It’s peak summer, and we’re all flocking to water; pools, rivers, and if you’re lucky, the beach. But what about the water we drink?

When the pipes are well and truly heated and someone forgot to fill up the ice tray again, like it or not we’re often left with warm drinking water from the tap.

RMIT’s Professor Oliver Jones said that there’s plenty of myths to dispel when it comes to safety around drinking warm water. 

“People may have heard the advice not to drink hot water straight from the tap,” Mr Jones said. 

“This is said because hot water can dissolve minerals from the pipes better than cold, and also as bacteria tend to grow better in warm water.”

While Mr Jones said that the risk is small, drinking cooler water is always the safe choice. 

“If people are worried about things growing in their taps in summer, a good tip is to run the water for 10 seconds or so - which will flush anything that’s been sitting there for a while.”

“However, people should ideally only drink from the kitchen tap rather than the shower or bathroom taps - and definitely not the garden hose,” Mr Jones said.

Mr Jones said that a fear of water contaminated by disinfection by-products, including chlorine, is also common, but assured that levels were almost non-existent. 

“These are very strictly monitored,” he insisted. 

“Either hot or cold water will keep you hydrated.”