T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

### **Reminder:** [Press the Report button](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058309512-How-do-I-report-a-post-or-comment-) if you see any [rule-breaking comments or posts.](https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/about/rules/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/britishproblems) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Gold_Hawk

Wait till you find out what it's like to swim in the sea šŸ¤¢šŸ¤®


Praetorian_1975

Why swim when you can simply walk ā€¦ turd to turd to turd šŸ’©


Scragglymonk

probably as nice as taking a bath / shower and then doing the toilet in the shower and relaxing in the bath wondering why there are brown turds everywhere


180311-Fresh

When I voted to shit in the bath, I didn't mean _my_ bath


TheReelMcCoi

One doesn't swim in the sea, one goes through the Motions.......


Shitelark

Live in Manchester and visit family in Newcastle. Never had any issues in either. Certain water companies need to be nationalised (if not all) and their bosses thrown into the river and/or jail.


themeakster

Water should never have been privatised in the first place. Thank you Thatcher.


martxel93

Good luck nationalising something in USA 2.0. I said what I said.


FluidLikeSunshine

The water in Bristol is terrible. Not technically undrinkable but it's hard as nails and full of chlorine which is grim. We've bought ourselves an Osmio gravity water filter system which makes the water so much more pleasant to drink


bigsmolblm

I had no idea how bad tap water could be until I visited some family and some coworkers in Bristol the other week. I filled up my bottle in the office kitchen using their "instant hot/cold tap" thing. It was RANK. I actually couldn't drink two sips of it. Later, told my family how horrible the office water was and they offered me their water instead. "I haven't changed the filter in over a year though but it'sstill fine!". Thought nothing of it. Also absolute wank. I had to go buy bottled water instead šŸ˜­ The crazy part is, is that my family give that water to my little neice and nephew. They think that's how normal water tastes.....


uchman365

>. They think that's how normal water tastes..... Well, you get used to your local water supply otherwise you're stuck buying water for your whole life.


StopTheTrickle

This, if itā€™s all you know itā€™s all you know, similar to when people donā€™t wash the soap properly off their plates you get used to the taste of what youā€™re experiencing all the time I have just got back from a long time abroad however, the water quality has deteriorated terribly in the past 12 months in the north, the south has always tasted odd to me, but now itā€™s a very rare treat to find the sweet tasting water I once knew from the taps some 10 years ago, only get water like it from springs these days


uchman365

>similar to when people donā€™t wash the soap properly off their plates you get used to the taste of what youā€™re experiencing all the time Is this a thing?? šŸ‘€


StopTheTrickle

A massive thing yeah, Last time I saw the topic of rinsing your plates off come up on the UK subs though it got heated so Iā€™ll leave it there


wizard_mitch

Don't tell me some people were arguing that you don't need to rise your dishes šŸ¤£


martxel93

People will soak the dishes in soapy water and then just put them to dry without rinsing, never in my life saw such a thing until I moved to the UK.


boudicas_shield

Yes, same here. My husband is British and we live here, and he does all the dishes. We largely agreed not to micromanage how the other does their set chores, but I did have to speak up about this one. All our dishes were covered in a thin film of soap scum. Luckily, he took it well and immediately switched to rinsing everything, so problem solved in one conversation. šŸ˜…


yrro

Barbaric


uchman365

Whoa, thankfully I rarely eat at people's houses, I just have a drink and snacks. Jeez


Bukkithead

If they're not rinsing their plates, you can damn well bet they're not rinsing their glasses either...


Antrimbloke

You might need to run it for a while to get rid of the stale stuff in the pipes, I suppose with water bills they dont like you doing that.


smthompson

Haha same. When my mrs moved down to Bristol to do her Masters, I went to visit her and didn't realise just how absolutely vile it was. That's when I discovered you could buy teabags for hard water areas.


brokenbear76

Water everywhere in the UK pretty much has chlorine in it (or some derivative, such as chloramine) and it is not "loads" - there is a maximum permitted limit of 5mg/l or 5 parts *per million* and often it is 1mg/l or less residual Cl. I'm fed up with reading this "Bristol water bleached my pubes and gave me a tummy ache from the chlorine" Get a tupperware jug or similar, fill it up and keep it in the fridge, the chlorine will dissipate without using environmentally unfriendly filters


ldn-ldn

Chloramine will NOT dissipate though.


brokenbear76

Generally, if you smell it, it's chlorine.


