I think you may have misunderstood. It is pretty standard to use chlorine in the purification process, but that chlorine is not left in the water. There should be negligible chlorine in any water coming out of the tap. I've certainly never been able to smell it let alone taste it anywhere in Canada.
Maybe Canada is an exception, but in most places the chlorine is left in the water because the distribution network isn't entirely sterile.
Missed the Canada part. Canada likely has very pure water from snow melt.
The primary/top database (Numbeo) you source is of dubious quality - i.e. Opinion based. Other sources vary wildly in reputation and don't offer information down to the city level you offer in search. The link to the CDC is to the homepage and offers no further depth on the subject you are reporting on. Don't understand why you have a marketing type message that offers a calculation cost of savings from not drinking…
I'm confused your takeaway here. It definitely does have very "pop-science" data, throwing together whatever data is available in order to create an appealing product that seems to tell you something. The agenda is definitely more pro-environmental and anti-water bottle though. If they were trying to show a more neutral comparison of bottled cost to tap for a region, it wouldn't be phrased in terms of a savings.
This is nice! However I don’t think it’s very accurate to put a number to a whole country, when even the health of the pipes in your own house or even in your neighborhood can affect the quality a lot.
I agree. Our tap water in Portland, Oregon is superb. But when I travel to other states, like California, I'm not sure how they can drink their tap water. At least in Southern California it tastes bad and has the distinct smell of chlorine. Though I suppose if you live with it 24/7 you might get used to it and not notice the taste.
Even California tap water varies immensely depending on where you are. SoCal is generally bad, which is probably related to most of their water being imported. My hometown, on the other hand, is in the Sierra's and fed by spring water that's pretty identical to the Crystal Geyser water they bottle a few mountains down. San Francisco has pretty great water too, though they did flood what was reportedly the most beautiful place in California to secure it.
It would be interesting to add statistics for consumption of bottled water for individual countries where this data is available. Bottled water is consumed in many countries even when the quality of tap water is perfectly safe. For example, here is per capita consumption of bottled water in Europe in 2017, by country: https://www.statista.com/statistics/455422/bottled-water-con...
Note that this includes sparkling water. At least in Germany, I would estimate >80% of bottled water being sold to be sparkling.
When I was travelling in Canada I was checking if the water was safe to drink. And the government website argued it was safe to drink tapwater precisely because it was purified with the help of chlorine. In Netherlands many of us have the opposite view that it's not safe to drink tapwater if there is chlorine in it (let alone the taste). Interesting contrasts in cultures :)
I think you may have misunderstood. It is pretty standard to use chlorine in the purification process, but that chlorine is not left in the water. There should be negligible chlorine in any water coming out of the tap. I've certainly never been able to smell it let alone taste it anywhere in Canada.
I could have misunderstood! But when you can smell it when you shower and taste it when you drink it, there is a considerable amount of residue of chemicals in the water. Maybe I smell it because I'm used to water without it. I don't know if it's actually harmful, but when there are alternatives widely deployed, for instance in the Netherlands I don't see the reason for taking the risk.
Looks good, but probably not very usable. I know some areas in germany, where you cannot drink the water because of too much chalk. But in general it is very good in germany.
But in spain for example I could never find a tab, I could drink of - way too much chlorine.
Yes. Funny how North America shows the opposite correlation.
It's a worldwide correlation. But of course communism is not the only factor at play here. Population density, total population, size of country, and so on. They all play a part. In North America the correlation is skipped because these other factors are so vastly different between the countries. In South America not so much. Except for Brazil.
One thing i found interesting while living in Dubai was that (from what I heard) the water authorities provided potable water to buildings, but most buildings had dubious storage/distribution.
I always bought bottled water there, that decision felt justified when my water came out sandy one day. (Though I suspect the building). I had friends who drank tap water for years and were okay, so mileage varies.