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Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

iswatersafetodrink.in

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Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#32

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.

>where you cannot drink the water because of too much chalk

Is this a taste issue or a health issue?

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#33
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's exactly one "communist" country on earth, which is North Korea. And that happens to be quite good on this metric.

Whatever correlation you are imagining in South America is completely spurious, even with your litany of reasons to exclude anything that doesn't fit your worldview. Most every government on the continent has switched between left- or right-leaning governments at least once in the last decade, and I assure you tap water quality changes much slower.

Brasil, for example, switched from Da Silva (left) to Bolsonaro (right) just a little more than a year ago. And, oh, look: the map's CDC data is from 2018: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/data/index.html

The Scandinavian countries that are frequently cited as examples any advanced nations' left strives to imitate are obviously killing it on drinking water quality, as well.

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#34
post #15

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.

Funny you'd say, I live in Portland, Oregon, and we do not drink the water, except after filtering or heating. We think we've seen enough negative reporting on the water quality, even if it's just touchy-feel reporting about the dead birds in the uncovered water treatment basins. To us, the water doesn't even taste as good as maybe in, say, the Netherlands. Yes, chlorine taste at times.

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#35
post #8
post #6

It'd be interesting to know how much chlorine, if any, is added to make the tap water potable. There are many places in the world where it's perfectly safe to drink the tap water, but not pleasant.

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 :)

This is a rather common effect. Does a lot of police on the streets make you feel safe or unsafe? There are obvious and opposite arguments for both possible answers.

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#36
post #19

It's interesting how many places have contradictory advice depending on who you're listening to. Eg. Hong Kong: WHO says it's safe. CDC says it isn't. One suggestion: If the top-level advice is that water from a country (eg. Japan) is that it's safe, it would be useful to call out particular places in that country where it isn't. (eg. Fukushima in the case of Japan)

WHO's index of 96/100 for Russia (contradicting all other sources) makes me question WHO methodology or sources. I get that my personal experience cannot be authoritative source (except for myself) and is purely a single data point at best, but still...

Russia is a vast country, but as a former local (north-west region) I'd say that it's generally not a good idea to drink tap water there. I haven't talked much about water quality intentionally, but I believe everyone I know holds a similar opinion, and doesn't drink unboiled tap water.

It could be "safe" in a sense that one probably won't get sick from occasionally drinking it, but anecdotally - in comparison to bottled water, tap water is of questionable quality just about everywhere in Russia.

Unless we talk about separate kitchen taps with reverse osmosis systems. Even then, most people I know, don't drink that water directly but only use that to fill the kettle for boiling.

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#37
post #32

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.

>where you cannot drink the water because of too much chalk Is this a taste issue or a health issue?

Well, for me, that would be allmost the same, as I believe taste has a biological reason, as a strong indicator whether something is good or bad for my health. (no, pure sugar does not taste good for me)

But officially science says currently no, chalk in water is not a health issue and maybe even good.

(but I would not be surprised, if that changes in the future, like with many other things)

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#38
post #2

Hi HN! I made this while I was lockdown-bored. The data sources are linked on the website. I plan to add scientific reports on water-levels soon on a city-level. I want to raise awareness on how saving money and the environment often comes hand in hand when it comes to drinking water. For most people around the globe drinking straight tap water or using a water filter is a better solution than giving money to bottlin…

I've checked my city here is the link, https://www.iswatersafetodrink.in/Russia/Nizhny-Novgorod I don't know where 350$ is coming from. Most of the people here order drinking water in 20L bottles. Bottles are not thrown away, but collected and reused by water company. We spend about 150$/year*person on this, including delivery costs.

Re: Show HN: An interactive map of countries by tap water quality

#40
As others have noted, it would be cool to see this broken down into more meaningful units.

You won't be able to map out every individual house with it's copper/plastic/lead piping, but watershed maps might be nice for this. Also would look way cooler. :)

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