nitrates in tap water

[Patf]

There is a warning in our area - SW Gers - that levels of nitrate in drinking water now exceed the safe limits. A result of recent heavy rain washing the nitrates in fertilisers off the soil. Evidently nitrates are particularly dangerous for young babies so pregnant and nursing mothers are also warned not to drink tap water. It's thought that there's no risk to healthy adults. Nitrate is almost impossible to get rid of, eg by boiling or filtering, in fact boiling could make it worse. Any experts out there who can add more information? Pat.

[Christine Animal]

Perhaps the safest is to always drink bottled water, as most do here.

[Poppy]

When we came to France fifteen years ago I started having stomach problems for the first time in my life. Have always used bottled water even for soup, boiling veg and making tea. On occassions when I have forgotten stomach problems have returned.

Jan

Lost in the Lot

[Ron Avery]

That is not to say that the water in the Lot is unsafe, it is just different to what you were used to.  When I go to the UK I get a funny tummy for a couple of days due to the change in water.  In the Aveyron they are trying to get people off he bottled stuff to reduce the amount of waste produced, the water here produces no limescale whatsoever but it is a little acidic and stings a little after a shave

[Clarkkent]

Bottled water is a marketer’s dream and one of the great paradoxes of our age: why would anyone willingly pay a surcharge of up to 5,000% merely because the product is obtained from a supermarket shelf? Why reject mains water which is subject to statutory control in favour of water which may be subject to none?

 

Some bottled water is sourced from mains supplies. Remember the stuff which Coca Cola were trying to sell a couple of years ago?

 

Over the years, various analyses show that mains water in western countries is generally consistent in quality whereas bottled water may vary from acceptable (equivalent to mains water) to dangerous. Some samples of bottled water have shown high levels of uranium and many show much higher levels of bacteria than tap water (you makes your choice – faint chorine taste and virtually no bacteria, or no chlorine and lots of bacteria.)

 

I remember seeing a tv programme in which an analyst opined that any baby fed with formula made up with bottled water should be placed on the at risk register. A little extreme? Remember: “Evian” spelt backwards is “naïve.”

[Val_2]

Your mairie is obliged to publish test results regularly on the public noticeboard for all to read regarding the drinking water. Due to heavy agriculture here and over-use of nitrates etc we have a lot of problems with water that is taken from the local rivers for consommation and I regularly get reports as to the quality. If you are at all concerned,ask the local mairie for their most recent results and conclude for yourself. As said,bottled water isn't always safe either although that should be stringently tested at the bottling plant.

[Iceni]

At present we are using bottled water for tea etc because the "mains" water tastes unpleasant not because it may be unhealthy. The only drawback is hardness compared to normal.

John

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[Teamedup]

Nice to hear that you have water coming out of your taps now Iceni.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Nitrates are very difficult to remove from tap water due to their high and general solubility in it. There are ways, but they are expensive and not exactly a 15 minute solution. You are right - boiling could make things worse by concentrating the nitrates further.

The causal link between between high nitrate levels in drinking water and health problems is far from being proven, though there is some pretty good statistical evidence that they can cause "blue baby" syndrome. The advice you are getting looks sound - sticking to bottled water from certified mineral water sources would seem very sensible until this problem is sorted out.