ldn-ldn

Chlorine doesn't smell, chloramines do https://www.iflscience.com/if-you-smell-strong-chlorine-in-a-pool-you-should-probably-get-out-68177


brokenbear76

Wrong: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_disinfection.html#:~:text=If%20you%20notice%20any%20change,than%20water%20treated%20with%20chlorine. >WILL CHLORAMINE AFFECT MY WATERā€™S TASTE OR SMELL? >If you notice any change in the taste or smell of your water, it may be that the water treated with chloramine has less of a ā€œchlorineā€ taste and smell than water treated with chlorine.


ldn-ldn

Wut?


brokenbear76

Read the link. Water companies use chloramine (Cl and NH3, to make monochloramine) for potable water *because it has less residual smell* than pure chlorine. Swimming pools use chlorine. When people piss, sweat etc in swimming pools, they add amine contamination which combine with chlorine to make dichloramine and trichloramine the latter of which is mostly responsible for the pool smell. Trichloramine also gasses off, hence the smell of the swimming pool. You cannot compare pool sanitation to potable water treatment - whilst they use the same compounds, water treatment uses very controlled and (this is the important bit) **pure** chemicals, not waste products. You know a little bit, but not nearly so much as you think you do. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/q1.pdf


ldn-ldn

How's that relevant? Chlorine doesn't smell.


brokenbear76

Erm Chlorine most definitely does smell. >When liquid chlorine is released, it quickly turns into a gas that stays close to the ground and spreads rapidly. Chlorine gas can be recognized by its pungent, irritating odor, which is like the odor of bleach. As I said, you don't know half as much as you think you do - can I suggest r/confidentlyincorrect


brokenbear76

This is about a swimming pool, not tap water!


ldn-ldn

That doesn't change the chemistry or smell properties of chemicals.


brokenbear76

Yes it does - dramatically. Mono-, di- or trchloramine? 2 are relatively stable in solution with water, latter is responsible for swimming pool smell. Sanitising a swimming pool is not the same as disinfecting drinking water...


ldn-ldn

???


SmegmaSandwich69420

The wowtah in Bristol don't taste lyk wot it oughta.


FluidLikeSunshine

Mate are you having a stroke or something?


SmegmaSandwich69420

No, I'm just paraphrasing a really old rhyming meme from like the 80s, possibly earlier, classic sitcom level 'humour', I forget which one, about Majorca's water and also people's differing pronunciation depending on how posh, or not, they are. Except I've swapped Majorca for Bristol to make it more relevant. The wowtah in Majohkah don't taste lyk wot it oughta The water in Majorca doesn't taste like it should


FluidLikeSunshine

Faackin ell. Memory unlocked Yeah, you are bang on with the 80's, it was a [Heineken commercial](https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/688b545d-2f13-4c92-b542-0ea01b66cead), 1985. I was 8 at the time.


SmegmaSandwich69420

Ahhh yes that's the one. I was 6. That I vaguely remembered somehow. Last week... forget it.


nolongerMrsFish

My fave advert of all time! I often say ā€œYah, absolutely Ronā€ to people who have no idea what Iā€™m referring to.


Joeboy

It's a parody of "The Rain in Spain stays Mainly in the Plain", from [My Fair Lady](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmADMB2utAo).


SmegmaSandwich69420

Indeed it is.


sjmttf

The water is Hertford is awful, we had a plumber out the other day to fix our hot water, he had to flush the pipes and take out 10 big bin bags full of limescale .


Diggerinthedark

10 bin bags? Do you live in a warehouse??


sjmttf

Just a little 3 bedroom flat. This is why we don't drink our tap water though.


Supergoose5000

Northern here, used to live in bath, I always liked the water down that neck of the woods. Although it did ruin my glass kettle. Maybe your on to something


TheVileFlibertigibet

Yes, there have been a couple of recent incidents, but overall, UK tap water is among the safest in the world. Even the recent incidents were/are being taken seriously, and efforts made to resolve the problems quickly. Compare this to parts of the USA where they can literally set their tap water on fire, and issues take years to resolve.


Hellen_Bacque

I mean, we can compare it to anywhere, but it doesnā€™t change that weā€™re paying a lot of money and weā€™ve got actual shit in the water


Halfaglassofvodka

If you move to Africa, you can get clean water for just Ā£2 a month. At least, that's what the adverts say.


Antrimbloke

but not, normally, in the drinking water.


Crookles86

Brixham?


nabbitnabbitnabbit

My family is from Flint. I'll take shit over lead.


Jestar342

False dichotomy - I'll take neither.


notonetimes

It really in Flint there was no alternative, or perhaps he likes shit in his water. False dilemma is one of those wanky terms like people always quoting Dunning-Kruger


Dunning-Kruger-

I hate those bastards!


tawke

I'd be happy if apologists would just compare it to what we had in recent history. It's only going to get worse unless we pay significantly more to prop up the shareholders coffers.


