Whats in Your Water?

slight change of tack for this site, but still on topic is the subject of additives that are in what you eat and what you drink. This article will concern itself about what's in the water that comes out of your tap in the form of additives in drinking water.

Don't despair - in most western countries, the water that comes out of your tap is relatively safe to drink and cook with because it is treated at huge water treatment plants before it enters the water main and finds its way to your home.

But not in all countries.

In southern Spain, where I live the water that comes out of the tap is not so safe to drink. The authorities will tell you a different story, of course, but the fact remains that there is no true water main in the area that I live in despite it being one of the most urbanized areas outside of the cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

So what do we have to contend with here?

What has Been Found in Your Drinking Water?

Tap water is heavily treated with chlorine to combat the high levels of dangerous bacteria that would run riot through the area if it were not so treated. This in itself is a huge problem for the unwary, as chlorine binds with other particulates in the water to form tri-methane based carcinogens.

Oh.

There are also high levels of pollution from farms as the farmers here are lunatics when it comes to spraying their fields. They use just about every kind of chemical available to them to kill their soil stone dead with herbicides and pesticides before dumping huge quantities of chemical fertilizers on it so stuff will actually grow. All these chemicals have leeched through the soil into the subterranean aquifiers and reservoirs that supply the whole of Andalucia.

Oh.

Because of the additional lunacy of successive local authorities the landfill situation here is out of control. Further chemical pollutants from these overused landfill sites has also leeched into the water supply. This includes heavy metals such as aluminium and lead, which are known causes of Alzheimer's disease in adults and intelligence retardation in children.

Oh.

Because of all this pollution, particulate levels in our water are in excess of 200 ppm and often as high as 300 ppm. The World Health Organisation limit for drinking water is set at 150 ppm.

Oh.

But that's here in Andalucia, southern Spain.

Safer in Different Countries

Most of the United States and Canada, Australia and most other European countries are much better at treating their water. And there is always bottled water to drink when things get tough.

I for one am reluctant to believe anything that a local authority or for that matter any government official tells me, simply because most of them tell lies. Get this:

Here in southern Spain, although no one will officially admit to it, the decision was made to add so much chlorine to the drinking water because it was cheaper for the local health authorities to deal with a few cases of cancer than an epidemic of cholera.

Tell that to the people who won the cancer in that lottery!