The Insightful Troll

Rants and ruminations.

Its Safe to Drink the Water - Maybe

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raindrop water

50 countries that you can drink the tap water in - maybe:

The graph uses data from Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which rates water quality based on the number of disability-adjusted life-years lost per 100,000 persons — the so-called DALY rate — due to unsafe drinking water. On the graph, countries with an EPI score of 100 have the cleanest water and are in the top 5th percentile. However, the lower the number, the worse the DALY rate due to dirty tap water.

The closer to the center of the droplet, the cleaner your tap water, and vice versa.

Ten countries at the center of the droplet have a perfect score. All are from Europe. In other parts of the continent, the EPI score drops off precipitously. Saudi Arabia, which is colored blue on the map based on CDC data, does not do so well on this map (score: 51). The bottom 24 countries on the list are all in Africa. If you’re thirsty in Liberia (9.5), Lesotho (7.2), or Nigeria (4.3), don’t use the tap. Go buy a bottle of something. It’s what Americans are doing, despite being in the blue club.

As usual - the United States ranks lower than its peers. Unsurprisingly the happiest Nordic countries (Norway, Finaland, Sweden, Iceland) all have 100% scores. Actually, I think the US is ranked generously given the recent issues with the tap water in Flint, Michigan and as the AP is reporting half of the US faucets likely contains “forever chemicals”.

The solution is to monitor your local public utilities dinking water reports and see how your locality is on clean tap water standards. Please do not buy water bottles. They cause unbelievable amount of damage to our environment. Besides, bottled water can be up to 3,750 times more expensive than tap water. You can purify your own drinking water using a purifying pitcher or better yet have an under sink purification system installed. I use the Aquasana 3-Stage Max Flow Claryum Under Sink Water Filter System myself and highly recommend it.

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