Vancouver Water

For those of you who live in Vancouver, by now you’ve heard that there’s currently a water ban in effect for certain regions of the GVRD. You can read about this a bit more on Clay’s Blog. The actual reason why the water is “bad” is apparently because of turbidity. What this basically means is that there is a lot of sediment in the water, and for some people, this can cause some problems in the toilet department.

What’s a bit strange in all this is that there are lots of places in the world where turbid water is pretty common. Even in Saskatchewan, on my relative’s farm (where their water supply comes from a well), the water is routinely brown coming out of the tap. They seem to drink it without any problems. I’ve been to a few countries where turbid water is pretty normal as well. So, I’m not really sure why everyone is making such a big deal out of it.

So, I’m not a doctor, and if you’re not comfortable drinking brownish water, or are worried about health problems, then that’s your choice. However, I’ve been drinking the water continuously since the GVRD warning, and it hasn’t phased me in the least.

A couple of quotes from here.

Very high levels of turbidity for a short period of time may not be significant and may even be less of a problem than a lower level that persists longer.

And a bit more…

The major effect turbidity has on humans might be simply aesthetic – people don’t like the look of dirty water.