Drinking Water

Here is something that really scares me: I have a pink water bottle that I take to work every day. I used to take tap water with ice in it to work but noticed that the bottle started smelling really funny, even after I had just washed it. In an experiment, I washed the bottle, took it to work empty and filled it from the water cooler or filled it with cold water from our Brita water pitcher at home. It NEVER smelled funny after that.
Carlene's boyfriend Nick has explained many times how east Denver (where we live) gets the recycled mountain water after it is used by those in west Denver. After my experiment, I will never drink from the tap again. I am not really sure how it passes inspection, but I wonder if the city is so desperate for water that relaxes water testing sometimes. I also went out and bought some new filters for the Brita because I'm sure our current one is close to its limit of nasty particulates that it has faithfully filtered for us.
I think the Brita was one of the best purchases we have made out here. We always have fresh filtered cold water whenever we need it and we don't even have to use the ice from the freezer either because the Brita water is already is already cold.
On the same note, I don't understand why we water our lawns with the same water we drink. Does the grass really need "pure" clean water. I think it would be great if there was a way to collect "gray" water such as water used in showers and baths as well as rain water from roofs to water the lawns. I have actually seen this done before in individual households. In Denver, this would put water to double use and help resolve the impending water crisis. It is a very serious problem here, as it is in many other cities. However, I realize a gray water system would probably be impossible, as the whole city sewer system would have to be re-piped as well as the plumbing in each house, since all used water goes to the same place currently. It's probably not the best idea to water lawns with toilet water.