Your Skin Drinks Your Tap Water Too

How Shower Water Reaches Your Bloodstream

Most people only worry about what’s in the glass they drink.
But your skin is your body’s largest organ—and it’s in direct contact with tap water every time you shower, bathe, or wash your hands.

If your family is bathing in water that contains certain chemicals, you’re not just rinsing them off… you may be absorbing them.

In this article, we’ll unpack how that works, who’s most at risk, and what you can do about it—before we talk about any kind of filtration system. That’s on purpose: our mission is to educate first, then help you choose the right tools.

How “Dermal Absorption” Works

Your skin is designed to protect you—but it’s not a solid wall.

It’s made of layers:

• Stratum corneum (outer “brick and mortar” barrier)

• Epidermis & dermis (where blood vessels and nerves live)

Certain small chemicals can:

1. Land on your skin (in water, products, or air)

2. Pass through the outer layer

3. Reach tiny blood vessels in the lower layers

4. Circulate through your bloodstream

You already know this is possible: think about nicotine patches, hormone creams, or pain gels. Those products work precisely because our skin can absorb chemicals into the bloodstream.

Now imagine:

• Hot water

• Open pores

• Increased blood flow

• 10–20 minutes in a shower every day

That’s a perfect setup for more absorption—especially of small, reactive chemicals.

Tap Water + Skin: Which Contaminants Matter?

Municipal water is treated to kill germs (which is good), but that treatment and the distribution system can introduce or leave behind other unwanted substances.

Some that may be relevant for skin exposure:

• Chlorine

  • Used to disinfect water

  • Can irritate skin and eyes

  • Small molecules can be absorbed and also inhaled as vapors (we’ll cover breathing in Blog #2)

• Disinfection byproducts (DBPs)

  • Form when chlorine or chloramine react with natural organic matter in water

  • Some DBPs are volatile (they evaporate into steam) and some can be absorbed through skin

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (if present in your local supply)

  • Can come from industrial pollution or solvents

  • Small and often fat-soluble—more likely to move through skin and be inhaled

• Metals + other contaminants

  • Larger ions like lead and copper move more slowly through skin, but broken or compromised skin (eczema, rashes, shaving cuts) may be more vulnerable

The details vary city by city. But the key idea is simple: if a chemical can pass through skin in a patch, it can likely be absorbed from water as well under the right conditions.

Who’s Most Vulnerable?

Some people have “stronger walls.” Some have thinner ones.

Groups who may be more sensitive to contaminants in bath/shower water:

• Infants and young children

  • Thinner skin

  • Higher surface-area-to-body-weight ratio

  • Spend lots of time in baths

• Pregnant women

  • Exposure can affect both mom and baby

• Elderly people

  • Often have more fragile, dry, or thinning skin

• Anyone with skin conditions

  • Eczema, psoriasis, chronic rashes

  • Barrier is already compromised

For these groups, reducing skin exposure to unnecessary chemicals in tap water isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s a meaningful step in protecting long-term health and comfort.

What This Means for Everyday Life

Think about your routine:

• 1 hot shower per day

• 10–15 minutes each time

• Water temperature hot enough to create steam

• Pores wide open

Over weeks, months, and years, that adds up to a lot of contact time between your skin and whatever is riding in the water—especially on the thinnest skin (face, neck, underarms, groin).

You can’t see it, so it’s easy to ignore. But if you’re focused on protecting your family’s health, it’s worth treating “water you bathe in” with the same seriousness as “water you drink.”

Simple Ways to Reduce Skin Exposure (Before You Buy Anything)

If you’re not ready for any products yet, you can still start lowering exposure:

1. Cool the temperature a bit

   • Slightly cooler showers = less steam + less blood flow to the skin surface

2. Shorten shower time

   • Even cutting 3–5 minutes can reduce exposure significantly over time

3. Avoid harsh soaps that strip the skin barrier

   • A healthy skin barrier is your first line of defense

4. Check your water quality report

   • Look for chlorine, chloramine, and disinfection byproducts

   • Most utilities publish annual reports online

These steps are free or low-cost ways to tilt the odds in your favor.

When It’s Time to Upgrade Protection

Once you understand that your family is absorbing some portion of what’s in your tap water, filtration stops being a “luxury” and becomes part of your basic health strategy.

For skin exposure, people typically look at:

• Whole-home filtration systems

  • Treats all the water coming into the house

  • Protects showers, baths, sinks, and laundry

• Shower-only filters

  • More affordable starting point

  • Focused specifically on hot water contact

Here at Aloha Pure Water, our role is to educate first, then help you pick the right protection level for your family, budget, and plumbing—not just sell you “the biggest system.”

We think of it as redesigning a category in your life:

FROM “water is only about what I drink”
TO “water I drink, bathe in, and breathe is part of my family’s health plan.”

If you’d like help understanding your options, bring in your water report or reach out with your zip code. We’ll walk you through what’s in your water, which pathway it uses (absorption, inhalation, ingestion), and how to protect the people you love most.