Water quality

[ScottMcC]

So I was thinking a little about water quality, and specifically, how good tap water is. Here's a report I found on my local water: Chicago Water Quality 2004

So, it actually seems relatively "clean," although certainly nowhere near as clean as reverse osmosis or double-distilled/deionized.

But...it tastes a little funny by the time it reaches my tap, which leads me to believe that if I don't drink it, maybe the plants shouldn't either. For the water I drink, I actually have both a Brita pitcher and a Pur sink filter, although typically I don't double filter, I just use one or the other. The plants have been getting tap water, plus once-weekly fertilizer 15-5-5 @ 175-200 ppm.

So the question, amidst all this rambling: would using filtered water make any difference over municipal water? And for the rainwater fans out there, assuming I had a means of collecting rainwater, which I don't, would Chicago rainwater be any cleaner than the tap water?