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What kind of water do you drink?

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Taluntain, Jan 9, 2013.

?

What kind of water do you drink?

  1. Bottled water mostly

    7 vote(s)
    18.9%
  2. Tap water mostly

    25 vote(s)
    67.6%
  3. About equal amounts tap & bottled

    3 vote(s)
    8.1%
  4. I don't drink pure water, only pre-made beverages

    2 vote(s)
    5.4%
  1. chevalier

    chevalier Knight of Everfull Chalice ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    Tap water for coffee or tea unless I have plenty of bottled water. Bottled water when just drinking water, except for emergencies.
     
  2. Old One

    Old One The Old Warrior ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    We have a 208ft deep well with great water. Tap for everything. I have noticed family tends to fill a couple or so water bottles when stopping by so they must agree too.
     
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Technically, that'd be well water...
     
  4. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Not technically. Exactly (and repetitively), given that Old One said:

    :p
     
  5. Old One

    Old One The Old Warrior ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    @Tal & Splunge
    OK, well water :-/
    But if it comes out of our tap....then we put it in a bottle...?
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2013
  6. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Should have included it in the poll but it didn't even occur to me to be honest. Wells have gone out of use here decades ago, but obviously in more rural areas they'd still be used.
     
  7. Vorona

    Vorona Shadow-Whisperer

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    We used to have well water, and yes -- it was great. And we always called it "tap water": we made a distinction between "city water" and "well water" but called both "tap water" since it came out of the tap, and was thus free (at restaurants, anyway) rather than purchased in a container.
     
  8. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    Well water use is extremely common in rural areas throughout the US. (As are satellite modems, because the cable needed for high speed internet access isn't out there either. It's satellite or dial up.)
     
  9. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I always like to make sure my water contains 2 hydrogens and 1 oxygen. That's the kind of water I drink.



    Okay, okay, and more often than not it comes from a bottle, served a few degrees above freezing. I like all my cool beverages to be just above freezing. Ice just makes things taste better, so I often throw that in too, even if it isn't strictly going to make things any colder. My ice is not typically from a bottle, but filtered tap water.
     
  10. Shoshino

    Shoshino Irritant Veteran

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    The H2O kind
     
  11. Lynx Lupo Gems: 6/31
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    Here (all EU?), the quality standards are higher for tap water than for bottled water, so unless you're from an area with poor municipal infrastructure, you're better off with tap on the long run.

    Luckily, also PVC food packaging was banned, so there's much less risk of getting hormonal disruptors and similar nasties in your system.

    We even had a few cases of serious hospital infections due to water dispensers (the barrels you see in offices) having too low operating hygiene.

    I drink ony tap water, sometimes filtered. Well, at least when I have a choice, which I mostly do. It's partly a thing of principle, since so much resources are squandered just to make the bottle, ignoring the rest of the process.

    Occasionally also rain water, mountain springs, licking wet rocks, sucking moss and eating snow comes into play, but they're a minority.
     
  12. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    AFAIK, the standards here are the same for tap water and bottled water... not any higher for either. But in practice, most of the independent studies have found that tap water is far less clean than the official reports make it out to be. You have to take into account that the testing is conducted at the source (or rather, one of the distribution centres) so even if the water is relatively clean there, there's a long network of pipes in varying conditions plus your internal system it has to go through to get to where you fill your glass. Most of the contaminations are due to someone damaging one of the major underground pipes which happens pretty much every year during the construction season. And when that happens, nobody is actually held accountable because the municipal water companies simply say that it wasn't their fault and that's the end of it. We've had this scenario happen here several times over the years.
     
  13. coineineagh

    coineineagh I wish for a horde to overrun my enemies Resourceful Adored Veteran

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    Here in China everybody gets their drinking water from 18.9liter tanks. People don't really appreciate cold drinks as much as westerners do. The tank dispensers usually have a heating function, so you can enjoy a hot drink in winter or summer. People are really scared of catching a cold too, so many traditional people tend to avoid cold drinks or ice cream. The prevalence of lung infections here is probably extra encouragement.

    Food is more important in Chinese culture, especially hot food. A hot drink at least has some value in their eyes. People readily share their food with you, and feel generous for doing so. But if you're not alone, and you want to buy a coke, they'll give you a look like you're too miserly to share a lowly drink with them. It gets annoying at times, so I avoid groups in hot weather.

