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The importance of water.

After reading the thread about the reverse osmosis in Toronto, I felt compelled to share some of my recent experiences regarding water quality. During one of my recent travels to my friend's hometown of Xinfeng in Northern Guangdong province, I was visiting one of the local swimming spots when I saw some children drinking water from a small dribble coming from one of the rocks on the mountain. The swimming area is a small series of waterfalls rushing down the side of a mountain in such a way that it creates small, relatively deep, fresh pools of water that you can swim, dive, or relax in. We climbed up to the top of the rocks where the children were, and they said it was a natural spring and it's safe to drink the water there. Upon further investigation, by no means scientific, we found the water to be clear, clean, a little sweet, and very cold. The next day, we returned with many empty bottles of the local "spring" water and filled them directly from the source of the spring. It was very interesting to note that after you filled a bottle, the outside of the bottle had the appearance that you just took it out of the refrigerator; it was so cold and had condensation.

The tea we had available to test the water was some Autumn 04 mid grade Tie Guan Yin, high grade A Li Shan Chu Lu, and some shu-sheng 70/30 mix pu'er from a newer factory that opened in 1999; decent stuff. The water that we had beforehand was also pretty good; though, only tap water, Xinfeng's water source comes from an unpolluted reservoir and tastes like well water. When we finally got to brewing the tea (gongfu style), the first and most noticable aspect was the tea xiang wei (smell) that eminated from gaiwan. The scent was as was as if it was top grade, first pick. The Tie Guan Yin was as sweet as it was in the Autumn of last year, with full flavored freshness and excellent hui gan and kou gan. With the other teas, it was the same: It was the water that resurrected the slightly old tea.

The moral of the story, I suppose, would be find the best quality water that you can possibly find; tap water simply WILL NOT do. Also, go climbing mountains to find water if you can!

Reply to
Mydnight
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Our mountain first aid stations are full of people with fake heart attacks because of high altitude sickness and lifelong attacks of Giardi symtoms because they didn't boil the pure mountain spring water polluted with parasites and germs by the creator of intelligent design.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I'm alive and kicking, thanks.

Reply to
Mydnight

And of course, he had to boil the water if he wanted to make tea.

Reply to
Alex Szmajda

That is Giardia. It makes the Montezuma Revenge look like constipation. When you get it you'll be alive and kicking in the ER room from stomach cramps. It is an untreatable bug that lives with the bacteria in your stomach till you eat something it doesn't like. Mountain water districts know this which is why they have high levels of chlorine like Aspen and Vail.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

The water was boiled when I made the tea...common sense would tell you that.

Why do you assume that this strain of bacteria native to the USA, or where ever you are, exists in a remote Chinese village? The local people of this village are known around the province for their longevity, and from what my friend's relatives told me, their water is highly sought after. There are many natural springs around this area and natural hotsprings as well due to volcanic activity.

There have been 0 cases of whatever ailment you described above in their small hospital's records to date, just to let you know.

And, I guess you're just jealous of my water; you've probably never tasted tea this good before. Enjoy your reverse osmosis.

Reply to
Mydnight

My water comes from an aquifer charged over the last 70 million years. It just comes up through the well out of the faucet at a prechilled constant year round 60F. There is some mineral buildup on the kettle and the glass teapot needs cleaning about once a month. There is a harmless bacteria that lives in the pressure tank I'm suppose to treat with chlorine once a year but I don't. You only notice it on the hottest days when the water warms to room temperature in the lines.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

We don't have any mineral buildup whatsoever; not in the kettle or in the rest of our tea stuff. I do remember when I was in the US for a bit, and my brother bought an automatic water boiler from Wal-mart. It took only about 2 weeks for the inside of the pot to be coated with some sort of white, calicum like substance from using "spring" water that I bought in the supermarket. If you can get that much gunk from supposedly natural (processed) water, I couldn't imagine how fast it would take using tap water.

My normal water comes from my water machine; you know, one of those deals that you can get the 5 gallon jugs. In China, it's the best way for water consumption. I'm using Danoe "Health" spring water, and it yields a pretty good brew.

Reply to
Mydnight

This is why it's important to drink tea. By boiling the water for tea, you kill giardia and make otherwise unsafe water into safe water that also tastes good (due to the tea added).

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I also seem to remember chlorine evaporates at boiling temperatures. I also boil water because tea is an agricultural product.

Jim

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I live in a mountain community in the western US, and the water that comes out of my tap is pure untreated spring water. Very nice for making tea. Communities only need to treat water for giardia if the water source has a high likelihood of coming in contact with fecal matter (poop). Beavers are the main carriers of giardia in these mountains and any water near beaver dams needs to be treated for giardia. Area high in human traffic and dog traffic (human poop and dog poop) also are in danger. However, lots and lots of mountain water is giardia free, especially in high altitudes without poop.

Sorry, couldn't resist typing poop multiple times.

My tea tastes great with my water. I have to carry my own water with me when I go to work (in the valley) because I can't stand chlorinated stuff anymore.

In fact my tap water is safer than bottled "spring water" because it undergoes more rigorous water testing. Maybe I could start a mail order business . . . bottle my own water to sell for tea consumption . . .

L
Reply to
Lara Burton

Hey Lara, I live in the the US western mountains as well, but I wanted to point out that there is an awful lot of poop at higher altitudes. I was hiking two weeks ago in Rocky Mountain National park, and saw two deer close up while I was above treeline. Large quantities of (deer) droppings could be found past 13,000 ft., don't forget all the pikas and chipmunks that leave thier waste (albeit smaller droppings).

Reply to
TeaDave

yes deer poop is everywhere (and elk, and moose, and cougar and bear and all those little forest creatures) but for some reason, it is ok in the water. my friend monitors the natural springs that make up our water supply (on the side of the mountain==no beavers) and he is only worried about human traffic and dog traffic. so i suppose i am making my tea with deer poop water (perhaps that is why it tastes good?), but it's at least better than the water down in the city--which even my children refuse to drink at restaurants. i'm not sure if deer carry giardia--but i'm thinking they must not.

L
Reply to
Lara Burton

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