Here's a YouTube Short in which two Brits compare US-versus-UK water quality. First, they show us the quality of New York water-fountain water using a chemical test that measures water quality from 0 to 500, with anything over 300 being technically unsafe to drink. The US, according to them, scored a low and very safe 39. They then jetted to London, where they tested "tap water" of unknown provenance (we never see where the water came from) and discovered that "UK water" tested at 252—barely drinkable by the standards of their test.
A lot of commenters predictably pointed out the unscientific nature of the test. One commenter noted that if the test was for TDS (total dissolved solids, not Trump Derangement Syndrome), this is not really an indicator of drinkability. Other commenters noted that, for some testing devices, the simple presence of perfectly healthy minerals in the water could register as "impurities," leading to a false notion of potability. I'd be fine drinking UK "tap water" without question.
Korea used to have a real problem with its tap water, which could easily give you the runs back in the 90s, in the dinosaur days when bottled water was starting to become popular. These days, Koreans (and expats in the ROK) still generally prefer bottled or filtered water over tap water, but I've had unfiltered tap water at home on occasion, and while it does taste qualitatively different, a single drink just to swallow some medicine isn't going to kill me (or even give me the runs). A lot has improved in Korea since the 90s. I use tap water in my electric teapot to make tea or, more rarely, pre-made soups; I stir it into my ground beef when I'm making taco filling, etc., etc. There's generally nothing wrong with Korean tap water. That said, because of the water's slightly "off" taste, I normally use a Brita filter (that I never change out often enough) for my drinking water. Otherwise, for any case where the water's going to be boiled, I have no problem with tap water.
Another problem with the above test is that we don't know whether it was a true one-to-one comparison. We see the US water coming out of a water fountain in New York (which, by the way, is proud of its religiously filtered water, which reputedly affects the taste of bagels and pizza crust), but we never see where the London water came from. I think it would also be more rigorous to test water from different parts of each town, with some standardized way of determining equivalent parts of town for both London and New York. And why not expand the scope of the test to include places outside of big cities?
Finally, there's an argument to be made that, if London water really is of inferior quality, then Londoners have, as a result, developed tougher constitutions from years of drinking it. This is admittedly not a scientific argument, but with some discussion, it could be made scientific.
Anyone ever have any nasty experiences with London water? Have any of my readers ever suffered from waterborne brain amoebas? (I do make sure to boil any water I use for my neti pot, especially now that neti-pot season is upon us again.)
And while we're on the topic of water: Why Aren't Desalination Plants Everywhere?
I don't think New York's water is religiously filtered; what makes it special is its pH and mineral content. This affects the texture of bagels and pizzas--something about how the calcium interacts with the flour or something. But NYC gets its water from upstate--not too far from where I grew up, in fact--which is why it is so pure.
ReplyDeleteI lived in London for a semester back in the early 90s and drank the tap water every day--I never had any problems. I also drank copious amounts of alcohol while I was there, so maybe that sterilized my system. Who knows.
I dont think that people really get toughened up by drinking the local tap water. In any developing country, the more well off people drink bottled or filtered water. Poor people avoid drinking straight tap water - usually it is boiled and made into tea or other drinks.
ReplyDeleteRe: desalination plants
I think the biggest problem is that they are super energy intensive, which means that it costs alot of money per unit of water. In addition, for the real big plants, you run into an issue where the salty discharge eventually increases the salinity of the surrounding water so that you are continually desalinating a higher concentrated input stream. Places like Saudi Arabia, where they have access to cheap energy sources, are more likely to have them.
I think these types of plants have their place, but only really viable in select areas.
Brian