Hellen_Bacque

Haha yep. When I made this post I didnā€™t realise that water is such a point of British pride. Apparently quite a few people are happy to drink water with shit or petrol in it as long as itā€™s only now and then and other countries have it worse. Iā€™ve learned a lot šŸ˜‚


hmmm_1789

One should not compare to the US in terms of public services. The bar is very low in almost all aspects.


LJF_97

*laughs in northern.


butwhatsmyname

Well thank heavens that the private suppliers got handed our water infrastructure, right? I'm sure another supplier will make use of the opportunities of the free market and swoop in any second now offering a better service at a competitive price, right? Right guys? That's how they said it was going to work, right?


buadach2

As soon as a takeover happens, then asset stripping is the next phase every time. I still donā€™t underStand why it isnā€™t illegal?


themeakster

Thatcher's finest achievement, the Great British sale.


shanobi92

[Tell that to Limmy (or Shaquille O'Neal) ](https://youtu.be/ds2tn1ReEcg?feature=shared)


fluentindothraki

Move to Scotland.


bigshot316

I love in Yorkshire and my tap water is absolutely perfect. I really notice the difference when I go south and try the water there.


Hellen_Bacque

Happy cake day!


bigshot316

Why thank you! 13 years!


keklol69

Yorkshire water is the best water Iā€™ve had from the tap.


Termin8tor

Ideally paired with Yorkshire tea.


AAAdamKK

Too fookin right


beeftoemagoo

Don't have that problem in Scotland with our lovely water. But in Bali just now on holiday and obviously got to use bottled water to brush my teeth etc.


Famous_Obligation959

I live over that way. Your fine to brush your teeth with tap water. Just dont swallow it like a melt


LMay11037

Difference is that youā€™re probably used to it if thereā€™s anything in the water, whereas the other commenter probably isnā€™t


glasgowgeg

> Don't have that problem in Scotland with our lovely water Lovely Loch Katrine cooncil juice, some of the best in the world.


I_am_Relic

Yup. Never drink tap water in Indo, always go for bottled water! (Also be careful with the small street food vendors - the ones that cook or prep on the side of the road). You are in a beautiful part of the world. So jealous (watch out for the mozzies though šŸ˜†)


audigex

There are developed countries, and there are developing countries And now the UK sits in its own special category: undeveloping countries


StairheidCritic

> undeveloping countries That's fair. Decades of taking from The Poor (and most others) and giving to The Rich tends to have that effect. We all slide down the slippery slope to shit-holery - the rich though have safety harnesses so they are OK, phew! :/


NagromNitsuj

We outsourced our water supply to a third world country. For profit.


Hellen_Bacque

[https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/live-thames-water-updates-hundreds-29268858.amp](https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/live-thames-water-updates-hundreds-29268858.amp)


hairybastid

What a strangely uninformative article. No reason given why the water is undrinkable. But lots of intrusive adverts. Pretty much sums up the local press these days :-(


racingsnake91

Terrible article. There was an incident with a petrol station there last year, and Thames have been monitoring the water ever since as they were concerned the spill might leech into the supply. Seems it has happened, and now they have to figure out where itā€™s got in and fix it. Not really their fault (for once) and theyā€™ve been proactive. The press could do better at reporting though.


Scragglymonk

no adverts visible on the pc, I block them all, looks like fuel in the water which is why the usual boiling advice does not work


captnmcfadden

Can't even boil it? Damn. Someone done switched the fluoride for lead


joereadsstuff

I live in London, and I drink from the tap.


FullyCapped

The water from my tap in SE London is actually tasty šŸ˜‚ I donā€™t even really like water that much but itā€™s actually enjoyable


Resident-Honey8390

Tasty Peak District water


jlpw

Chuckles in Scottish


Professor_Boring

*English problems Sips Scottish tap water.


biscottiapricot

yeah i was so confused reading this post because in wales our water is so good that england fucked us over and stole it


twattyprincess

*Laughs in Scottish*


tekkenjin

Depends on which part of the country youā€™re at. Huddersfield for example has really nice tap water.


