I broke my bathroom drain pipes trying replaced them and had to call a plumber. I was told that it would be best to have the ones inside the walls replaced at an estimated tune of $1000. And that doesn't include repairing the wall, jeez! He said that old houses usually will have problems with the pipes as the house ages.
Yes, it makes sense that pipes would break down. Many houses also have older electrical wiring that should be addressed, but it's costly and inconvenient to consider breaking out walls and removing or replacing pipes or wiring. That's not even counting the funds for professional plumbers, electricians, and the cost of any permits needed for the construction. A few sections have been replaced in this house, but the landlady takes the cheap way out of everything, and work has been done by non-professionals. There is water damage from the last time she had her son-in-law 'fix' a leak. He ended up replacing part of the pipe, but didn't tighten the joint. I, of course, had no idea, and went about my business. It wasn't until weeks later, when I opened the cabinet under the sink, that I realized water had been leaking throughout it, and ruined the cabinet. If I'm ever able, and decide to buy this house, I would probably try to have all of the pipes replaced professionally, because I have all sorts of plumbing issues. Many people don't seem to realize that it's cheaper to fix things correctly as the years pass, rather than have a mess on your hands. Often, people buying homes these days, other than flippers, expect a certain standard. Homes that haven't been maintained will sell for much less than those that have been at least maintained, if not updated.
I live in a city where the tap water is of excellent potable quality. The water sources a situated outside the city. Our Water Resources Conservation Authority has been doing a good job so far in the monitoring of the water supply sources. There have been a few concerns about the possibility of ground water contamination. However, the Authority has been effective in protecting the integrity of the water quality.
The water company is proud to declare time and again that tap water here is drinkable. But people in Metro Manila still subscribe to the delivery of purified water in the fear of diseases. We bought our own water purifier so we would have the convenience of having our own water from the tap and we also save a lot on the cost. A 5-gallon bottle costs $1 so think of the money we have saved. In my estimate, we can break even with the cost of the purifier in 1 year's time or so.
The tap is clean enough to drink from but it taste funny to me. I still have a bottle of tap water nice and cold in the fridge but I can taste the chemicals. I don't know what it is. Maybe it is left over chemicals used to make the water clean. I would like to check out the documentary as well. And besides, there is nothing like a bottle of water when you are over at someone's house and you can tell they don't know how to wash dishes and it's nasty but you don't want to be rude.
The potable water provider in my area always affirms that they supply not but excellent quality water, however, there are times when I turn the top on and there is dark sediment coming from the tap, and there is no explanation from the utility company on this issue. Therefore, I mostly try to check the status of the water flow before using.
My tap water is nice quality actually, it's drinkable and it actually tastes nice. I don't usually drink water from the tap but if I really need to then I can. The water at my uni was quite bad though, since they had to make constant inspections and we couldn't drink it.
I would not use the word fortunate but am satisfied with the quality of tapwater in my place. It is not prone to rationing since it comes from permanent streams before being dammed and purified with chlorine. For this reason, the water is cheap especially during the rainy season. One drawback of tapwater is that the chemicals used to treat it in large scale projects are not exactly good for the gut.
We derive our water from a water hiring company. The problem is that the staff are generally hired through a system of nepotism through the water works department. The issue worsens when you consider the fact that they tend to put excess chlorine into the water. The other problem is the fact that corruption has taken the better of them resulting in some cases of cholera and typhoid as well as bilharzia. The only problem to contaminated water is to manufacture it in your household.
It seems good, tastes a little off, but we always have a filtering system just to be safe. At our old house, which was located in a suburban area, there used to periodically be lapses where the water would be very dirty and murky. Along with all the problems in Flint, it's just better to be safe than sorry.
Ok, I'm having to eat my words here LOL Botswana water has always been good to drink straight out of the tap. But the US government recently conducted their own tests on it and concluded it wasn't safe for human consumption! Doctors are even discouraging people from drinking it or even using it for cooking. Their findings concluded that the chemicals and the combination of chemicals used to purify it means it's toxic. They've advised even boiling it is not the answer, and what's worse, the effects will not show for years to come. So ever since I heard this, I stick even more to bottled water, even for making tea and coffee!
The water in my area is fine and perfectly safe to drink straight from the tap. I drank from a neighbourhood tap/faucet as a child too and am still here, thirty years later, so I really do think there's no issue with it whatsoever.
