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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder how much we'd all save if not all tap water was drinkable ...

46 replies

TalkinPeace2 · 26/06/2011 22:06

It struck me on holiday in Mallorca.
The tap water was perfectly safe and clean, but not filtered to taste nice.
All the supermarkets sold 5 litre bottles of drinking water for around 1 Euro.
So
Why in the UK do we flush our toilets with drinking water?

Would it not be saner to move to the Mallorcan system - maybe with a free allocation of 5 litres per person per day for drinking and tooth brushing and non boiled cooking?

OP posts:

Original poster

TalkinPeace2 · 26/06/2011 22:45

How will flouride in the water I flush the toilet with help with tooth decay?
The kids in Southampton who are the reason we are having this forced on us don't brush their teeth anyway

Cory - in Mallorca and other places, the bottles are steam cleaned and reused - cheaper than either disposing or recycling- there is a deposit on every one.

OP posts:

Omigawd · 26/06/2011 22:46

"The kids in Southampton who are the reason we are having this forced on us don't brush their teeth anyway"

Thats why other countries put it in the water, they still have to drink it.

GreenEyesandHam · 26/06/2011 22:48

Do people in Southampton not brush their teeth then?

Taghain · 26/06/2011 22:49

How will flouride (sic) in the water I flush the toilet with help with tooth decay?

It won't, but the fluoride in the water you cook with & drink will help prevent tooth decay. Majorca has many people who DO drink the tap water.

Jenstar21 · 26/06/2011 22:54

We have lovely tap water - but it is already fluoridated. My dad is allergic to fluoride, and gets a terrible rash even from washing in it. Bit of a PITA.

EcoLady · 26/06/2011 22:59

One third of UK water is used for loo flushing. We would save an awful lot if there was proper rainwater harvesting or 'greywater' reuse for flushing. Trouble is, it's all too easy for a cowboy plumber to mess up a repair and mis-connect something, then people get ill.

ScaredyDog · 26/06/2011 23:00

The kids in Southampton who are the reason we are having this forced on us don't brush their teeth anyway

Oh how fucking ridiculous.

musicposy · 26/06/2011 23:47

I'm not that far from Southampton. One of my best friends lives there. I have it on good authority that he brushes his teeth.

But then, he's not a child, so who knows. But if they don't brush their teeth (not sure about this info, Southampton's a pretty big place for such a sweeping statement), that's why they need the flouride.

I hate bottled water unless it's been in glass bottles. All that plastic leaching chemicals everywhere. Give me our tap water any day.

DreamTeamGirl · 26/06/2011 23:53

Years ago my ExH told me not to drink fromt he upstairs tap as it came from tank that might have dead rats or birds in it ....

I am still not sure if he was winding me up or not, but I always come downstairs in the night to get water...
Maybe someone with a man in the hosue can find out for me?

BillyJoel · 27/06/2011 00:01

A couple of points about having a separate greywater system inthe house - it would all go badly wrong and you would be very ill if some DIY-er or a plumber got it wrong and misconnected the pipework. As Ecolady said. Also you need to have drinking water in all taps, as young children, and people not in their sound mind, may drink from taps or any source of water in the house anyway. Don't open your mouth in the shower!!

I let the cold tap run for a few moments first thing in the morning as we have an old house and I bet the plumbing is lead pipes. The water sat in the pipe all night may well have absorbed lead, and I don't think it is good for the brain.

It worries me in hotels when you can't see which tap is cold, and both seem to deliver water at the same temperature for the first couple of minutes. It is cos the hot water pipes are unlagged and so the heat gets to the cold water pipes next to them. Also not very healthy for drinking.

But I do drink our lovely tap water unfiltered.
It does not have fluorine added and so I and the kids swallow the toothpaste froth, or at least some if it. Thinking about it, this may have other effects on the gut. Pleaselet me know if you know any more.

LRDTheFeministNutcase · 27/06/2011 00:29

Thanks Talking and Tag - does anywhere still use lead pipes or are they something you have to rip out?

I did know about tanks in the roof - dad showed me ours and yes, it had dead nasties in it. Dad has a mania about running the tap wherever to make it cold, though.

Billy, doesn't deliberately swallowing toothpaste taste nasty?! We used to have tablets when we were little, but perhaps these are no longer considered a good idea?

PrettyCandles · 27/06/2011 01:08

My brother had a grey water recycling system installed in his house. The water was filtered and treated and irradiated and goodness knows what else until it was safe to drink, but he was not allowed to connect that system to any taps that could be expected to be used for drinking or cooking.

My dad always said not to drink water from any taps other than the kitchen tap, because of what he found when we moved into the house where I lived as a child. He didn't like the smell of the bathwater so checked the lid-less cold tank in the loft, and found a drowned mouse in it!

BillyJoel · 27/06/2011 01:21

LRD - deliberately swallowing toothpaste froth - it tastes a lot like, erm, well, minty... I think you can buy tablets but that takes a bit of effort...

DoubleNegativePanda · 27/06/2011 04:43

Water fluoridation is nearly universal in the US with the exception of rural areas. I worked several gears for a dentist, but am not a dentist myself.

BillyJoel, I wouldn't advise swallowing toothpaste. The fluoride in toothpaste is sodium fluoride which is a different substance than what is commonly put into water, sodium fluorosilicate. I don't have research orlinks to back me up at the moment (it's late and I'm tired) but I don't believe they are interchangeable. There's always been a great huge deal made here about not swallowing toothpaste as the fluoride can be toxic if taken internally. In large amounts, I'm sure.

I could be talking rubbish as I am half asleep after all, but I thought I'd throw that out there. I am happy to be proven wrong.

DoubleNegativePanda · 27/06/2011 04:44

years, not gears. I'm going to bed now.

blackeyedsusan · 27/06/2011 07:44

fantastic, and who is going to carry it up the stairs to the flat? what about those who live in flats with a dodgy lift?

what would be better is having the toilet plumbed so thaat it uses recycled water from the bath etc.

talk in peace. do you have a compost toilet? do your children share bath water? do you wear clothes for more than one day and only wash what you need? do you turn off the tap whilst you are brushing your teeth?

VivaLeBeaver · 27/06/2011 10:18

I've still got a lead supply pipe to my house, old houses may well still have them. If you're concerned then you water board will come out and do a lead test free of charge to see what level of lead is in your water. Our level was safe so we didn't bother replacing it.

Horopu · 27/06/2011 10:47

When I am at work I drink water that is rain collected in tanks from the roof etc. If I go into the staffroom I can have it filtered but most of the time I don't bother. I am still alive. First thing in the morning it is a bit brown because we can't afford to work out when the rust is coming from, other than that there aren't really any problems.

olderandwider · 27/06/2011 12:07

"The water in Majorca don't taste like what it oughtta"

thanksamillion · 27/06/2011 12:13

Not being able to use tap water for drinking/cooking/toothbrushing is a major PITA in my opinion.

I live in Moldova and there is no mains water supply in rural areas (where I live). We have water pumped from a well into the house but at our previous house couldn't drink the pumped water and had to collect it from the well (drawing it up in a bucket). It was so annoying to not just be able to turn on the tap to wash veg etc. So OP yes, YABU

aliceliddell · 27/06/2011 12:21

Ecolady and allegra - I was going to post about using bath/washing machine water for lavs - any idea why this cant happen? We just got meters in, not convinced it's not just profiteering.

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