Water is fundamental to all liquids we consume. A combination of boiling water and coffee beans produces coffee, but its consumption is primarily driven by caffeine. Hops, malted barley, yeast, starch and water combine to produce beer. Beer consumption is driven by a combination of taste and the ethanol content. Fizzy drinks are essentially just sugary water with a bunch of other sweeteners, flavourings, colourings and preservatives. Pleasurable sweetness may be held accountable. Green tea consumption may be accredited primarily to the perceived health benefits and to a lesser extent, taste. I discuss this in my previous blogs. What drives water consumption?
Simply, the need for water could explain this. The daily water intake requirement is around 2L per day and this is because we lose around 2L of water per day, be it through urination, sweating etc. Optimum hydration is vital to our functionality. In fact, a dehydration status of as little as 1-2% is linked to reduction in cognitive performance. Fortunately for the majority, drinkable water is conveniently available through taps in our homes. However, water is an excellent disease transmitter.
According to WATER UK, in 2015, 94% of people were satisfied with the taste and smell of tap water, however, every 5th household uses filters and every 10th household boils the water before drinking it. Presumably, some are wary of drinking tap water, how so? WATER UK report the most popular reasons are:
- Poor quality i.e. taste/smell and/or appearance.
- Fear of added chemicals.
- Fear of contamination.
The concerns are certainly justifiable. Inherently, we use taste, smell and visual appearance as means to sample drinks and food. Water itself does not produce any taste or smell, nor does it have a colour. It is the other constituents as well as temperature of the water that account for those, as such, increased turbidity, presence of an odour or indication of a peculiar taste, likely suggest an altered water consistency. Additionally, our sensory systems are intricately linked to our memory. In my opinion, perceiving repulsion visually, smell- or taste-wise regarding drinkable water, instils a defence mechanism. This defence mechanism manifests as filtering and/or boiling tap water, in fear of experiencing effects associated with the repulsion i.e. disease. This defence mechanism is justified as drinkable water contamination outbreaks have been reported.
For example, a study published in 2017 by Bylund and colleagues reviews the association between the incidence of gut illnesses and drinkable water, in high-income countries. In one of the instances, a city in France reported a rise in sales of drugs regarding GI symptoms after the city’s drinkable water spiked in turbidity. It turns out, the city’s water supply (karstic aquifer) was prone to contamination. One of the two water suppliers, which only used chlorination, shut down and the other which used filtration in addition to chlorination, implemented flocculation. Water turbidity disappeared after flocculation was implemented.
Water suppliers are legally obliged to supply clean and risk-free water, and in an event of possible contamination guidelines have been installed which are required to be followed. Furthermore, the UK’s water supply system is amongst the best globally and there isn’t a need to filter the water. It is nonetheless advisable to inspect the water quality for yourself because the contamination issue may lie within the taps themselves and not the water supply; this inspection is the responsibility of the householder.
In August of 2019, an article on The Guardian UK was published. The article reports how global warming, population growth etc. result in more pollutants entering the environment. The article references a study whose authors investigated something called biological oxygen demand (BOD). This measurement allowed scientists to identify organic pollution of water. Presumably, GDP growth is considerably affected as health, agriculture and ecosystems falter.
The quality of water sources is compromised as a consequence. The major player being nitrogen fertilizers. The pollutant drains into rivers after being used in agriculture. The authors highlight ‘’In Europe, countries such as France, Germany and Greece have been fined by the European Court of Justice for violating the regulatory limits for nitrates. Almost a third of monitoring stations in Germany present levels of nitrates exceeding the European Union’s limits’’.
The crisis of pollution affects any country, including the UK. As such, further water filtering may be required. Possibly, more than one in five will find themselves using a personal water filters in the future.
Liked the Blog? Or maybe you didn’t. Try the others!
Coffee: an underlying drug?
Beer: from enjoyment to addiction
Fizzy drinks: the pleasurable taste
Green tea: toxicity?
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