has just been awarded the “Best Tasting Water In New Jersey” by the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

As reported on The Alternative Press, Livingston water was sampled by 150 participants at the annual convention of the New Jersey Chapter of AWWA, which was recently held in Atlantic City.  The waters were served room temperature in a blind taste-test.

I love tap water, but I’m not picky.  I love all tap water.  I’m not one of those people who needs a filter on my faucet, or uses a filter pitcher, or thinks that the water from the bathroom tastes different than the water from the kitchen.  If it’s from the faucet, I like it.

I used to live in New York City, which has the best water ever.  Everybody knows this, and it’s considered kind of a phenomenon, because you could live in some crummy old walkup rat trap (as I did), with roaches and neighbors that cook smelly food all day (as I did) and you can still boast that you are drinking some of the cleanest and most delicious water in the country. This is because it comes from beautiful, upstate New York, not from some local reservoir.

Whenever we travel, my family will claim that the water tastes funny.   We will be in a sumptuous hotel with way better sheets on the bed than we have in our own house, and yet, the kids don’t like the tap water.  So of course we have to go to the lobby and buy bottles of water.

The whole buying water thing really bothers me.  No one paid for water when I was growing up, and I’m pretty sure no one died of thirst.  But these days I can’t even go to a one-hour PTO meeting without a bottle of water in tow.  Consequently, there are used water bottles all over our house, our car, our countertop.  I use refillable water bottles as much as possible, but this means I am constantly rounding them up and washing them out.  I put them in the car when we go shopping, or to visit a friend, or have dinner in the city.  I can have a wonderful dinner in a good restaurant with plenty of water during the whole meal, yet halfway home in the car my throat will contract with a seizing thirst.  I MUST drink now!  Next think I know I’ have poured a half a gallon of water down my gullet and my stomach is the size of beach ball.  I can hardly sit comfortably, because I’m so full of water, but I am still kind of thirsty.  Help.

I think it’s psychological.  Water used to be available everywhere; there were water fountains in all the parks, malls, and schools.  They usually worked.  No one worried how “good” the water was.  You just drank it.  You didn’t need 12 ounces, either.  A few big sips from the fountain, and you were fine until you got home.   But now that we’re used to having a liter of water with us everywhere we go, the minute we don’t have it, we feel desperate.  That’s why we carry it around all the time.

I am happy for Livingston.  In fact, I am happy that people are paying attention to tap water, because I feel strongly that tap water is totally underrated.  Now, Livingston’s water will go on to compete against waters from all over the country at the national convention.  I just wonder how it will look in a swimsuit glass.

Pam Lobley writes the “Now That’s Funny” column.  Check out her blog:  Better Living Through Chaos! Follow her on twitter @plobley.