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That fits with what I know. I think some in those countries don't drink their own water either as I've heard Hispanic Americans are more likely to drink bottled water than most other ethnicities. I'm assuming that's because they are used to it at home.
According to Gallup a third of Mexicans and Moroccans are dissatisfied with their water quality. So less than the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. However there are countries much worse, where the majority of their people are dissatisfied with water quality. One of the more modern countries to have that situation looks to be Russia where 54% were listed as dissatisfied. Among non-African nations Iraq looks most dissatisfied with 71% dissatisfaction. The Democratic Republic of Congo was most dissatisfied with 78%. Singapore was the most satisfied with their water quality, but I sometimes think Singaporeans feel they should say they're satisfied when asked a question as some of their poll answers don't make sense to me. Discounting them Scandinavia and Switzerland look to be the most satisfied with their water. In Africa Namibians seem most satisfied with their water and their satisfaction is about the same as Japan's. In Latin America Costa Rica and Uruguay have a satisfaction equal or superior to the US. Uruguay's water satisfaction is also listed as higher than Britain or Canada. So I guess if an American or Canadian had a problem with Uruguayan water it wouldn't be something the local's, officially anyway, would relate to.
For instance, the tap water in NYC tasted awful but I guess it is safe to drink.
Actually my Norwegian ex-girlfriend told me Norwegians don't generally like to drink the tap water anywhere south of Denmark - is that true? Most of what I drink is tap water wherever I am, it's only in Mexico I drank the bottled stuff everywhere I went. Whenever we went on family trips to southern Europe as a kid my mother would always go on about how the tap water wasn't safe to drink, though I don't know if their water actually was worse 20 years ago or just her being paranoid, as I've had no problem drinking it in recent years.
When traveling abroad always carry a Seychelle water filter as it filters all bacteria and even anthrax. It is the only filter I would ever consider as the technology is so advanced nothing compares. They are 16oz with a straw and my wife and I have 10 in our survival kit , We also use a rotation of four 1 gallon filtered pitchers for coffee and cooking albeit just drinking right off the tap.
Last edited by DASULAR17; 02-22-2011 at 06:20 AM..
Reason: formating
Actually my Norwegian ex-girlfriend told me Norwegians don't generally like to drink the tap water anywhere south of Denmark - is that true? Most of what I drink is tap water wherever I am, it's only in Mexico I drank the bottled stuff everywhere I went. Whenever we went on family trips to southern Europe as a kid my mother would always go on about how the tap water wasn't safe to drink, though I don't know if their water actually was worse 20 years ago or just her being paranoid, as I've had no problem drinking it in recent years.
I live in southern Europe. Last Saturday I was out walking early and as I came up the street I could see a man and a woman going back and forth to the boot of their car and retreiving large, heavy containers. They made several trips as I approached.
When I passed them, they turned out to be English tourists. And the boot of their car was filled with extra large plastic bottles of water. Considering what I saw them lug in as I approached and what was still in the car they must have had water for at least a week's worth of drinking and cooking. I have never seen people who had purchased so many large bottles.
I suppose, like your mother, they are terrified of the mains water here. Our reservoir is in the hills surrounded by forests and wild meadows for many kilomenters, and is probably healthier water than what they drink at home. However, I myself do keep bottled water for English guests. I just refill the same old bottles with tap water over and over and over again. They never know, they are happy and none have pooped themselves to the great beyond yet.
I do hope those visitors I saw are as careful about recycling all those plastic bottles and they are about their bowels.
And is tap water safe in the US? I don't think so. Lake Michigan looks like a big waste dump. Every year we get warnings about some bacteria in the lake and fish which biuld up chemicals and shouldn't be eaten.
When you have repeated exposure to a thing you're often less afraid of it even it can be dangerous. Being afraid of driving in a car is likely rarer than being afraid of flying. People get desensitized to the dangers of driving.
So maybe Americans get desensitized to dangers of US drinking water. Still I think our water is safer than that of most African or Central American nations.
Here wine is cheaper than mineral water, who needs water?
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