Decius wrote:
] ] "You drink tap water? Are you crazy?" asks a 21-year-old
] ] radio producer from the Chicago area. "I only drink
] ] bottled water." In a trendy nightclub in New York City,
] ] the bartender tells guests they can only be served
] ] bottled water, which costs $5 for each tiny pint
] ] container. One outraged clubber is stopped by the
] ] restroom attendant as she tries to refill the bottle from
] ] the tap. "You can't do that," says the attendant. "New
] ] York's tap water isn't safe."

reminds me of the Penn & Teller's BULLSHIT episode i saw recently where they exposed the bottled water industry for the sham it is. They managed to get people to agree to pay up to 8 dollars a bottle for "Premium Bottled Water" with labels they made up and which they filled (all the varieties) with hose water in the back of the restaurant at which they played their little game. Predictably people were convinced that "Glacier Falls" or whatever was crisper and cleaner and "Amazonia" was richer tasting. it's all marketing. If you drink dasani, you're drinking the same shit that comes out of your atlanta tap, plus some extra plasticy goodness from the bottle.

now that's not to say that the public water system can't be sabotaged or that it can't suffer local failures making it less clean, but by and large tap water is fine, if a little heavily chlorinated sometimes. NYC tap water is among the best in the world -- i've spent multiple days learning about the system that services NYC as one of their primary reservoirs (the Ashokan) is right near my hometown and we used to take trips there.

(OT factoid - to make the ashokan, they flooded a valley in which there was an old town from when the Dutch were the main residents of the area (stone houses, double-doors, etc). I've heard claims that when the reservoir is low you can see some of the ruins in certain places. bs or not, i *know* the town is there and the water's pretty damn clear, so it's not impossible i guess. i have a few other interesting tidbits about that section of the NYC water system, but i'll hold onto them for now ;)