David P writes:

I am in the UK. Is it generally safe to drink BOILED water from the
hot tap?

My hot water comes from a tank or cistern in the loft and this feeds
into a hot water cylinder which is in the house. It doesn't look
wonderful inside that tank in the loft but I reckon if I BOILED the
water then presumably I will kill the germs.

Germs, yes, but there might be other inorganic substances in the water
that wouldn't be good for you, such as very high levels of iron from
the plumbing.

Is there another reason why I should not drink boiled water from the
hot tap? Maybe there are dangerous minerals and some other
chemicals found in the hot water system which are unsafe?

Possibly metals or minerals dissolved in the water that you probably
don't want to ingest.

Is the caution about this overstated?

I don't think so. Especially in homes that have less than brand-new
plumbing, the water that comes out of the hot tap can be awash in
inorganic material. It won't make you sick in the way that water
contaminated with bacteria would, but it may contain enough junk to
make you sick in other ways (lead poisoning, iron poisoning, etc.).

A single drink probably wouldn't make any difference, but you would
not want to make a habit of it.

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