September 9, 2008
And not a drop to drink
The Manila Water Company and Maynilad Water Services say that the water they produce is potable. One of them even made a big media event recently of their officers and some government officials drinking water straight from the tap. I believe them, really. The problem is, we don't get our water from a tap in their water filtration plant, the location of that media event. Their clean water goes through kilometers of decades-old water pipes sharing the same ground space as decades-old sewer pipes. Ever heard of the word 'contamination?' Even if they change all their pipes, there's also the issue of the pipes in our 40-year-old house. So, like thousands of Metro Manila residents, we buy our drinking water from one of hundreds of water filtering stations found everywhere in the city.
Il va falloir en effet beaucoup d'année avant que tous les tuyaux soient restaurés, et que votre eau du robinet ne soit pas mauvaise.
ReplyDeleteOn ne se rend pas compte de la chance que nous avons d'avoir accès a une bonne eau du robinet.
It will be necessary to effect many years before all the pipes are restored, and that your tap water is not bad.
It does not reflect how lucky we are to have access to good tap water.
People here have perfectly good water straight from the taps and yet pay for bottled, transported water - crazy really. How sad to take for granted what to others is a luxury. But I like his hat :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple of water companies around too, with big bottle like this delivered to our office. Every once in a while, our tap water comes out cloudy from sediments. They tell us we are in no danger, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky here in the US to have safe drinking water available. I try not to drink bottled water because I think it's a waste - all those plastic bottles and the trucks that transport them are just adding to the pollution.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you don't have the same luxury, but glad that you have a solution for safe drinking water! Maybe one day things will change.
With the thought of that sort of contamination I'd go for bottled water every time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visits while I've been otherwise engaged. I'm just going round and saying hello to my favourites (that includes you!)
I love all those yummy donuts from the other day!
Any chance of getting a water filtration system for your house? Here in the U.S., they're pretty reasonable now. Cleaner water for everything means less toilet cleaning, and sink cleaning.
ReplyDeleteThat's also quite a phenomenon here: water filtering station. It seems like a good business. Everybody needs clean, potable water.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how spoiled we are in America. Here in the greater Los Angeles area the tap water is safe but a lot of people buy bottled water. Much of the water comes in plastic that ends up in landfills. My family uses a home filtering system to make the tap water taste better. I hate to see all the waste here that goes into the disposable containers used for bottled water that isn't necessary. There is an argument against the use of fluoride in tap water here, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with people here going for the bottled stuff.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I would not drink water from the tap in NYC either. It's probably ok, but still. I've tasted it and it ain't fantastic. They sell carbon filter here that you can use either on your tap or on a caraf system. A store nearby sells water from Spa, the spa city in Belgium that gave its name to ... spa. I make it a civic duty to buy it. You know, to boost Belgian exports. ;) I even do the same for French and Italian water, I am that open-minded. ;)
ReplyDeleteI reckon bottled water is the safest
ReplyDeletethese are the same kinds of problems that we face in greece - luckily, i live in a place where clean water is easy to find, but that is not the case for everyone
ReplyDeleteI used to drink water straight from the tap but now I have a Brita filter at home. NYC tap water tastes soapy. Eck! But the Brita filter does a great job getting the taste out.
ReplyDeleteOur tap water is not as good as it ought to be either so I filter it for making tea and use bottled for drinking.
ReplyDeleteI've added a comment on my blog in response to your comment about churches being open.
Hilda, I just so happen to come across a NEW water filtering station like the one you picture above and so I will do a follow-up on this entry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your visits and feedback.