China Environmental Problems Apparently Worse Than We Thought
The following, from Caijing, found its way into my Inbox recently:
To be fair, the “Not” was not emphasized (e.g. Not) in that headline, so my interpretation of it is not exactly fair. However, my first reaction honestly was that somehow it was newsworthy that tap water somewhere in China was free of chemical pollution.
Well, you guessed it, I was a bit, um, mistaken.
The article (Chinese only) was actually about the recent pollution case in Hubei, essentially following up to announce that the drinking water was once again potable — yeah, sure.
You have to wonder, though, what the PR toll is with all these horror stories floating around out there. Reminds me of the 1970s in the US. I don’t recall ever drinking tap water in California or Massachusetts, although I have been told that there are some places where you can actually do so safely.
Once it gets into your head that everything is polluted, it’s very hard to break out of that mindset. This is good news to the bottled water companies, I suppose, but bad news to municipal authorities. Actually, I take that back. Lots of folks believe that something like 80% of the “Spring Water” you get delivered to your home or office in one of those 20-liter bottles is really tap water anyway, so perhaps there isn’t much confidence left in the water biz at all these days.
Good news to the companies that make soft drinks and beer maybe???
I grew up drinking Cleveland tap water and so did everyone I know. The movement towards bottled water and brita filters and etc. all came later, and so far as I know my graduating class from high school was not abnormally contaminated with anything other than hormones and ennui. I think a lot of it is paranoia.
I’ve drank the Beijing tap water before, and I brush my teeth with it with no ill effects. Older buildings often have a smell to the water, which may indicate it’s being piped up from the springs beneath the city, or that it’s been recycled (badly). Even then, it hasn’t hurt me.
An oft-quoted (though maybe myth) statement from expats in Beijing is that the US embassy doctor in Beijing about ten years ago said the BJ tap water was fine to drink, however in older buildings with older pipes you may need to worry about corrosion and seepage causing contaminants.
Again, it’s an oft-quoted statement that may not have any truth to it (anyone know a doc at US embassy to confirm??). Another China Hearsay….