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Drinking Water (Tap Water; Bottled Water; Etc.)

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In connection with all this talk here in Canada about water safety and the need to boil tap water in some communities (there were a number of fatalties in a small town in Ontario due to water contamination), I remember reading a comment by John Blatherwick, Chief Medical Health Officer of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority since 1984, obviously a well-informed man, that in London tap water has already been used by four people before you. Can it be really this bad? Or local purification facilities in the UK are really at such a high level that the multi-recycled water is safe to drink?
 
well i dont think they actuly take it out of the sewers and refine it and send it back down the taps.... meerly that its been refined enough to be released into a river which in its self may feed a reservoir and so recycled.
 
i heard from somewhere that one of the reasons for the fertility rate dropping in guys is the amount of female hormones in the water supply, from women on the pill taking a piss and then the waste water being recycled.

i have a way with words, dont i?
 
Well, alot of the water you drink or use is recycled anyway to a certain extent, in the grand scheme of things. The line about water in London is that it's been through 4 pairs of kidneys before it goes through yours (I assume they mean human kidneys). That's not really a problem, even if it is true, as water filtration and purifucation in the UK is, on the whole, very good. There have been a few scares and mistakes, but these are rare events. Some people use water filters for tap water, depending on how much scale is in the local pipes/water system.
 
guttersnipe said:
i heard from somewhere that one of the reasons for the fertility rate dropping in guys is the amount of female hormones in the water supply, from women on the pill taking a piss and then the waste water being recycled.

i have a way with words, dont i?
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i read that , realteing to Salmon all turning female but i think on further investigation they decided it was water temperature realted.
 
Coka-cola poisons tap water than sells it.

Coke recalls controversial water

Coca-Cola is to recall all bottles of its Dasani water in the UK, after levels of bromate were found to exceed legal levels.
The recall is an embarrassment for the drinks giant, which has faced criticism for selling what is treated and purified tap water.

Coca-Cola said it had consulted the Food Standards Agency, which agreed there were no immediate safety fears.

The recall of about 500,000 bottles is expected to be completed in 24 hours.


It's now going to be next to impossible for Coke to relaunch Dasani in the UK
Allyson Stewart-Allen, International Marketing Partners


Coca-Cola produces Dasani from mains water at a factory in Sidcup, Kent.
The company says Dasani - recently launched in the UK - is "as pure as bottled water gets" thanks to a "highly sophisticated purification process".

Coca-Cola said the recall was a precaution.

One marketing expert said it could be costly.

"It's now going to be next to impossible for Coke to relaunch Dasani in the UK," said Allyson Stewart-Allen of International Marketing Partners.

"This is very surprising for a company as careful and deliberate as Coca-Cola, and a blow to the trust they're aiming to build with consumers as well as their strategy to diversify into drinks that can't be linked to obesity, such as water."

Less stringent

The Food Standards Agency describes bromate as "a chemical that could cause an increased cancer risk as a result of long-term exposure, although there is no immediate risk to public health".

In a statement, Coca-Cola said the contamination had been initially caused by its regular practice of adding calcium to Dasani, calcium which in this case "did not meet our quality standards".

As a result, bromate went on to be formed during the manufacturing processes.

"Immediately after we identified this issue we consulted with the Food Standards Agency," said Coca-Cola.

"The FSA has confirmed that there is no immediate health or safety issue. The withdrawal is a precautionary measure."

The firm added that the withdrawal only affected Dasani in the UK.

Manufacturing process

The UK limit for bromate in bottled and tap water is 10 parts per billion, while the Dasani samples had tested between 10 and 22 parts per billions, Reuters reported.

European tap water limits for bromate are less stringent at 25 parts per billion.

Thames Water, which supplies the Dasani factory, said the bromate had absolutely nothing to do with its mains water.

"Coca-Cola has indicated that the bromate was caused by its manufacturing process," said a Thames Water spokesman.

"We would like to reassure our customers that our water is regularly tested to the very highest standard."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/3550063.stm

Published: 2004/03/19 14:19:15 GMT

© BBC MMIV
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I've never really understood why anyone buys bottled water when there's perfectly good stuff in the tap. Even Coke has been selling Peckham Spring and whats more its got more chemicals in it than tap water. :rolleyes:

It'll be Perrier Ice lollys next. :hmph:
 
I find none of this surprising!
And that doesn't surprise me :rolleyes:
 
My sister uses bottled tap water for pretty much everything, including making tea. :rolleyes:

My sister and I get on fine - I'm in Devon, she's in France. And as long as it stays that way, we continue to get on fine. ;)

I do buy bottled water occassionally, for drinking with squash and on its own. Mainly because I don't drink enough water, I reckon, and it's easier to keep in the fridge. However, filling a jug of water and leaving it to stand in the fridge for an hour has the same result. Allowing tap water to settle makes all the difference. It only keeps for 24 hours maximum, mind, so you have to change it.

