Those with discerning palates may have recently noticed a metallic taste – an eau de aluminum, if you will – in the local water supply.
No reason to be alarmed, Everett’s Public Works department assures us. It’s just a result of the treatment process. If you drink city water in moderation, there is almost zero chance your body will set off sirens the next time you pass through a metal detector.
The episode made us wonder about your confidence in local water. In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we asked if you drink it straight from the tap. A hearty 45 percent said they do.
Our area is known for its crisp, clean water, after all. It was only a few years ago that Everett rebuffed a company that wanted to bottle and sell our delicious water in other, less fortunate, cities.
Yet a majority are wary of drinking it straight. About 34 percent said they filter their drinking water, while another 18 percent said they buy it in bottles. According to Mother Jones magazine, close to half of bottled water comes from municipal sources – tap water, in other words. A sealed plastic bottle does make it feel more pristine, though.
Three percent in our poll admitted they don’t drink water at all. Their doctors may disagree, but these people are living right. When you drink a milkshake, you don’t think about where it came from, just how tasty it is.
That’s not the case with tap water. When it’s in the news, it reminds us that our water has to be treated in the first place, and that some of it may have led a sordid life before reaching the tap.
Best not to think about all that. It goes down smoother that way.
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