H2 Whoa!
I drink a lot of water, and love the pure, cool, tastelessness of it.
But it’s the time of year when the tap water in Winnipeg begins to emit a certain taste and odour, one that’s undeniably musty and… algae-esque.
Now, we’ve got it pretty good here in the ‘Peg, when you consider that water in other parts of the Prairies can be quite unpalatable. As a child, my family visited a great-aunt in Carnduff, Sask, and I was offered juice or iced tea to drink. I said water would be just fine. “Are you sure?” the great-aunt asked. When I said yes and took my first sip, I immediately regretted it. It was like drinking dirt. And I remember this as clear as day, all these years later!
We’ve been drinking purified water since last summer’s algae invasion, even though the water generally tastes okay in the winter. We just sort of got into the habit of picking up a 19L bottle once a week or so, and usually it’s okay if we run out and drink tap water for a few days. But not right now – I can’t stomach the smell or taste – it is distinctly mouldy to me.
But I have a nagging guilty feeling about this. I know that in a lot of parts of the world, they only dream of having clean, safe water like ours. My conscience, like many others’, tells me that it’s crazy to support an industry that sells water, which is a basic human need. I worry that buying purified water sends the message that I don’t trust the city’s water treatment process, which isn’t true. There is no doubt in my mind that tap water is clean and safe.
So a part of me tells myself that I really cared about this issue, I would just drink tap water and be done with it. The only reason I buy water is that I like to drink a lot of it, and straight up… I’m not into adding anything to it to mask the taste. My sister-in-law was over the other day and asked for some water. When she said tap water would do, I silently marvelled at her moral superiority, secretly hoping she just has no tastebuds.
So, what to do? A Brita-type jug/filter doesn’t offer a significant improvement (plus, I have no patience for them). Do those under-counter purification/softening/conditioning systems work?
Winnipeggers, I need your help on this one. Do you drink tap water for all or part of the year? How do you cope with our algae-infused water? Does one eventually just get used to it?
I find the best way to mask the algae taste this time of year ice cubes!!! The colder the better…and the ice cubes are made with … yes tap water. Odd fact… a few months ago during my yearly visit to the dentist, my dentist mentioned how strong my teeth were. He started asking questions about my oral health and said that the fluoride in the tap water was probably a main factor..interesting!!!!
I for one drink mostly culligan water. We get the big jugs filled at our local safeway. It says it’s sourced from local tap water and then undergoes reverse osmosis which removes a bunch of stuff, including 90% of the fluoride. I’ve never though about the benefits of fluoride in the tap water, fluoride to me has always been a bad thing (I’m not going to preach here – just google ‘dangers of fluoride’ if you’re interested)
That being said, I grew up in a more rural manitoba and always preferred the tap water there. Even when I visit relatives there I tend to drink the tap water and it tastes good to me. City water on the other hand just has a bad taste. I will normally get water when at a restaurant and always ask for a bit of lemon or lime (or better yet cucumber!) with it to somewhat mask the taste.
I guess my conclusion is that the city should add cucumber to the water treatment process. This is looking like a productive morning already.
I drink tap water year round and almost never find it tastes weird/bad…
I remember a very (very) long time ago, hearing that the Queen would have Winnipeg water made available to her when she visited Canada. Probably due to the taste?
I also drink tap water year round (at home, at work, at restaurants, at friends’ houses) and have never found it to taste weird or unpleasant.
I feel your pain! The water here in Escondido SUCKS (I think anyway)!! It has a sort of texture that water isn’t supposed to have, and tastes like river water. It leaves film-like spots all over our dishes…no matter whether they’re washed by hand or in the dishwasher, so our dishes look permanently dirty. That we will have to get used to, but I think we might have to start getting the water jugs for drinking water. GRRRR. I miss AB and BC tap water sooooo much.
I wasn’t aware that Winnipeg water is gross too though.
Brita works fine for me! I haven’t noticed the algae yet this year, (even unfiltered, while waiting for the Brita to filter).
Must(y) be where you live. Never had a problem with tap water.
If I may, I’d like to point out that San Diego’s water quality, according to the 2008 US City Rankings, is 42nd out of 46 US Cities – it is in the “endangered” side of the rankings… wouldn’t they be better of to call it “dangerous” or “danger – drink only when absolutely parched”? I don’t get “endangered” – it doesn’t make much sense.
http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/categories/tap-water-quality
Enjoyed your posting though … hope you’re doing well.
I drink tap water the entire year and to be honest, I never taste any difference, it always tastes fine to me. The only thing I do that may help is I always fill a jug with water and put it in the fridge so I have cold water ready, but I’m not sure if that helps the taste though.
A few bottled water sales people / marketers must have awards on their desk for having made bottled water so big in Winnipeg despite having a very good quality of water – sort of like “selling ice to Eskimos”.
Sometimes it does smell a bit but that’s the whole “organic” thins – organic stuff smells sometimes.
I’m surprised they haven’t moved on to selling us plastic fruit to eat. Convincing us that “ordinary” oranges are bad because they emit a “citrus odour” and can taste tart sometimes.
I use a Brita filter in the kitchen, and have not noticed a change of taste. I have not bought water in months. I have a counter top water cooler and I fill its bottle from the filtered tap water.
The City is in the process of spending approximately $300 million to upgrade its water treatment plant. It’s nearing completion and should be commissioned in the next 6 months.
Once online, one of the processes it goes through it designed to eliminate the summer smell.
So – this should be the last year of smelly water in ‘Peg City.
Also, I find you don’t need to change the filter as often as the directions state.
Wait a minute, did I just out myself as a cheapskate?
I do exactly as Ned… I only drink tap water and usually put it in the fridge so it’s nice and cold. I prefer tap water over anything else — and never notice a thing.