It is possible to taste the difference in bottled water though. Perrier is not as nice as Evian, I find. My favourite is Volvic.
 
I remember seeing this in the Offie the other night.

The bottles were 'sculpted' and the plastic made the liquid look coloured. And the lettering was 'arty'.
And there were the words 'pure still water'...


I couldn't believe it.
I thought, give me a coloured bottle and I'll sell the stuff from my old lead pipes with an arty logo.
And there you go.
They did! :D
 
Re: Coka-cola poisons tap water than sells it.

Lord_Flashheart said:
I've never really understood why anyone buys bottled water when there's perfectly good stuff in the tap.
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I buy bottled water to drink because the stuff in the tap isn't as good as people would like to think (depends largely where you live and what sort of water supply you have. you sound like one of the lucky ones). Different strokes for different folks I guess. I drink Volvic, and as pete says, "you can fool some of the people some of the time..." but not all of the time, because Volvic for one thing tastes a lot different to tap water. Cue "but it's just water." But you live in england, what do you know about water?;)
 
There's an article in New Scientist this week, unfortunately not accessible on-line without a subscription, that points out that drinking more than a litre of some mineral waters daily, can give you more than your maximum recommended radiation exposure, because of the traces of radioactive substances leeched from the rocks.

Not all natural minerals are good for you.....:(
 
Or the granite based bits of the West Country for that matter...

It's really a case of taking the risks in perspective, you're far more likely to be run over on your way to the supermarket to buy your bottled water, or brain yourself on the kitchen sink after slipping on a damp floor than you are to die from the effects of radioisotopes in bottled water.

:rofl: over the Dasani fiasco.
 
Yum! Water processed in a factory and bottled in plastic bottles.

So healthy.

Obviously, people who drink the stuff for its purity have never worked in factories. Or, know much about making plastic.

;)

Face it, Coca Cola has been selling bottled tapwater for over a hundred years. This stuff just cut out the unhealthier additives.

It's called taking the piss.
 
Hook Innsmouth said:
neither is living in some parts of wales by that measure.
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Only if liverpool starts running out of water again... you might find your feet getting wet then. :hmph:

if one lives in an area with bad tasteing water then all one has to do is plonk filters on your taps, it'll work wonders. All water though taps in the UK is safe for consumption, the water companys would be getting sued left right and center by ambulance chasers if it wasn't.
 
Lord_Flashheart said:
Only if liverpool starts running out of water again... you might find your feet getting wet then. :hmph:
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I meant chernobyl.

Lord_Flashheart said:
if one lives in an area with bad tasteing water then all one has to do is plonk filters on your taps, it'll work wonders. All water though taps in the UK is safe for consumption, the water companys would be getting sued left right and center by ambulance chasers if it wasn't.
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Not quite. but given you don't drink bottled water, I'll take your word for it;)
 
Here in Szeged, s. Hungary there is a public fountain where the locals collect sulpurous hot water from deep underground.

It looks strange in the winter when there is snow all around but the fountain is steaming.

We tasted the water and certain parties agreed that it comes straight from Hell!:eek:

I will be putting a couple of litres in my next bath.
 
Bottled ordinary water is alright for convenience, travelling on the tube during "normal service" perhaps, but somewhat pretentious at home unless it's mineral water and you prefer the taste. We keep a bottle of tapwater in the fridge so we can have a nice cold drink by the bed each night. Ironically, we keep it in empty coke bottles.

Some areas have tap water that is discoloured or "funny tasting" because of that old bat, Mother Nature. On the Isle of Wight, for instance, it is slightly cloudy but tastes like a good still mineral water. It takes some getting used to (if yer'll be a furriner) but causes no harm and can taste better than other tap waters.

