I would like to drink more tap water because it’s less expensive and it doesn’t require any packaging. Unfortunately, the public water supply here on Gozo is quite high in sodium. The most extensive information that I could find regarding water quality in Gozo is ten years old. It states that 84.2% of samples exceeded the parameters set for sodium content by an EU directive. There was also this explanation:
This substance occurs naturally
in water. Standard set due to
unacceptable taste. It is
considered to be primarily
attributed to the islands’
hydrogeological characteristics
and environmental conditions.
My taste buds tell me that the salt is still there. We used a Brita filter pitcher when we lived in Tunisia. It effectively improved the taste of the tap water and gave us peace of mind with regard to all the unhealthy stuff that these filters can remove. Those are Lead, Mercury, Benzene, Cadmium, Copper and Zinc and more. It doesn’t remove Sodium. It doesn’t claim to. Since we already had the Brita we tried it anyway. Sure enough, the Gozo water filtered with a simple gravity fed Brita filter is still just as salty.
The easy choice for tasty drinking water is to buy it in 2 liter recyclable plastic bottles. That was our short term way to survive while we arranged for the next best thing – 19 liter returnable plastic bottles delivered by a company that uses RO filtration and UV sterilization to make the public water palatable. The cost is about the same as the water in recyclable plastic with the main advantages being that bottles are reused and of course that they are delivered to our door. A third choice that might have some cost savings is to buy a counter-top filtration system. They cost hundreds of euros but should in theory pay for themselves. We can’t justify the investment because we expect to be relocating before the ROI would kick in.
There are a few ways that we consume the tap water. With of our baking and stove top cooking we use tap water whenever water is in the recipe. The tap water makes a great lemonade with the locally grown lemons that are a reasonable euro1.50 per kg. We make tea with tap water. Many other strategies that people use for making use of bad tasting water are too unhealthy. I have no plans of drinking the Kool-aid.
Do you have tap water that doesn’t taste good? If so, do you have any interesting ways to alter it to make it more palatable?
July 20th, 2010 at 3:35 am
The whole bottled water industry taking off is really a tragedy. Our water system (in the US) is truly one of the greatest public health advances in history and we do not want to utilize it anymore. I am guilty of this too just bc of the convenience of bottled water. I know it has to stop though. I bought 2 nalgenes so I can quit being ridiculous.
Love your blog and your message by the way
July 21st, 2010 at 9:01 am
Thanks Jo
I grew up in Canada where safe water is abundant in most areas but there have been occasional serious incidents of municipal water contamination. In the US there are a number of regions with less than perfect tap water. The catch 22 is that as privileged, influential voters choose bottled water, the potability of tap water becomes less of an priority for democratic governments. I’d like to see a law requiring all politicians to drink tap water daily
July 21st, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Reverse Osmosis