TODAY'S WORD: l'eau du robinet
: tap water
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Eau du robinet. Peut-on boire l'eau du robinet en France?
Tap water. Can we drink tap water in France?
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE…
Is our water in France safe to drink? (Maybe too safe?)
As I type this report, it feels as though my tongue has been stripped of its taste buds after drinking a glass of water from our kitchen sink. But before causing a national panic–and before this blog disappears from the radar silenced by the powers that be–let me say that, up until 4 days ago, I have always drunk tap water in France!
And yet, I can't help but wonder: are they putting something into our water?
Wait! Before calling me paranoid, or "one of those conspiracy hurluberlus" (true, I have been glued to "prepper" videos, lately, as I stuff our property (our prepper homestead?) with edible plants, trees and "Patriot" blueberries.
Strangely, our tap water did not taste (or smell!) this way before last week's mouse-induced flood, so maybe it's our fault? But I can't picture Jean-Marc, naked in the pigeon hut, pouring cleaner down the water pipe (on second thought where exactly is the water pipe?). Before I start to suspect my husband–as well as The State of France–let's go over the facts. And here are the facts: our tap water tastes like la javel!
As I sit here sucking on my tongue (hoping to get my taste buds to stand up again after being mowed down by municipal water!), I ask myself, Is it simply a coincidence? That just as we recovered from Friday's flood, and repaired the water pipe, the nearest water treatment plant suddenly changed its recipe for tap water? Adding tons of chlore! POW this stuff is strong!!!
Meantime, we are drinking bottled water, and bottling up our tap water to be analyzed in Toulon. As for my poor bleached tongue, I can still enjoy my mother-in-law's just-made tapenade! So maybe taste buds do regenerate?
***
In the comments, below, share your experience with tap water. Do you drink it? Why? Why not? Do you drink l'eau du robinet when in France? Should I buy a filter? Have water delivered? Thanks for sharing all you know about eau.
Update: several of you have recommended the Brita Filter Pitcher and the Big Berkey water filter
FRENCH VOCABULARY
potable = drinkable
un hurluberlu = an eccentric, oddball, extravagant person
la tapenade = green or black olive spread
la javel = bleach
le chlore = chlorine
l'eau du robinet (f) = tap water
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I’ve been drinking the tapwater in Saint-Chinian for the past 16 years, but I do use sometimes use a Brita filter. I find that our water supplier tends to chlorinate the system from time to time, and when I can smell the chlorine I make sure that I run the water through the filter. Otherwise it’s fine straight from the tap. France has some of the best quality tap water in Europe, yet also a very high mineral water consumption!!
I have lived several places and all of the water sources have their own unique flavor depending on well water vs. municipal vs. desert vs mountains vs river vs…well you get the idea. Only here in North Carolina where most of the water comes from lakes do I detect a change in flavor. About once a year, usually when we have gone without rain, there is a taste of pond scum in the water. I do not know what or why, I just get around the taste with an attached water filter. For your problem, I think you have done the correct thing by having your water tested. I would wait until that report comes back and continue to drink the bottled water until then.
Please tell me that my last comments warrants a copy of the recipe.
Here in Denver, we have really good quality water that comes from just-melted snow from the mountains. You may remember the Coors Beer ads about them using “Rocky Mountain Spring Water.” I have been told that it is a waste of money to buy bottled water since we are blessed with being so close to the source. If it’s not good up here, it sure won’t be downstream. As a tree-hugger, I don’t buy bottled water and I recycle all plastic, paper, glass, etc. But with all the recent news from Flint, Michigan (serious lead problems from old pipes), I can’t help but wonder if there are other contaminants that you can’t taste or see or smell. I will be traveling in France soon, so your comments are very timely. I guess, in the big picture, I want to be diligent about my environment, my food sources and water and air quality. But I can also over-worry sometimes, so I just do my best and leave the rest up to faith and hope and love. And I keep my sense of humor on board at all times! A bientot! 🙂
Well said all of you above repliers to familyiseverything2006. Those of us in Kristi’s “family” know where she was coming from and she is “everything” to us!
Kristi, I’m a bit paranoid and for good reason. Thirty years ago, it was the rare person I knew to get cancer. Since that time, I’ve had three aunts, a niece, a nephew (who died), an ex-husband (who died), and myself, not to mention a multitude of friends who have gotten it in one form or another. I do believe it’s due to external factors, otherwise if it were just genetics, this would have been going on for generations. I don’t know that it’s the water but I know there are many toxic dumps underground that most people don’t know about and which have not been dealt with by politicians or anyone else. Therefore, I have a filter on my water and do everything else possible to maintain good health, keeping my fingers crossed. Who knows if the bottled water is even safe? Who knows? It’s okay and perhaps wise to be a bit paranoid.
When visiting Paris, I always ask for l’eau de robinet and they look at me as if I were trash! I drink it everywhere in America, and I assume that Parisian water is perfectly safe, so….pourquoi pas?
Could you please post the recipe for the lemon tart that you mentioned in a recent blog? Merci!
I drink tap water in Aude. At home in the US I drink well water. Piped, treated water often tastes like chlorine to me, and sometimes tastes bad in other ways. If travelling by car, I sometimes take well water along with me.
I would be concerned about constant showering with chlorinated water. See http://www.researchgate.net/publication/10862832_Xu_X_Weisel_CP_Inhalation_exposure_to_haloacetic_acids_and_haloketones_during_showering_Environ_Sci_Technol37_3_569-576 and http://oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/pdf/THMPHG090910.pdf)
Kristi:
It’s hard to know about old water pipes. I live in a old city (Savannah) where the water is supposedly safe to drink. We do use a water filter pitcher for drinking water with meals, but we use the City water for everything else.
