Drinking water in plastic bottles contains countless particles too small to see. New research finds that people who drink water from them on a daily basis ingest far more microplastics than those who don’t.
it depends very much on where you live. here in austria, we’re close to the mountains and that means it rains a lot, and so there’s tons of fresh water from the mountains, that’s why water quality is good overall.
I imagine if you live somewhere where there’s no mountains, you could only really use what is essentially river water, and i guess that’s dirty as fuck. Here in Vienna we have a big river flowing through the city too, and each time i look at it and imagine drinking its water, i get sick from imagining it. It’s really too dirty to drink. However, if you ever go hiking in the mountains, and walk by a small river on the mountains, you will notice how clean the water seems to be. Many people even say it’s clean enough to drink as it is, you don’t even need to filter it or sth.
The reason for this is that the water is fresh (it didn’t flow a long distance since raining down) and bacteria simply didn’t have time yet to infect it. Also, the fact that the water flows downhill means that it has a much higher flow velocity, and that disrupts bacteria growth because bacteria need calm and quiet to develop (much like autists xD).
Amount of rainfall isn’t that relevant here. The largest factor is how well your town maintains their water distribution system. It’s very expensive and requires proactive maintenance and repairs. Often, there are pipes in the ground with fractures that allow untreated groundwater to infiltrate, introducing bacteria to the system.
Thinking “that mountain stream looks pristine” is a trap that a lot of people fall into. Natural springs, almost without fail, contain E. coli. I mean obviously you’re not going to drink straight out of the river either. You drink groundwater from an aquifer that isn’t influenced directly by surface runoff, or you have a surface intake that’s treated before you can drink it.
it depends very much on where you live. here in austria, we’re close to the mountains and that means it rains a lot, and so there’s tons of fresh water from the mountains, that’s why water quality is good overall.
I imagine if you live somewhere where there’s no mountains, you could only really use what is essentially river water, and i guess that’s dirty as fuck. Here in Vienna we have a big river flowing through the city too, and each time i look at it and imagine drinking its water, i get sick from imagining it. It’s really too dirty to drink. However, if you ever go hiking in the mountains, and walk by a small river on the mountains, you will notice how clean the water seems to be. Many people even say it’s clean enough to drink as it is, you don’t even need to filter it or sth.
The reason for this is that the water is fresh (it didn’t flow a long distance since raining down) and bacteria simply didn’t have time yet to infect it. Also, the fact that the water flows downhill means that it has a much higher flow velocity, and that disrupts bacteria growth because bacteria need calm and quiet to develop (much like autists xD).
Amount of rainfall isn’t that relevant here. The largest factor is how well your town maintains their water distribution system. It’s very expensive and requires proactive maintenance and repairs. Often, there are pipes in the ground with fractures that allow untreated groundwater to infiltrate, introducing bacteria to the system.
Thinking “that mountain stream looks pristine” is a trap that a lot of people fall into. Natural springs, almost without fail, contain E. coli. I mean obviously you’re not going to drink straight out of the river either. You drink groundwater from an aquifer that isn’t influenced directly by surface runoff, or you have a surface intake that’s treated before you can drink it.