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Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

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Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#91

Post by TomMarius »

englishrookie wrote: post #88
TomMarius wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments that do this in Europe fail horribly and just increase prices by huge multiples, nothing else. Last year a whole division of a capital city (Prague) got pretty seriously sick because of government failure. Today in the morning the water did not run at all. Thanks, government. I know HN is very leftist, so I expect downvotes. It'd be nice to have a discussion though.

Maybe this is different in Eastern Europe (you know, the old Warsaw pact countries), but in Western Europe tap water is of very reliable quality, and consistently delivered.

I'm comparing the EU as a whole to the USA as a whole because it's pretty much the same in terms of competence and corruption. BTW Czech Republic is the most successful out one of Warsaw Pact countries and is on basically the same level as some of the western ones.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#92

Post by TomMarius »

sametmax wrote: post #82
TomMarius wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments that do this in Europe fail horribly and just increase prices by huge multiples, nothing else. Last year a whole division of a capital city (Prague) got pretty seriously sick because of government failure. Today in the morning the water did not run at all. Thanks, government. I know HN is very leftist, so I expect downvotes. It'd be nice to have a discussion though.

Last time I checked, we had very decent municipal water in France. In many cities it actually tastes better than bottled water. Water sources are quite well protected as well. It's not perfect, but honestly much better than the swimming pool water I drank in the US. So "Europe" is maybe a broad term here.

There are places where it's better or even very good in the Czech Rep. as well. The point is that sometimes, government fails horribly and there is no way out because well, it's the government, its whole job is to enforce its rule. BTW the USA as a whole is comparable to the EU as a whole in terms of corruption and competency.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#93

Post by fh973 »

Dirlewanger wrote: post #41

Scary shit. An aside: what are people using for tap filters? Is Brita still the go-to company, or are there other better solutions?

Tap filters like Brita decrease quality of tap water, at least here in Germany. They are quickly contaminated with bacteria and microbes.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#94

Post by jupp0r »

TomMarius wrote: post #62
giltron wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the more reason to push for our governments to properly regulate a safe supply of drinking water (infrastructure level).

Governments that do this in Europe fail horribly and just increase prices by huge multiples, nothing else. Last year a whole division of a capital city (Prague) got pretty seriously sick because of government failure. Today in the morning the water did not run at all. Thanks, government. I know HN is very leftist, so I expect downvotes. It'd be nice to have a discussion though.

Maybe it's your implementation of government, not the concept itself that's at fault. Having lived in Germany for 30 years, I never experienced anything like that nor met anyone who has.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#96

Post by cosmie »

marcosdumay wrote: post #70
foobaw wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I visited India, the locals recommended me to always drink bottled water or else I'd get really sick. Maybe in the US, it can be solved on a city-by-city basis. For some other countries, I think it's a much more complex problem.

How much is it because of reality and how much is because pf propaganda? People on Brazil will always tell you to drink bottled water too, yet all the safety issues that make into news (always a very small note at the end of the news) are with bottled water and the sanitary standards are much more strict with tap water.

At least in many cases, it's grounded in reality. For example, traveler's diarrhea[1] and hepatitis A[2] are fairly common for Westerns traveling. Hep A isn't a serious issue for locals, because of exposure from childhood - it's similar to how Westerners (in the US, at least) get the chickenpox as children, then rarely have it again in adulthood. But if they get it in adulthood, it's usually far more serious/complicated than the childhood variant. You're very likely to get exposure to Hep A if traveling to many countries, and if you haven't had a vaccination for it then you'll have a pretty crappy time of things as your body gets introduced to something that historically your body has been around since birth.

Hence recommending bottled water, as a precaution to prevent exposure. However, in reality everything around you has been washed, cleaned, laundered, or cooked in local water. And your shower/bath will not be in bottled water. So your exposure is still there, just lessened. Not to mention people that drink bottled water, but poor it into a glass of ice (which was created from non-bottled, local water).

[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/travelers-dia... [2] https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/hepatitis-a

[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/travelers-dia...

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#98

Post by andrei_says_ »

TomMarius wrote: post #62
giltron wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the more reason to push for our governments to properly regulate a safe supply of drinking water (infrastructure level).

Governments that do this in Europe fail horribly and just increase prices by huge multiples, nothing else. Last year a whole division of a capital city (Prague) got pretty seriously sick because of government failure. Today in the morning the water did not run at all. Thanks, government. I know HN is very leftist, so I expect downvotes. It'd be nice to have a discussion though.

One occurrence l of failure in one city in one European country is not an indication of ongoing issues in all European countries.

Would love to hear about systematic issues in Sweden, Germany, Norway, France, Belgium, Switzerland etc. All have strong government role in regulation and municipal water supplies.

Your comment implying political bias for everyone who disagrees with you is cheap rhetoric. And, the US is so far right on the political spectrum that anyone “leftist” there is likely to the right of the center in the EU.

Re: Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study

#99

Post by jandrese »

foobaw wrote: post #21
djsumdog wrote: post #4

Bottled water is a scam. It's less regulated than municipal tap water in most developed nations, companies suck up water from small towns and use tons of fuel to ship it out of those watersheds and then charge people 1000% markup. For countries without clean water, the effort should be put into getting municipal water supplies. Don't buy plastic disposable water bottles if you live in a developed nation. They prop up…

When I visited India, the locals recommended me to always drink bottled water or else I'd get really sick. Maybe in the US, it can be solved on a city-by-city basis. For some other countries, I think it's a much more complex problem.

I think some of that is that you're only spending a week or two in the country and they don't want you to remember it as the time you were stuck on the toilet with a constantly exploding ass. Even if it is not likely that you'll get sick, the potential is high enough that it's better to just buy some bottled water instead.
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