While I think the "raw water" craze is idiotic, we shouldn't demonize everyone who decides to makes different choices. Municipal water, while a great benefit for modern civilization, is not for everyone. I have thyroid issues and members on both sides of my family have had thyroid cancer, so you better believe I have an extremely expensive under-sink filter that takes out the fluoride (known to negatively impact thyroid function), as well as other chemicals (but knowing my town's water source, I understand why those chemicals are necessary and am glad they are put in).
So I prefer untreated water ...with a few caveats. Number one is that the source be a deep spring rather than an aquifer, more and more of which are becoming permanently polluted from chemical agricultural run-off. Number two is that the spring water is regularly tested for bacterial and chemical contamination. I don't have any water local water sources that meet those criteria so I have the under-sink filter.
Is this like the “raw milk” craze where everyone eventually gets sick and they stop with the nonsense?
I'm also lucky enough to have a legal source of raw milk nearby, and have been able to buy legal raw milk in three different states in which I've lived. I've never gotten sick. My first requirement for the purchase of raw milk is that the farm owners periodically have the milk tested and allow customers to see the results. The second requirement is that the cows are on pasture only, except for some additional grain during the winter and while calving. I also wouldn't buy raw milk from a place where they wouldn't allow me to see the milking shed or where I couldn't see the the pastures in which the cows live and feed.
I understand this is
very labor intensive, as is verifying the source and quality of your own food supply, and most people won't bother. For these people, going to a supermarket and trusting the government is probably their best choice. I'm not going to disparage anyone who does that.
Again, I think the "raw water" craze is idiotic. But I think it's a careless practice use a specific item as an opportunity to make broad brush condemnations of other things that might be tangentially related.