Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 15:26
"If the water is from a town
water supply, then it has to meet a minimum bacterial standard" - it is nice to see that so many people trust the system. Theoretically yes, it should. But the ANZECC
drinking water guidelines are not compulsory (!!!) otherwise too many supplies would fail.
The other problem is how much residual chlorine you have at the end of an old (i.e.dirty), long reticulation system on a hot day with water restrictions (i.e. low flow) in place. You guessed: zero. In town X where I used to work I had to convince them that putting the recommended chlorine comcentration in at the source (treatment plant) did not do much for the concentration at the consumers tap (was zero regularly). Had to increase quite a bit to end up with 0.5ppm FAC at the tap...
Also, E.coli, usually responsible for travellers gastroenteritis, can be slightly different dependant on location. I.e. what you're immunised to in your country town is not there in the town 300kms away, but there is another strain you are not immune to. Won't kill you but may send you to the
toilet more often than you like.
Best advice, already given here: use bottled water for drinking if in doubt. Best use small town water for the kettle (i.e. boil).
Just my $0.02
Happy travels
Ted
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