NYC's Tap Water: Clean But Filled With Crustaceans

There are tiny creatures in our tap water, but you can't see them. (Photo on left by Jen Carlson/Gothamist)

While New York City may have some of the best tap water ever, it may not be kosher. When the water was tested in 2004, it set off an alarm in the Orthodox community because results showed tiny crustaceans known as copepods in it. At the time, Rabbi Abraham Zimmerman said, "We hope the city will do something to purify and filter the water to accommodate a few hundred thousand Orthodox, observant Jews."

Now Gizmodo brings the microscopic creatures into focus again, posting photos that will make you squirm with every sip of tap you take. The site notes, however, that they're "completely harmless. Copepods are even known to eat mosquito larvae... think of them as invisible shrimp who make NYC tap water taste fantastic." (And just don't think of them as Sea Monkeys... big mistake.)