Last Fall we were is Northern Vermont near the Quebec border and there was a water emergency there so we couldn’t drink the water, but I kept forgetting when I went to brush my teeth and I’m okay so far!
Edie from Savannah
p.s. the Tapanade looks tres delicieuse!
I’ve always drunk the tap water in France.
A question re what to call it: is it eau de robinet, or eau du robinet? (Both are used in your article.)
If you’re sitting in a cafe’ and want tap water, do you use this term or something else? I’ve sometimes gotten around that by saying “un pichet de l’eau.”
Jim –
Just an aside. My father lived on a farm in Orange County and The Aqueduct ran through their land. As I kid I was absolutely amazed that there was an access point (a large manhole cover sort of thing…) through which we could hear the whoosh of the water, headed to NYC. I think the NYTimes recently did a piece on the entire system. And it’s true, NY has some of the best water in the world!
I haven’t drunk tap water since a science class in the sixties, when the teacher told us about an “acceptable” level of bacteria…. I’ve also spent 20 years since in Asia and Mexico where bottled water is the norm, though I usually boiled the tap water if we didn’t have a whole-house water filter/UVA system. In Canada/US I use a popular charcoal filter jug, changing the filter as suggested.
Hi Kristi, Sorry to hear about your water- yes it is the treatment plant! They put chlorine in the water to purify it. On certain days it will be heavier than others- the release days. We lived in a city for a year and were subjected to such high levels of chlorine in the water that it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn’t even boil the taste out! We lived on bottled water for that year- and happily now reside in the country again with our own well water.
We use a Brita filter and usually enjoy tap water. When I was in France, I usually drank tap water too, but became more careful in Paris (led pipes?)when a friend came down with the gastrointestinal issues but it probably was the from the kids we worked with!
The water in our cabin in Minnesota however is extremely orange from iron and we put in a Kinetico filter system and it’s great!
I like the serene writings, but life does have exciting times, so your style does fit the issues….nobody likes bad water!
I use a brita filter in NYC that attaches to the faucet and drink well water in Virginia(with a brita pitcher).
I also love the taste of Badoit, but don’t want to use plastic bottles much. Some recommend extensive filtration systems, but I find brita definitely removes the chlorine taste, which is what I hate.
I want to share that I got an outrageously accusative, demeaning email from someone this week and was able to really detach and see that the negativity had nothing at all to do with me. It rolled off my back. I am NEVER this thick-skinned or mature or lucky and it was such a pleasure to feel this clarity and ease.
I hope I can continue to delete things like that from my brain and life.
It’s like getting mis-delivered mail: “Oh, this isn’t for me. End of story.”
I wonder if I can cultivate this after a lifetime of feeling hurt when people attack me.
Hi, Chris, That should be eau du robinet. Also, un pichet de leau is correct. I think I ask for une carafe deau.
I never drink the water from the tap here in Phoenix. To much chlorine smell. I drink bottled water and at times use a Brita pitcher.
Leslie, So glad you shared about your recent reaction to the accusative, demeaning email. Your words are so helpful! I woke up to another email, from the same person, and chose not to read beyond the first fiery line!
Hi Kristi,
I do not drink tap water no matter where I am! Too mant variables to consider with chlorine and fluoride, arsenic and the list goes on. Did you know even pharmaceuticals can be in the water supply? I don’t recommend Brita, it is a very poor quality filter for removing most things we don’t want in the water. I recommend this one Big Berkey BK4X2-CF With 2 9″ Ceramic Filters https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019ADB9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_0E2dxbTPDZ2FG
Or a reverse osmosis system which may not be easy to find in France.
Ah, well, bon debarrass…
I usually drink pretty equally between tap water and water from the dispenser on the refrigerator/freezer. I think we’ve been told either one is fine.
I hate trying to change the filter in my refrigerator and have to ask a friend who is taller and stronger to do it. He tells me that they, he and his wife, don’t bother with changing theirs very often. I’m lucky to get it changed once a year.
Buvez de l’eau, c’est bien.
We are so so fortunate living in the San Francisco area – our tap water is DELICIOUS!
And well…sorta free. I never buy bottled water! If we’re out for the day or hiking –
we fill our own bottles right from the tap – delicious, safe and healthy!
We live in the U.S. where there can be high levels of fluoride and other chemicals depending on where you live. As two of your other readers suggested we will be buying a Big Berkey. Other commonly used filters do not filter out chemicals as people often mistakenly believe they do. And of course plastic bottles are horrific for the planet. As far as I have researched, very few filters remove harmful chemicals. Berkey and reverse osmosis are two of those few that do.
Best,
Sarah K
I don’t think I have to mention how horrible the tap water is here in Phoenix. I wish they would ship some of the delicious Denver tap water down here… And when I was living in Toulon – it was pretty bleh but drinkable. I didn’t buy bottled water – and in fact, the French bottled water tastes a bit yuk anyway 🙂
I just came across your blog. It’s wonderful! Just curious, did you find out, if something did actually change with the water supply?
No, we never found out. The water is back to normal now.
Hello, thanks for sharing this, i have always wondered about the quality, just like in the UK, our tapwater smells a bit like chlorine. Yes you can filter, i have used Britta for years,but am thinking now of one of the bigger filters that you can place underneath the tap.