Another problem is with the Water Districts turning the water off during certain times at night. When those lines are recharged, the pressure knocks particles and bacteria off the inside of the pipes. Even in countries that have potable water, when for some reason the water goes off, they tell you to boil the water or chemically treat it for the first few hours after service is restored in order to eliminate contaminates.
For those not fully aware of disease risks: Of course ingesting it means putting a large amount of potentially infected water inside the body. My wife says that rice cookers do boil the water (but I never eat any of the rice anyway). Washing dishes usually involves using soap and that should reduce the risk of pathogens remaining in large enough numbers (but I never put away wet, even moist, dishes and never use a drying cloth). Cleaning the teeth means using a relatively small amount of that water and spitting most of it out again (plus, the toothpaste may have some anti-bacterial effect depending on the product). Shaving has no risk of causing diarrhoea (unless you shave your tongue ) BUT people who have nicked their skin shaving have had serious blood infections. The risk of infection (taking away the effect of our own level of immunity) partially depends on the density of pathogens within the water and their types. E.coli is a 'marker' for faecal contamination but many other pathogens can seriously affect human health - and may be present. But I fully agree that if I knew there was a serious contamination of the water supply then I would stop using it altogether. I do eat out but am always concerned that I have no control over the extent to which staff hand-wash after using the toilets (actually, the risks inside toilets due to people touching places, including door knobs, infected by other people who did NOT wash their hands, is another story!) and the general state of hygiene. As students are so badly educated here I have scant regard for how good standards of hygiene are. As I said in another recent thread: It is a daily battle between us and them - some we win, some we lose.
I totally agree with you, I have been struggling with my gf about hygiene. I think it's a lack of education and knowledge about hygiene and bacteria. If a ilipinoF can't see any dirt with the eye it must be clean lol. Food stay outside the fridge overnight, if it comes in the fridge it's not covered, that was the way it was when we meet, today she knows, I use a lot of time to explain to her about hygiene and show her where to find info on the internet about the topic so she doesn't believe it's just in my crazy mind the fantasy is running. I don't blame her, you can't blame people for lack of knowledge, but I blame her if she doesn't want to listen and learn new things in life. Oooohhh we have done it that way the last 300 years and it works well for us, NO WAY I accept that told her then I cook my own food, which I do but I like also she cook for me. Today things are okay but yes I have been frustrated from time to time, its been a long journey to make her understand that you can't see bacteria with the eye
Perhaps bacteria is like love. You cannot see it, or touch it, or smell it, or sense it in any way but it is a real thing that grows stronger and stronger over time, until it reaches a fatal dose.
Then you are doing her a great service - I am always having to point out similar facts to my Filipino family. Where education lacks within then it must come from outside. It is a bit like "Well, I smoked for 40 years and it hasn't killed me".
