What is the water like, where you live? Are you happy with your local water supply? Have you ever even thought about it? Is your local water, Hard or soft?
Here in London. Our water is drawn from local rivers. Stored in reservoirs, dotted all over the London area. Treated with vast amounts of chemicals. And it is so hard. That you have to filter it, to make tea or coffee. If you don't use water softeners in your washing machine or dishwasher. The machine won't last 2 years. And yet. Here in the UK. We are reputed to have the purest water in Europe.
My daughter, who lives in Scotland, where the water comes straight off the mountains. She has an electric kettle which is about 6 years old. Yet the element still looks as if it is brand new, straight out of the box. Here in London. A brand new kettle will have 'bits' in it, from the moment it is first filled and used.

Here in north Louisiana we're on a secondary water system out of town. It uses well water but is heavily salted. Our water heaters don't last very long and we always use bottled water to drink or cook with.

I grew up with really strong Sulfur Water. It was a challenge just to brush our teeth in the morning. Just walking into the house you were greeted with the rotten egg smell.
Here in NJ the water is scary in this town. We have a major chemical company with much political power. Their site includes what is called a super fund site and hasn't been cleaned since labled. The company has a pipe line that pumps chemical remnants overland 10 miles and then under our bay and then several miles out to sea.
This pipeline has been in use for 30 years that I know of. It has never been replaced and I don't ever see areas along it's route being dug up and serviced.
Regular water mains break all the time....

Several years ago we had what was called a cancer cluster here. Many children were being diagnosed with cancer. It was blamed on the water supply. Me personally, I think the chemicals leaching into the ground due to the chemical leaks is the culprit. New water pumping stations were put in but the new water supply is being pumped through the existing pipes.

We pay a pretty hefty water bill, use bottled water for consumption purposes, the water company wants to raise rates by 800% to cover expenses occured for new wells. Not a peep frpm the government regarding the cause of the childhood cancer cases. The chemical company is still operating as normal.

I'm really lucky, goldf... our tap water here is delicious! And I grew-up on wtaer from a well in a tiny farm-town and that water was delicious as well.

But I have been some places where the tap water was absolutely awful!

I am really shocked by what you say about your water, over there. I thought the USA would have been one of the more 'enlightened' nations, when it came down to what is humanities most basic need. But like everywhere, it seems, and in most aspects of life. Politics and greed will always remain, intimate bed fellows.
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