Drinking Filtered Water - IELTS Reading Answers

Before diving into full-length IELTS Reading tests, it is beneficial to start with individual passages, such as ‘Drinking Filtered Water IELTS Reading Answers’. This approach serves as a crucial confidence-building exercise, allowing you to familiarize yourself with the question types and reading strategies needed for success in the IELTS Academic Reading exam. 

This blog provides a way to check your answers using the Drinking Filtered Water Reading Answers, complete with explanations and tips to enhance your performance in the reading module.

Passage for Drinking Filtered Water IELTS Reading Answers

Now read through the passage titled ‘Drinking Filtered Water’ and review the answers provided. Be prepared to tackle similar IELTS Reading topics for General and Academic.

Drinking Filtered Water

A The body is made up mainly of water. This means that the quality of water that we drink every day has an important effect on our health. Filtered water is healthier than tap water and some bottled water. This is because it is free of contaminants, that is, of substances that make it dirty or harmful. Substances that settle on the bottom of a glass of tap water and microorganisms that carry diseases (known as bacteria or germs) are examples of contaminants. Filtered water is also free of poisonous metals and chemicals that are common in tap water and even in some bottled water brands.

B The authorities know that normal tap water is full of contaminants and they use chemicals, such as chlorine and bromine in order to disinfect it. But such chemicals are hardly safe. Indeed, their use in water is associated with many different conditions and they are particularly dangerous for children and pregnant women. For example, consuming bromine for a long time may result in low blood pressure, which may then bring about poisoning of the brain, heart, kidneys and liver. Filtered water is typically free of such water disinfectant chemicals.

C Filtered water is also free of metals, such as mercury and lead. Mercury has ended up in our drinking water mainly because the dental mixtures used by dentists have not been disposed of safely for a long time. Scientists believe there is a connection between mercury in the water and many allergies and cancers as well as disorders, such as ADD, OCD, autism and depression.

D Lead, on the other hand, typically finds its way to our drinking water due to pipe leaks. Of course, modern pipes are not made of lead but pipes in old houses usually are. Lead is a well-known carcinogen and is associated with pregnancy problems and birth defects. This is another reason why children and pregnant women must drink filtered water.

E The benefits of water are well known. We all know, for example, that it helps to detoxify the body. So, the purer the water we drink, the easier it is for the body to rid itself of toxins. The result of drinking filtered water is that the body does not have to use as much of its energy on detoxification as it would when drinking unfiltered water. This means that drinking filtered water is good for our health in general. That is because the body can perform all of its functions much more easily and this results in improved metabolism, better weight management, improved joint lubrication as well as efficient skin hydration.

F There are many different ways to filter water and each type of filter targets different contaminants. For example, activated carbon water filters are very good at taking chlorine out. Ozone water filters, on the other hand, are particularly effective at removing germs.

G For this reason, it is very important to know exactly what is in the water that we drink so that we can decide what type of water filter to use. A Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) should be useful for this purpose. This is a certificate that is issued by public water suppliers every year, listing the contaminants present in the water. If you know what these contaminants are, then it is easier to decide which type of water filter to get.

Questions for Drinking Filtered Water Reading Answers

The passage, Drinking Filtered Water Reading Answers, consists of 13 questions, which showcase two different IELTS Reading question types. They are:

• IELTS Reading Matching Information (Q. 14-20)
• IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given (Q. 21-26)

Questions 14-20

14 a short summary of the main points of the text

15 a variety of methods used for water filtration

16 making it easier for the body to get rid of dangerous chemicals

17 finding out which contaminants your water filter should target

18 allergies caused by dangerous metals

19 a dangerous metal found in the plumbing of old buildings

20 chemicals of cleaning products that destroy bacteria

Questions 21-26

21 The type of water you consume on a regular basis has a great impact on your overall health and wellness.

22 Filtered water typically contains water disinfectant chemicals.

23 Exposure to disinfectant chemicals is linked with poisoning of the vital organs.

24 Drinking tap water helps minimise your exposure to harmful elements.

25 People wearing artificial teeth are more likely to be contaminated.

26 People who are depressed often suffer from dehydration.

Answers and Explanations of Drinking Filtered Water IELTS Reading Passage

You should now compare your answers with the answer key below to check your work for the Drinking Filtered Water IELTS Reading Answers. It will help you master various IELTS IELTS Reading question types with examples.

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Tips for Answering the Question Types in the Drinking Filtered Water Reading Passage

Now, let us check out some quick IELTS exam preparation tips for band score of 8+ to answer the passage question types in the Drinking Filtered Water IELTS Reading Answer to help you create your own strategy.

Matching Information

• Read all paragraph headings (A–G) quickly before the questions: Skim each paragraph to understand its main idea, not the details. This mental “map” helps you remember which paragraph talks about health effects, chemicals, filtration methods, or summaries.
• Underline the key idea in each question, not just keywords: Focus on the function of the information (e.g. summary, methods, health effect, source of contamination). This prevents confusion when similar vocabulary appears in multiple paragraphs.
• Match ideas, not repeated words: IELTS passages rarely repeat exact wording between questions and paragraphs. For example, ‘making it easier for the body to get rid of dangerous chemicals’ may appear in the text as ‘detoxify the body’, so look for conceptual equivalence, not identical phrases.
• Watch for summary and overview signals: Questions asking for a summary (like Question 14) are almost always answered in the introduction or conclusion. Look for broad statements about water and health rather than examples or scientific details.
• Use elimination to confirm your answer: Once you believe a paragraph matches a question, quickly check the surrounding paragraphs to ensure they do not express the same idea more directly. This final check reduces careless errors caused by overlapping topics.

True/False/Not Given 

• Read one statement at a time and locate the relevant paragraph: Do not rely on memory from skimming. Actively scan the passage for the exact section discussing the topic of the statement before deciding on an answer.
• Decide whether the passage agrees, contradicts, or stays silent: Choose TRUE only if the passage clearly supports the statement. Choose FALSE if the passage clearly says the opposite, and NOT GIVEN if the idea is completely missing or only partially mentioned.
• Be extremely careful with generalisations and strength of claims: Words like ‘great impact’, ‘helps minimise’, or ‘more likely’ increase the strength of a statement. If the passage mentions a weaker or different relationship, the correct answer is often FALSE, not TRUE.
• Never use logic or outside knowledge: Even if a statement sounds scientifically correct (e.g. about dehydration or depression), it must be explicitly stated in the passage. If the text does not mention it, the only acceptable answer is NOT GIVEN.
• Check for reversed meaning traps: IELTS passages often flip ideas, such as ‘filtered water removes chemicals versus filtered water contains chemicals’. Carefully compare the direction of the claim before choosing TRUE or FALSE.

Well done on completing the passage ‘Drinking Filtered Water’! Now, with the help of the feedback and IELTS Reading tips and techniques to increase your reading speed and find the correct answers, keep solving more of the IELTS reading recent tests, work on your comprehension skills, and create your own reading success strategy. 

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