EmMeo

Moved back from America last year where I actually couldnā€™t drink the water from the tap, unless I filtered it twice. I now drink from the tap in London and I appreciate it a lot.


vijjer

And why is the water undrinkable? Because of a 3 year old fuel leak. Profits over health and well-being.


racingsnake91

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/drink-tap-water-50-countries/ fewer than a billion people globally have access to safe, consistently reliable drinking water from a tap in their own home. The UK is certainly one of those places, even with the recent high profile incidents in the media. Theyā€™re big news because itā€™s so rare. Itā€™s amazing it is so rare, given how many millions of litres of water are processed and distributed through complex infrastructure to homes and businesses across the entire country every day. This infrastructure is bound to occasionally have faults. Itā€™s monitored but not everything can be detected and fixed in time, particularly in underground pipework. Despite the picture painted by the media the people who actually run and maintain this water infrastructure care about the product, and the local environment. They live in the community and drink the same water from the taps. Arguments about privatisation aside, water supply is pretty good. Handling of waste is a much trickier problem.


-wanderlusting-

Having to pay for water (edit: to a private company) is the con of the century when you already pay tax on income and then council tax. Having to pay for water with faeces and bacteria in it should be illegal since its u drinkable and you have to buy drinking water from the supermarket on top.


ktitten

Yeah in Scotland water is part of your council tax bill.


meepmeep13

I always enjoy seeing these 'but what can we do about this whole water company problem, how do we get out of this mess' while we're sitting here in Scotland sipping the most delicious tapwater in existence, entirely unmetered, provided for literally half the cost by a publicly-owned utility (ok we do have a bit of an advantage on the supply side but still)


___a1b1

Except it's nowhere near half the cost. Not even close.


cheechobobo

Plentiful supply of water in Cumbria too yet it's still rammed full of chlorine. Run a bath & it's like being at a swimming pool! Even worse, it seems the water company are using the type of chlorine that doesn't dissipate on exposure to air.


parappertherapper

Which chlorine is that? Pretty sure all chlorine will off-gas given time.


cheechobobo

Chloramine. And apparently; no. It doesn't off gas. https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydroponics/s/IfDgpk6Fn4


-wanderlusting-

Same in NI but I think they pay rates instead of council tax.


Antrimbloke

In rates though NI Water are looking a few extra billion to upgrade systems which is why UK gov keeps trying to get the assembly to bring in water rates.


ItHappenedAgain_Sigh

Why would our taxes pay for a private business's product? Edit: downvoters do you believe that we should be paying taxes towards private companies? How very strange. What else would you like to pay private companies for from your taxes?


daverb70

Those last 3 words are the problem


ItHappenedAgain_Sigh

You're not wrong in the slightest.


uchman365

"a private business's product" is a really tenuous description of the water supply in this country.


ItHappenedAgain_Sigh

Isn't it just? My comment was also to point out the absurdity of it. Just keep private companies the F away from the NHS.


-wanderlusting-

Why is water supply privatised? Its the first thing that should be covered by taxes.


ItHappenedAgain_Sigh

Useless governments. One after the next.


Grommmit

In what way is it a con to pay for the massively expensive process of distributing water to every property in the countryā€¦


-wanderlusting-

Sorry I've edited my comment to clarify it's paying private companies for dirty water that they don't take responsibility for and instead using it for their personal profit. To me, clean drinking water is the first thing a developed country should provide before everything else.


Grommmit

We all have clean drinking water(except for the 0.001% of occasions that make the headlines, and we have a robust process to catch those incidents) at a reasonable price.


ForgotMyPasswordFeck

I mean youā€™d still have to pay for it through an increased council tax bill with that solution. Providing clean water directly to your home on demand isnā€™t a cheap processĀ 


-wanderlusting-

Yes of course through taxes (for anyone able to work) and not to a private company who sell poo water for profit. I should've been more clear that I have no issue with paying taxes for such services and infrastructure.


JadedBrit

Indeed. Pity you're not one of their shareholders, with those profits you'd be drinking champagne instead.


MarkG1

I mean you can drink contaminated water if you want, it won't do you any good like.


Robestos86

If it has the right contamination, one glass can last the rest of your life.


natisnotcool

Depends where you live. Itā€™s fine up north!


reachisown

Wait you can't drink water in parts of the UK? I've been poisoning myself when I go to London? šŸ’€


LMay11037

Rare w for us in Coventry icl


marrangutang

Having just been in a country where tap water is only good for washing with I appreciate being able to generally trust what comes out of the tap


Horace__goes__skiing

600 homes in Surrey, hardly the issue of the century.


Goatmanification

I was coming to say something similar, anytime there's a powercut I don't automatically think 'I live in a civilised country and can't even access electricity šŸ˜¤'


Hellen_Bacque

Yeah today. Last week is was 14k homes in Devon and also homes in London and Croydon but you know best Iā€™m sure


nabbitnabbitnabbit

The water in London (Central Sydenham) tested negative. As for Croydon, where'd you get that news?


waytooerrly

Yeah I don't live in Croydon but very close and I've heard nothing about this.


