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I live in Zürich. The water company here says that it's unfair to compare the tap water with bottled mineral water; the tap water is substantially better. (I

I live in Zürich. The water company here says that it's unfair to compare the tap water with bottled mineral water; the tap water is substantially better. (I had a tour of the plant. They are a serious group of overachievers. The source of the water is mostly the local lake, and is purified by, two grades of sand filter, activated charcoal, ozone purification, and a bacterial bed. They actively manage the biofilms in the water pipes; the water itself is so clean that chlorination is unnecessary. They also actively manage the local aquifers so that the underground water flow near any industrial site flows away from their collection wells. There are two separate distribution networks, one for emergencies, plus a warehouse full of bagged water ready for distribution. And, best of all, it tastes great.)

wlievens 10y ago
Well it's just plain unfair to compare German efficiency and thoroughness with... anywhere else in the world.
- lukeqsee 10y ago
  Zürich is in Switzerland. I wouldn't recommend calling them German. :)
  - smallnamespace 10y ago
    Culturally/linguistically German/Germanic? 'The official language of Zürich is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German...' [1] Northern Switzerland was founded by Germanic tribes, after all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland#German https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland#Germa...
    - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
      We have multiple official languages, including an Italian derivative and French. Our history is as independently rich, tracing to the Holy Roman Empire, as that of the Germanic tribes.
      - smallnamespace 10y ago
        Yes, but 'German' or 'Germanic' is still the accepted English word to refer to the shared culture and history of all German-speaking areas, of which northern Switzerland and Zurich are definitely part. The term is not restricted to only refer to modern Germany (which didn't even exist as a unified state until the late 19th century).
- skummetmaelk 10y ago
  Zürich is not german.
  - wtbob 10y ago
    The culture of Switzerland, particularly Zürich, is more South German than it is North Italian or East French.
seanp2k2 10y ago
In the US, we switch water sources willy nilly because of capitalism and political maneuvering: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis I definitely don't trust the municipal water sources + local plumbing my landlords provide to be of the highest quality. I'd like to measure what actually comes out of my taps but I'm not aware of a lab which would affordable do contaminant level testing for just a few samples.
- david-given 10y ago
  Well, I come from the UK. We don't have the same political issues you do, but to make up for that, we have special problems. While British water is completely safe, there are still some issues... - ancient Victorian infrastructure means that there are leaks. They're terrified of contaminated water getting into the system, so they crank the pressure up, to ensure that any leaks happen outwards. This, of course, makes the leaks worse. - even so, the water has to be chlorinated, and in some areas, quite heavily. You will never forget the first time you turn on a tap and get gassed. - some really old houses still have lead pipes. I was taught as a child that if I wanted to drink water, I should let the water run until it went cold before filling a glass. - some not-so-old houses still have a low-pressure water system which runs things like hot water, bathroom taps, etc. Traditionally these run off a tank in the loft, filled from the mains. This tank is frequently unsealed, and so fills up with sludge, moths, dead rats, etc. Even today, do not drink water from the hot tap unless it's obviously at mains pressure (which means it's connected to the mains via a sealed high-pressure water tank or a heat exchanger). (The reason for this is to enforce a vertical drop between the water mains and the house system, so that if the pressure ever falls in the water mains, there's no risk of sucking contaminated water back up the pipe. In such houses, there is a single source of potable water, which is the cold tap in the kitchen.) - even then the water out of some of the aquifers is so hard as to be nigh undrinkable. Soap works markedly better in Scotland than it does in south-east England, and if you go to Cambridge you might as well not wash. Of course, a lot of this is now being fixed, although slowly and painfully --- I think lead pipes are now no longer a thing. But it really makes me appreciate how good the water is in Zürich.
  - 10y ago
david-given 10y ago
Update: Dammit, I forget to mention the coolest thing about Zürich water! After treatment, the water flows through a glass tank with some daphnia in it (water fleas). These are watched with a video camera and motion analysis done by computer. Apparently, they aren't just able to detect impurities by detecting differences in the way the daphnia move, they are capable of detecting individual compounds because they affect the daphnia differently...
- bsder 10y ago
  Ok, now that's cool.

wlievens 10y ago

Well it's just plain unfair to compare German efficiency and thoroughness with... anywhere else in the world.

lukeqsee 10y ago
Zürich is in Switzerland. I wouldn't recommend calling them German. :)
- smallnamespace 10y ago
  Culturally/linguistically German/Germanic? 'The official language of Zürich is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German...' [1] Northern Switzerland was founded by Germanic tribes, after all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland#German https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland#Germa...
  - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
    We have multiple official languages, including an Italian derivative and French. Our history is as independently rich, tracing to the Holy Roman Empire, as that of the Germanic tribes.
    - smallnamespace 10y ago
      Yes, but 'German' or 'Germanic' is still the accepted English word to refer to the shared culture and history of all German-speaking areas, of which northern Switzerland and Zurich are definitely part. The term is not restricted to only refer to modern Germany (which didn't even exist as a unified state until the late 19th century).
skummetmaelk 10y ago
Zürich is not german.
- wtbob 10y ago
  The culture of Switzerland, particularly Zürich, is more South German than it is North Italian or East French.

seanp2k2 10y ago

In the US, we switch water sources willy nilly because of capitalism and political maneuvering: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis I definitely don't trust the municipal water sources + local plumbing my landlords provide to be of the highest quality. I'd like to measure what actually comes out of my taps but I'm not aware of a lab which would affordable do contaminant level testing for just a few samples.

david-given 10y ago
Well, I come from the UK. We don't have the same political issues you do, but to make up for that, we have special problems. While British water is completely safe, there are still some issues... - ancient Victorian infrastructure means that there are leaks. They're terrified of contaminated water getting into the system, so they crank the pressure up, to ensure that any leaks happen outwards. This, of course, makes the leaks worse. - even so, the water has to be chlorinated, and in some areas, quite heavily. You will never forget the first time you turn on a tap and get gassed. - some really old houses still have lead pipes. I was taught as a child that if I wanted to drink water, I should let the water run until it went cold before filling a glass. - some not-so-old houses still have a low-pressure water system which runs things like hot water, bathroom taps, etc. Traditionally these run off a tank in the loft, filled from the mains. This tank is frequently unsealed, and so fills up with sludge, moths, dead rats, etc. Even today, do not drink water from the hot tap unless it's obviously at mains pressure (which means it's connected to the mains via a sealed high-pressure water tank or a heat exchanger). (The reason for this is to enforce a vertical drop between the water mains and the house system, so that if the pressure ever falls in the water mains, there's no risk of sucking contaminated water back up the pipe. In such houses, there is a single source of potable water, which is the cold tap in the kitchen.) - even then the water out of some of the aquifers is so hard as to be nigh undrinkable. Soap works markedly better in Scotland than it does in south-east England, and if you go to Cambridge you might as well not wash. Of course, a lot of this is now being fixed, although slowly and painfully --- I think lead pipes are now no longer a thing. But it really makes me appreciate how good the water is in Zürich.
- 10y ago

david-given 10y ago

Update: Dammit, I forget to mention the coolest thing about Zürich water! After treatment, the water flows through a glass tank with some daphnia in it (water fleas). These are watched with a video camera and motion analysis done by computer. Apparently, they aren't just able to detect impurities by detecting differences in the way the daphnia move, they are capable of detecting individual compounds because they affect the daphnia differently...

bsder 10y ago
Ok, now that's cool.