Earlier quoted context omitted.
Almost everywhere I travel outside of NYC the question pops up: is tap water safe to drink? New York is notoriously proud of and vocal about this local amenity. Achieving a universal standard in this area would go a long way towards putting a significant dent in the bottled water scam.
By outside of NYC do you mean just elsewhere in the USA? I didn't realize the situation was that bad in the USA, outside of places such as Flint. I'm from the UK, and this question never comes up anywhere in the country (I'm aware of the scale differences we're talking about)- if you travel anywhere, you can drink the tap water.
While I'll never admit this in person in front of a New Yorker, water does taste better in the city.
This is not to take away from the fact that water here is mostly safe to drink. There was an incident earlier this year with a broken mains flooding Hoboken which left a little bit to be desired in terms of communication. However, overall I'm fairly satisfied with the water here. I imagine it is the same idiot antivaxxers who don't want fluoride in water but I haven't looked into it.