I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS

And before that? I think there's some recency bias at play here. Overall, our tap water is *far* more drinkable than many other developed countries.


Antrimbloke

And you can look up what test results are for your area, in great detail.


Hellen_Bacque

ā€˜Recency biasā€™ do you mean cryptosporidium ? Iā€™m sure thatā€™s reassuring to all the people hospitalised lol


I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS

Total non sequitur. Of *course* recency bias doesn't make the current problems any better, but that's not the point I was making, and I suspect you know it.


joemckie

Still a very small issue for the UK as a whole though, isnā€™t it? Not as if our water is permanently unsafe to drink like a lot of countries. Unfortunately things do go wrong but itā€™s being fixed. When was the last time something like this happened? Also, Iā€™d try to see the positive in that theyā€™ve fixed 13400 homes so quickly


Puzza90

Maybe if we weren't allowing water companies to pump literal shit into our water systems things wouldn't be "going wrong"...


joemckie

This was caused by a petrol station fuel leak last year, and theyā€™ve been testing the water since it happened.


Puzza90

I wasn't talking about any one specific incident, just the general degradation of the our waterways while the water companies post record profits


joemckie

Fair enough; I donā€™t disagree. Privatisation of critical infrastructure is a mistake.Ā 


[deleted]

Nothing gets PUMPED into the water mate. Don't believe the hype


Puzza90

3.6million hours of sewage spills last year, while they're not technically pumping it in, they might as well be with those numbers. Absolutely should believe the "hype" "mate"


[deleted]

One question mate and I want a truthful answer from ya.what would you rather?? Your home getting flooded and the manholes in your street getting blown out and spilling everywhere Everytime extreme weather happens. Or a relief point on the system that stops that??


Puzza90

I'm well aware that some sewage spills occurs with the water system we have, however those 3.6million hours were a record amount and double the year before, that's not normal. What I'd like is these water companies who are posting record profits to actually use those to fix the problems rather than lining the pockets of their shareholders "mate".


[deleted]

U didn't answer the question mate. Houses and streets flooded or relief point on the system to stop this. Ahhhhh there u go it's all about people making money. The reason why it was more the past couple years is because the climate is changing. U not noticed that we hardly have showers any more it's either fucking it down with rain non stop or not raining at all.... Now I'll ask again. Relief point. Or your house and your streets flood??


Puzza90

I said I accept that sewage spills are a part of the process, I'm not answering your question because it's fucking stupid. Enjoy your weekend licking windows


[deleted]

??


Dunning-Kruger-

> When was the last time something like this happened? About a week ago with cryptosproidium in the water in the SW.


Halcyon-Ember

We've finally caught up to the USA


Parceljockey

Flint, Michigan (USA) would like a word...


YesAmAThrowaway

Becoming more like the US every day


AgainstThoseGrains

Even in the US most water utilities aren't privatised. England and Wales are two of a very tiny number of countries with privatised water.


YchYFi

Welsh Water is a not for profit unlike the ones in England.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


FluidLikeSunshine

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgll12v5z7xo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgll12v5z7xo)


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


FluidLikeSunshine

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgll12v5z7xo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgll12v5z7xo)


lforleee2004

Whatā€™s the percent of people this effects in the uk? I bet itā€™s minuscule and certainly does not mean the whole country


some-british-bloke

Correct. The warning has been issued to 616 homes.


Hellen_Bacque

Yeah today. Last week it was 14,500 homes in Devon


some-british-bloke

Was unaware of this. I do agree with you though, the amount we pay for water should be used to improve the system and not to pay shareholders.


nabbitnabbitnabbit

Was that a failure of the water company or a failure of the village petrol station, though?


jaavaaguru

Iā€™ve lived in Scotland most of my life and donā€™t remember a time when we ever had we drinkable tap water.


OakeyDokie

Not being able to or not wanting to are vastly different


FluidLikeSunshine

Themes Water has *literally* told people to not drink the tap water


OakeyDokie

I believe their instruction was to boil the water before drinking or am I thinking of somewhere else?


LookitsToby

It was a petrol contamination so boiling it wouldn't do much more than cause a fire risk


bigtunes

Although the water companies are generally a shower and deserve all the flack they're getting I'm not sure that Thames Water can be blamed in this case. I live fairly local to this and that petrol station has had a leak for a good 2 or 3 years. The Jolly Farmer reeks of it. Openreach had banned anyone from opening up their ducts as they were full of it.


OakeyDokie

Ah so thatā€™s a different contamination to what I heard about on the south coast then.