61–70 of 200 posts
I grew up in LA, where water is scarce, and valued. Water fountains are around, but they have valves, which break, stick, or otherwise cause problems. When I lived in Chicago, I was shocked to see that their water fountains have no valves: They run full flow 24x7. Given the weather (frozen pipes) and the water resources available to Chicago (Lake Michigan), it makes sense for them to do it this way, but I had a lot o…
Ditto rome. It just comes out of the wall in places.
When I first came to US, I didn't mind drinking public fountain. But one day, I walked by one and a dog was drinking from it, licking all over it in the process. From that day onward, I stopped. Still, I have to wonder: is that reasonable of me? And otherwise, is it expected to let your pet sharing the same water source with human?
Canid mouths are very sterile, by design (google it)...but if a monitor lizard had been licking it, you might want to abstain.
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If you don't touch it with your mouth and run it for a few seconds you'll be just fine. Also the human body spends all day killing most common bacteria, mold, and similar. You don't even know it is happening. If you got sick every time you came in contact with another person's bodily fluids then you'd be sick almost daily, you'd certainly never go out to eat again, or ride public transport. My point is, your fears ar…
This is a great point. It's like the people that open the restroom door with a paper towel. They must realize that the people who don't was their hands touch all the other doorknobs as well? I'd guess the bathroom door is probably the cleanest knob you'd encounter (since lots of people wash their hands before leaving).
I've always found it kind of funny that in "capitalist" US, there is free water all over the place. It's one of my favorite things to drink good, clean water for free in Portland after getting off a long flight from Europe. In "socialist" Europe, you're pretty much stuck with expensive bottled water in places like airports, unless you have a cup or something and don't mind drinking from the bathroom faucets. OTOH, on…
Also, every Starbucks in the U.S. seems to give out water or water with ice upon request. That's not the same as a community identity space and symbol of a water fountain or a Roman aqueduct with water endlessly flowing out of a hole in the wall (we're obviously not able to waste as much as in the past).
Perhaps the symbol of the commons replaced with nothing but apparent commercial options is what people are moral panicking about? Or is there (perhaps as a result of what follows) a popular, definite consumer mentality shift to eschewing anything free == not good, expensive == good?
When I first came to US, I didn't mind drinking public fountain. But one day, I walked by one and a dog was drinking from it, licking all over it in the process. From that day onward, I stopped. Still, I have to wonder: is that reasonable of me? And otherwise, is it expected to let your pet sharing the same water source with human?
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There are water fountains in every airport in Europe (and pretty much the world, it's regulatory) they are usually located in or near the restrooms. Not to mention that pretty much every restaurant will give you tap water for free.
I was flatly told "no" when I asked for tap water at a restaurant in Italy. The waitress seemed a little disgusted I would ask, too. I've heard some peoples have an aversion to tap water even if it's become safe these days, so I guess it was that, or maybe some kind of miscommunication. Maybe she just thought it has a bad taste, but it can't have been bad enough that I'd prefer paying 2-3 euros for bottled water.
Modern consumerism at work!
In most of Italy, 30 years ago, asking for a jug of water at a restaurant was absolutely normal; you would order bottles only if you preferred sparkling, or if you were acting stupendous.
By the mid-90s, drinking bottled water at home had become normal even in cities with perfectly working water systems. People worried about hygiene started requiring bottled water in all circumstances, to be opened in their presence (god forbid you would actively recycle glass bottles in your establishment! -- to be fair though, in a country where screwing your fellow man is considered the smart thing to do, charging bottled-water prices for tap water was far from uncommon).
Nowadays, it's expected that water should be served in bottles; it's supposedly more hygienic and it's certainly more profitable for restaurants.
Somebody joked that in Sicily people drink water bottled in the Alps, and in the Alps they drink water bottled in Sicily. It's all great for the economy, of course, and terrible for the environment, but hey, così è la vita.
Let's start with the assumption (not necessarily true) that one who drinks from a public water fountain consumes significantly more germs than one who drinks bottled water. Is this even a bad thing? I would think that this regular exposure could help strengthen the immune system. I'm personally uncertain if anything like this is backed by research.
Back in the 80s, the concern was not germs, but heavy metals. That's 100% understandable. If somebody told me there was lead in my tap water (and I believed them) I'd switch to bottled water in a heartbeat. But according to the article, the municipalities responded and got the metals out of the water, so I guess the problem is misinformation?
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There are water fountains in every airport in Europe (and pretty much the world, it's regulatory) they are usually located in or near the restrooms. Not to mention that pretty much every restaurant will give you tap water for free.
This is simply not true, especially the part about 'pretty much the world'