As many of you know, there’s a Vancouver-wide water advisory that’s been happening since November 17. The GVRD Medical Health Authorities have said that no hospitals, day cares or schools can use the water, and that residents could decide for themselves.
However, even though it’s an advisory, no one I know is drinking the water. People are worrying just even about using it to wet their toothbrushes. And one fellow I know spent a good while looking up instructions on “The Best Way to Shower without Drinking the Water”. (For the record: Keep your mouth closed.)
So, being the scientific type that I am, I decided to take the advisory at its word. After all, it’s just an advisory. It doesn’t say I CAN’T drink the water. Starting today, I’m going to drink nothing but Vancouver tap water, and report the effects to you. In your face, E.Coli! (Well, in my face, more accurately…)
Here’s what the tap water looks like today:
The one on the right is bottled water for comparison. I drank the entire contents of the glass on the left—about a pint—at 12:30 a.m. It’s now 1:30 a.m. and I am not, according to my observations, dead.
The water tasted pretty much fine. It looks much worse looking down into the glass, because it’s denser. I did notice some residue at the bottom of the glass, but I chipped at it and I think it was just stuck-on Alpen from the dishwasher.
I should say one thing: Just because I’m doing it, doesn’t mean anyone else should (including me!) Don’t try this at home! Don’t for a minute think that I am some guy who knows what he’s doing. I take no responsibility if you drink tap water and get the runs or an alien bursts out of your stomach during dinner or something.
Also, to do a purely scientific experiment, there should be more than one person and I shouldn’t know if I’m drinking tap water or not. I might just imagine bad things happening to my internals (spleen venting into liver, pancreas eating itself, etc. etc.) because the water is a little gross. I also normally drink a lot of caffeine during the day, so that might also throw off the results.
I’ll keep drinking water until the advisory is lifted, or it becomes a mandatory ban (I’m not that crazy) or I become too sick to continue drinking the water.
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i like how you waited until i left town to try this experiment. who is going to rush you to the hospital when your intestine tries to leave via your eyes?
What I'm curious about, though, is whether that's the most turbid your tap water has been since the advisory. Or has it gotten a bit better?
My friend, Alannah, says she was boiling a big pot of water for herself when her neighbor kindly offered to give her some bottled water. When she poured out the pot, she says there was a layer of mud on the bottom... Should I call her a damn dirty liar? (I think that would be fun!)
The other thing I've been wondering about (and you seem like a more reliable source than the newspapers - I mean, you're drinking the water and everything!) is how this all happened. What I've heard so far:
1) It rained an awful lot
2) The water in the taps got muddy
That's not that much.
So, any idea what actually went on? Did the heavy rains stir up all the muck at the bottom of the bottom of the reservoirs? Has a sewer backed up into a reservoir somewhere? Is someone playing tricks?
Oh, and finally: Just for the record, I'd be drinking the water too. Of course, we use a Brita, so we'd be one step up on your plan, I suppose. (Maybe you can add that to your experimentation!)
Posted by Jason at 9:45 am on Nov. 22, 2006
I think it's all way overblown. I had a seriously upset stomach yesterday and did wonder whether it was from brushing my teeth with tap water (I keep doing it by accident) but then I was pointed to this post. Specifically, the first comment.
As it turned out, it seems I just have the flu, and the upset stomach was coincident.
I am confident that you'll be fine, but hey, keep us posted!
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