The thing that really narked me was the bare-assed cheek of the American multinational company coming to England, bottling Sidcup tap water and trying to make it trendy to buy. Apparently the advertising contract for this product was being quietly but firmly passed between advertising companies who were wary of its "non-legs". Like a pass-the-parcel game, I pity the poor buggers who've ended up with the "present" inside. It aint gonna look good in their portfolio!
I bet Coca Cola were fuming when the story hit national headlines. Their "market share" will not improve now they've had to widthdraw it from sale. I doubt, however, the execs will take this as a warning that selling a product based on no virtue doesn't always work in the UK. The British media loves to take the piss out of big American firms ... possibly because we're secretly jealous of their success at home!

Boil me a cuppa, love, and add extra tannin!
 
im not sure what passing water thro pipes is soposed to do to it thats so good for you.. when i saw that coke was selling tap water i too thought of Only Fools... but hwen i saw that episode i woundered what the problem was... water in Peckham does taste diferent to water somewhere else so why not sell it in a bottle.... the perier things was cos they forgot or the mechine broke, to take stuff out of the water!... somthing that naturaly occured which amounted to a slight does of antifreeeze!.. Anyone want some Cornish Spring water?... i know where i can get some cheep..... i was told by someone to only buy sparkeling water as the co2(which is added) kills off any nastie imcrobes as the standards for bottled water lower than for tap water in this department.
 
Re: Coka-cola poisons tap water than sells it.

Lord_Flashheart said:
I've never really understood why anyone buys bottled water when there's perfectly good stuff in the tap. Even Coke has been selling Peckham Spring and whats more its got more chemicals in it than tap water. :rolleyes:

It'll be Perrier Ice lollys next. :hmph:
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Ah but have you tasted the water in some other places? The water in the parts of England I have been to is foul beyond measure. I was nearly sick the first time I opened a kettle in Oxford. And greasy lumps of gunk fall out into your tea. The water in Edinburgh mings as well but after I had it tested by the water board (thinking something had died in the water tank) and cleared I just shut up and drink it now. It just means when I visit my parents, the water is the sweetest thing there is.

Oh and back on topic. Supermakets have been selling tap water for years. Its in the labelling. If they call it "table water" they've just filled it from the tap. Gits.
 
The spokeman for Cola Cola was on PM on Radio 4 last night and was getting very flustered by the questioning, best radio I've heard in years :)
 
Ah, the attempt to defend the indefensible and justify the unjustifiable ... always good for a laugh!
 
I tend to drink a lot of 'sparkling' water (the fizz seems to have a caffeine-like effect on me: purely psychological probably but I can't get through the day without getting through about a litre of the stuff), but I'll be damned if I know where you can get that out of a tap. :)

That said, I've never understood why people in the west of Scotland buy bottled 'still' water at all. Mostly it is just tap water. :hmph:
 
Cloudy water is usually caused by air in the pipes. If you leave it to stand for a while, it should clear.

As for water companies being sued for providing unsafe water - what was that case in Cornwall a few years ago? Weren't South West Water getting their arses sued good and proper for that? Except they weren't, due to lack of evidence. :rolleyes:
 
I drink a lot of tap water, but we're lucky down here because our water is lovely.
I remember years ago going on holiday to London and tasting the foul water. :cross eye I guess it depends what you're used to.
When I lived in Worcester, I used to buy bottled water sometimes because the on campus water supply was disgusting. If you ran a bath you could see the water was green. :(
After a while, I just used to boil it and let it cool though. It never made me ill.
 
There was an insident here in Glasgow about two years ago where for two days you couldn't drink the water due to some microb or other.

People where droping like flies, corner shops charging way over the odds for bottles water...
 
I used to live in the mountains and the water was really good. I have one of those water filtration systems that you put on the tap to filter impurities and I don't want flouride. My parents have one of the larger filtration systems and it filters the water to the icemaker and has a seperate tap on the sink. I have been thinking of getting one of those. I will buy bottled water when I am out and about. When I was taking classes in the morning I always carried a bottle with me as I need alot of water and tend to get dehydrated easily. If not buying something from a vending machine, I will buy the mineral water every time as I like the way it tastes. I know some people don't like water, but it is all I drink other than coffee.
 
When I lived in Hampshire, the water came out white, like milk.
When the waterboard investigated, they found that the forty year old cast iron pipe had completely disintergrated, and the water was running through the tunnel left in the chalk!
Added calcium anyone?
 
StellaBoulton said:
When I lived in Hampshire, the water came out white, like milk.
When the waterboard investigated, they found that the forty year old cast iron pipe had completely disintergrated, and the water was running through the tunnel left in the chalk!
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yum yum :cross eye
 
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