A decade ago, Bradley Krae left the United States to teach English in Shenzhen, China. He spends less money and says the has found his own version of the American Dream there.
europe generally doesn’t chlorinate its water as hard as north america. every bathroom and kitchen ive been in in the us smells like chlorine, and trying to drink the water makes my throat physically swell shut. in europe i only have that reaction if i get pool water in my mouth, which is how i figured out i’m allergic to it.
I’ve traveled most of the US coast to coast. Never had water like that. It varies dramatically region to region and I taste a difference. I’ve traveled to a couple of counties in Europe as well and the water is similar
Also that bathroom smell isn’t the water. People use chlorinated bleach to clean
Depending on where water is sourced and local geography, water can have extremely different characteristics even town to town. Throughout most of Missouri for instance it’s sourced from the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and generally fine. Down south in Nevada Missouri there’s a high sulfur content in the ground. And the water pulled from it has a STRONG sulfur smell and taste. It’s safe to use and drink. But if you aren’t from the area, a struggle to use. Joplin not very far away has a completely different taste and characteristics to their water.
Generally any place that sources from a river as long as they don’t over chlorinate should be pretty acceptable to most people. The places that source from geologic aquifers or other more stagnant bodies that have a chance to leach larger contents of specific minerals from the ground. Can have distinct taste and smell profiles. Especially well water. It doesn’t matter where US or any other place on Earth will be the same.
Interesting. Had to look this up. Apparently a lot of Europe uses small amounts of chlorine too in similar levels to America. But some countries like the Netherlands and Germany have alternatives that use Ozone. I could definitely understand this taste difference if you live in a country that doesn’t use it. Thanks for expanding my tap water knowledge.
For reference. The levels of chlorine added to tap in Europe (UK and others) or America are around 0.5 ppm. A swimming pool with chlorine would have 5.0 ppm. 10x seems actually lower than I would have thought. Especially given how much a swimming pool smells of it.
I lived a month in the Netherlands and never noticed a difference in taste personally. Drank tap a lot of the time.
I’d wonder if you’re from the Netherlands or Germany (or maybe a country that doesn’t add chlorine that I didn’t see listed).
Or maybe it’s used less for cleaning in Europe and your sensitivity to it is due to that. I’d be curious to know where you’re from.
europe generally doesn’t chlorinate its water as hard as north america. every bathroom and kitchen ive been in in the us smells like chlorine, and trying to drink the water makes my throat physically swell shut. in europe i only have that reaction if i get pool water in my mouth, which is how i figured out i’m allergic to it.
I’ve traveled most of the US coast to coast. Never had water like that. It varies dramatically region to region and I taste a difference. I’ve traveled to a couple of counties in Europe as well and the water is similar
Also that bathroom smell isn’t the water. People use chlorinated bleach to clean
Depending on where water is sourced and local geography, water can have extremely different characteristics even town to town. Throughout most of Missouri for instance it’s sourced from the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and generally fine. Down south in Nevada Missouri there’s a high sulfur content in the ground. And the water pulled from it has a STRONG sulfur smell and taste. It’s safe to use and drink. But if you aren’t from the area, a struggle to use. Joplin not very far away has a completely different taste and characteristics to their water.
Generally any place that sources from a river as long as they don’t over chlorinate should be pretty acceptable to most people. The places that source from geologic aquifers or other more stagnant bodies that have a chance to leach larger contents of specific minerals from the ground. Can have distinct taste and smell profiles. Especially well water. It doesn’t matter where US or any other place on Earth will be the same.
i know what bleach smells like, i clean my own bathroom. it’s not that.
In some places peroxide based bleaches are more common over chlorinated bleach. Plus percentages of chlorine vary in different bleach products.
Interesting. Had to look this up. Apparently a lot of Europe uses small amounts of chlorine too in similar levels to America. But some countries like the Netherlands and Germany have alternatives that use Ozone. I could definitely understand this taste difference if you live in a country that doesn’t use it. Thanks for expanding my tap water knowledge.
For reference. The levels of chlorine added to tap in Europe (UK and others) or America are around 0.5 ppm. A swimming pool with chlorine would have 5.0 ppm. 10x seems actually lower than I would have thought. Especially given how much a swimming pool smells of it.
I lived a month in the Netherlands and never noticed a difference in taste personally. Drank tap a lot of the time.
I’d wonder if you’re from the Netherlands or Germany (or maybe a country that doesn’t add chlorine that I didn’t see listed).
Or maybe it’s used less for cleaning in Europe and your sensitivity to it is due to that. I’d be curious to know where you’re from.