There was a time when I wouldn’t be seen buying water to drink. More than a decade ago, our tap water was hailed as the safest on the continent.
I would thumb my nose at people who purchased branded water. I thought the fad would not last. Apart from the money, it simply did not tickle my environmentally conscious fancy to buy water that is bottled in hazardous plastic and transported by fuel-burning trucks.
Plastic is one of mankind’s folly inventions since Alexander Parkes demonstrated his man-made plastic derived from organic cellulose at the Great International Exhibition in London in 1862.
It wasn’t until 1907, however, that commercially successful plastic was invented by Leo Baekeland.
The invention opened up a whole new world of possibilities for manufacturing. From car parts and telephones to kitchenware, plastic took the world by storm.
However, plastic is enviromentally hazardous to us and other living organisms. Fish and cows can ingest plastic and die. Many people unthinkingly throw away plastic instead of recycling it, ending up in our lakes, rivers and the oceans.
So, I vowed never to buy bottled water. Save water, drink beer, used to be my slogan. Alas, these days I am in front of the queue to refill my drums with filtered water.
The reason is that the deterioration of our municipalities has left our drinking water systems in contaminated hell.
These days you have to be wary of tap water, unless you wish to increase the frequency of your trips to the toilet. My digestive system reacted with shock the first time I drank tap water in Welkom. Apparently, an official responsible for procuring chlorine to purify the water had neglected his duties. I sniggered last month when newly elected councillors in the city of Joburg spent 30 minutes demanding bottled water at their meeting.
How dare they! However, in light of the reported typhoid outbreak in Gauteng and the Western Cape, I have revised my derision.
Clearly, honourable members knew the water provided by their city could not be trusted. It’s shameful that during a pandemic wherein we were advised to wash our hands regularly, our hygiene is compromised by these laggards. How many people can even afford bottled water?
Small wonder that Mzansi ranks third on the continent and 19th in the world in boozing stakes. At least alcohol has a sanitising effect, though your kidneys and liver will beg to differ.
Sparkling or still?
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