But how old and gnarly can those pipes be? This is what Gdansk looked like at the end of World War II (side note: did you know Gdansk is where WWII started? Me either):
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
I paid to use the toilet today
Apparently, everyone in Gdansk walks around with a giant bottle of water for a reason: you're not supposed to drink the stuff coming out of the faucets. I learned that the hard way overnight (and throughout today). I don't think I have a delicate system, though I do barf more than your regular person -- even when I'm not accidentally giving myself zinc poisoning (idontwanttotalkaboutit). When I asked my editor if drinking the water was bad idea, he gave me a withering look and said the water itself isn't bad, but the pipes that carry the water like to offer up bacteria that won't agree with your gastrointestinal makeup. To that I say: truth.
But how old and gnarly can those pipes be? This is what Gdansk looked like at the end of World War II (side note: did you know Gdansk is where WWII started? Me either):
Did they remove the rubble and keep the pipes? That's what I can't figure out. Because the city was fuckin' leveled by the Red Army, and then painstakingly rebuilt based on old photos and paintings. Down to the most minute and exacting details. Here's what my street looks like today:
This doesn't look like the kind of place (ahem, Mexico City) that you'd get intestinal issues from the water; this looks like Narnia.
But how old and gnarly can those pipes be? This is what Gdansk looked like at the end of World War II (side note: did you know Gdansk is where WWII started? Me either):
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Hm, so far I've had really good luck with water. Except for Naples, where I was specifically instructed to never drink the tap water, we rinsed all of our cooking dishes in bottled water, etc. I guess if it's just bacteria from the pipes (and not leached chemicals, as was the case in Naples), boiling would be enough to make it safe....
ReplyDeleteAlso, because you need more ridiculous + science in your life, check out Figure 4 in this (apparently scientific) document to find out how bad everything really is there (or was, this is from 2000).
ReplyDeleteWtf! Did they chart how bad the water is based on people's facial reactions to it? Obviously I don't speak science-ese, but even I know that's wack.
ReplyDeleteHaha, no, it's a chart where the faces' features are showing the relative amount of chemicals in the water. For example, the shape of the mouth is controlled by chloroform. The intro to the paper is talking about how they want to make chemical information more accessible to the general public, but this is a little silly (worse, it's misleading because, a frowny face means there's very LITTLE chloroform, whereas a smiley indicates high concentrations.) PS - do not, do not drink the water in Siedlce. However, you may be able to use it to knock someone out with the classic handkerchief over the mouth bit.
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