The People

Drinking water in the city

With sewage and water piping systems reaching their lifespan, these leaking pipes have become an increasingly important topic for cities all over the world. Whereas cities such as Jakarta and Mexico city are sinking, the leaking pipes also propose a strong threat to the drinking water quality.

A study by the University of Sheffield proves that contaminants can enter pipes through leaks and be transported through the pipe network. While pressure in the water pipes usually forces water to be pushed out of the leaks, preventing anything else from getting in, a significant pressure drop causes surrounding water to be sucked into the damaged pipe. With only chlorine to treat the mix of viruses, antibiotics and heavy metals that might be present in the groundwater, the quality of the drinking water is strongly affected.

As these contaminants might not affect the taste of the water, it is a responsible decision to make safe drinking water your very own concern.

Micro plastics in bottled water

Bottled water is often seen as the very essence of purity. While some people rely on bottled water as their source of clean drinking water, others buy bottles out of convenience. Research by Orb Media, however, shows that even a single bottle of water can contain possibly thousand of microscopic plastic particles. In their research, they test over 250 bottles from 11 brands distributed all across to world to reveal plastic contamination of polypropylene, nylon and polyethene terephthalate (pet). Their findings suggest that someone who drinks a litre of bottled water a day might be consuming tens of thousands of microplastic particles each year. The direct effects of these plastic particles are still unknown, but research indicates over 10% will remain in your body. “Plastic doesn’t need to travel through oceans and into fish for you to consume it” Orb states. “You get it right from the supermarket.” To read the full report about micro plastics in bottled water, the article by Orb Media can be found here