    The tap water has chlorine in it to kill the germs. Much less than a swimming pool - you don't taste it at all. Many Chinese use tapwater for cooking, which is probably not ideal, but it doesn't kill anyone. They avoid drinking it cold, though, which is wise.

    I like cold drinks, so I make an effort to get some in my fridge instead of drinking room temperature tank water. Cultural fatigue is enough to double my need for cold drinks, hehe ;)
     
  14. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    Bottled water for us. Yes we have too much discretionary income. Mrs. Snook also spends a ton of money on "organic" food and meat. Myself, I think it is all a crock of ****, but I learned a long time ago that I can make more money, and peace and quiet is more valuable :)
     
    Taluntain likes this.
  15. Lynx Lupo Gems: 6/31
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    Apart from anecdotal environmental NGO evidence, my main source of info is a water expert from the Maribor Institute of Health Protection, who has been sampling it for decades and not only at the source.
    As for being unlucky with the infrastructure, I already included a disclaimer. I also haven't read much of our legislation on water, but the ruptures you mention do sound like something you could easily report to the environmental inspection.
     
  16. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I could, but what would be the point? Wouldn't really change anything after the fact or prevent future damage either. In such cases, the only one actually responsible is every individual builder/digger damaging the pipe and the water company needs to shut it off and fix the damage anyway so they know about it and should alert the authorities themselves. But naturally, there are plenty of other ways how the drinking water can get contaminated besides this one.
     
  17. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    In the US, you CAN be held responsible in many states if you damage underground utilities, including but not limited to, water mains. In Maryland there is a state program called "Miss Utility". You call them a couple of days before you want to start digging in an area, and they come and the spray paint the ground where the underground utilities are. Then you are supposed to hand dig to uncover the utility before proceding with the rest of the construction.

    If you don't call and end up damaging the utility during your construction, the state will gladly send in the work crews to repair it, and hand you the bill when they're finished.
     
  18. Lynx Lupo Gems: 6/31
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    That's the point, preventing similar incidents in the future. People just complaining into thin air won't change a company's practice, but a monetary fine may. (We have this nice system that not only the company is fined, but also the CEO.)
     
  19. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    No utility company fixes it for free here either. If you break it, you have to pay for the repairs, plus a fine most likely. But like I said, none of this helps the water get contaminated any more or less. If the water does get contaminated this way, there'll likely be no notice until it's too late and people are already getting sick from it. There have been several such cases here where people actually had to report issues with the water to the water company because they didn't know about it.

    Self-building is very popular here and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the self-builders who damaged the mains also tried to fix it themselves (or got a plumber to do it) with varying degrees of success to avoid paying for repairs and a fine. And with idiots like that covering their mess up, there'd be no way for the water company to alert anyone or even know that a section of the pipe has been contaminated.

    See above. You're not going to prevent anything because it won't be the same builder damaging the next pipe most likely. If it's anyone who actually knows the specifics of who damaged the pipe and where, it's the water company sending their people to fix it on the location. You can't report anyone without specifics and how would I know exactly who did what damage and where unless I actually saw it with my own eyes?
     
  20. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    You see, I think that DOES lessen the chance of the water getting contaminated, because companies, just like people, don't like paying fines. It cuts into their profits. As a result, we hardly ever see a water main break because of construction. In every instance in the last 12 years when I've lost water it's because the main broke due to the ground freezing in the winter. In Baltimore, the water main system is well over 100 years old, and many of the pipes that make up the main system are the original stuff they put in. Given that there are literally millions of miles of pipe you'd have to replace if you wanted to upgrade the whole system, the cost of doing so is simply impractical. So they fix the portions that invariably break every year.

    Wait a moment... you have water mains running under people's property? All of ours are under the road. You'd have to rip up black top and dig down a few feet to reach the water main. The only water line that runs under my property is the one that connects my house to the main. If that breaks, it will likely flood my house. But all of the water will be coming OUT of the pipe. There won't be conaminants floating into the pipe. And since they have to shut off the water leading from the street to your house in order to fix it, it would seem to me that the only person in danger of getting contaminated water at that point would be me, after they turn the water back on.
     
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