You have to ask yourself the question, if there are people being frequently caught for this scam, how many more schemes are there still operating that have not been detected by local authorities? A month later two more men in Shanghai were arrested for the same scheme. In developing countries where bottled water is poorly regulated there can often be dozens of sketchy bottled water brands, and there’s a high likelihood that some of these are just repackaged tap water, which may not even have been purified.Ī man in the town of Xinqiao, China was busted a while back after making $22,000 selling tap water to local residents under the pretense that he was selling them famous brands of bottled water like Nestle and Nongfu Spring. We will eventually be buried under a mountain of our own self-produced plastic if we don’t do something to curb this environmental catastrophe.Īnd what many travellers don't realize is that bottled water isn’t even guaranteed to be safe to drink.Īccording to data from the Beverage Marketing Association, a trade group, 47% of all bottled water sold in the United States is just ordinary tap water that has been purified, packaged in fancy bottles and sold under a credible-sounding brand name. This is the solution that most travellers seem to have chosen, but it is a very poor answer to the problem indeed.īottled water is not only thousands of times more expensive than piped tap water but also contributes to the massive global problem of growing non-biodegradable plastic waste. Most of us are also aware that the piped water that comes from taps is often chlorinated or fluoridated, or both, and may also pass through old water pipes on its way to homes and business, where it can absorb heavy metals like copper and lead that have very harmful effects on the body when ingested.Īnd when we travel abroad, especially to developing countries with poor sanitation and even more suspect water supplies than those in highly developed countries, we find ourselves helplessly turning to branded bottled water, the only solution we know to the problem.īut the best solution to the problem of questionable municipal or local water supplies worldwide is not to buy imported bottled water.
![e coli sketchy micro e coli sketchy micro](https://online.anyflip.com/rxldr/dazl/files/thumb/1.jpg)
In most populated parts of the world, we can no longer cup our hands and directly drink the water from a pond, creek, river or lake (no matter how clear the water is) without fear of falling sick shortly thereafter from some terrible viral, protozoan or bacterial pathogen like Giardia or E.coli. The techno-industrial system that the world is addicted to has polluted the natural environment with myriad hazardous chemicals, heavy metals and other contaminants, and many of these harmful substances have found their way into our drinking water supplies.
![e coli sketchy micro e coli sketchy micro](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/d4/96/92d4961e5ce3ff3fff25427ef06d86d4.png)
Unfortunately, we cannot take clean water for granted anymore. Water is something we put into our bodies every single day, so it’s absolutely essential that the water we’re drinking is of the utmost purity and potability.Įven slightly impure water could contain cumulative toxins that could gradually build up in our bodies over time, causing long-term damage to our physical health. Many other travel websites have covered almost every travel topic under the sun but have written virtually nothing on the subject of water, which is quite surprising, considering that clean, safe drinking water is absolutely critical to our survival and well-being on the road. Here at Twobirdsbreakingfree, we consider the subject of water to be extremely important when it comes to travel.