Polluted drinking water is pouring out of taps at the homes of nearly 1.5 million people in France, according to a new study released on Wednesday. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not residents of French cities who are gulping down the most contaminated water, it is rural areas.
Most substandard water in France is loaded with pesticides and nitrates from fertilisers and livestock manure.
In the Local where I first read this report is a map showing polluted areas and there we are slap in the picture. In rural areas the problem with polluted water is because we are served by outdated water systems. We did also hear this story on the local TV news tonight.
We drink a lot of tap water, filling bottles and putting them in the fridge but I think we may start buying more bottled water, especially when we have young family members staying here.
Can you remember a couple of weeks ago farmers blockading Toulouse and asking us to support them against the government in their fight to keep using nitrates on the land? Makes you laugh!
I think with the elections coming up this is a question we should all be asking the candidates standing for Mayor, ''How safe is our water and how good is the water infrastructure and the local treatment schemes, and we would like that information backed by reliable figures.''
A few weeks ago I read a local blog showing a glass of brown water that came from the tap of a Parisot home after heavy rainfall, at the time I thought, mm! it will probably be OK, now I am really not so sure.
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