The Waitrose Supermarket that I visit is positioned very close to the Hove Greyhound Stadium, in fact I have to go past the stadium on my way out.
For the past year or so, this big blue 'SpotlessWater' container/dispenser has been positioned outside the stadium, but I have yet to see anyone use it.
You may have heard about the trouble they've had in Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead, with their water having been turned off for weeks. South East Water have messed up the system, and residents have been given bottled water instead. If you have no way of collecting rain water, or have no access to a stream, then bottled water would have been your only way to flush the loo, as well everything else. Luckily here in Brighton we have Southern Water, and are not affected.
So, what is this SpotlessWater that one can buy for between 4.3p and 6.3p per litre?
Well, the answer has to be; I have no idea. Yes, it's probably been filtered or zapped with UV light, but what is the point. A few impurities in the water probably does us more good than harm (as long as they're not Russian impurities).
Personally I want my water to be 'drinkable', with no taste of wet dog, or showing the colour of mud. It should be transparent, and tasteless, with (hopefully) all serious impurities removed.
In France we have Spring Water, and we are issued with a Water Purity certificate, so that we know that it's as pure as possible, yet we still see lots of people buying masses of very expensive bottled water (which are probably filled from a tap elsewhere).
As long as it still flows from the tap, I shall keep drinking the water I pay for. I certainly won't be buying SpotlessWater, or those expensive plastic bottles at Sainsbury's or Leclerc.
That sounds shocking about East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells.
ReplyDeleteThey've been without any tap water for weeks!
DeleteI drink tap water and it's fine but K will only drink bottled water. We haul 6 packs of his favourite brand and the recycle bag is full of crushed bottles.
ReplyDeleteOur water from the mainland comes via pipes that go under the sea. Now and again a yachts anchor lifts the pipe and damages it. Or pipes just get holes and the supply is cut. We have been known to haul jerry cans of sea water to flush the loo.
Now some of the water comes from a small desalination plant. I'm not sure what that tastes like. But it's all safe to drink
It has always surprised me that there aren't more desalination plants around. There was one nearby that fed a swimming pool, but, as the supply is endless, one would have thought there were more.
DeleteMy Mum used to call tap water " corporation pop" ! Just drank a pint of it before I got out of bed!
ReplyDeleteI've never drunk anything else. It hasn't done me any harm; yet!
DeleteWe drink tap water here, perfectly safe and clean, although ours comes through a filter via the fridge as I like it cold. When I visit my sister in London I have to drink their tap water which does have a very distinct chemical taste.
ReplyDeleteIt's not nice when water has a 'taste'. You really wonder what they've put in it. On the occasions it has happened, I just let the tap run for a while and try again. It usually goes quite quickly.
DeleteWe filter our water at home before drinking, and rarely purchase bottle water, we have refillable metal bottles.
ReplyDeleteWe have a 'Brita' filter that lives in the fridge. Lady M insists on it.
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