First thing came to my mind was the water. Why I said that, years ago I had ordered 30 bottles of 25lts Evian Mineral Water (French) for my vessel and later my Captain complained that it was no good. I investigated and found there was high deposit of calcium on the water dispenser.
4 years ago while camping in one of Mioali camp ground. The owner had tapped the mountain water to his water dispenser and I saw the same calcium built up on the water dispenser. Mountain water do contain high Calcium especially our mountains in Taiwan. I have seen dried up river with white streak residue left over on the river bed, I tasted and it was salty and sour, my thought they were Calcium Chloride...not a Chemist but that what we learnt in school.
Our body needs Calcium however excessive intake will cause problems such as Parathyriod Disease. As an outdoor camper who uses water source from the mountain, I decided to do some research on this matter and came up with a stunning information that the government was aware of this problem. Here was the quote
"The relationship between death from cerebrovascular disease and the levels of magnesium and calcium in drinking water was examined using an ecological design. The study area consisted of 227 municipalities in Taiwan. Data on the levels of magnesium and calcium in drinking water have been collected from the Taiwan Water Supply Corporation (TWSC). These levels of magnesium and calcium were compared using the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cerebrovascular disease (1981-1990). A statistically significant inverse relationship was present between cerebrovascular mortality and levels of both magnesium and calcium after adjusting for urbanization index. After adjustment for calcium levels in drinking water and urbanization index, the weighted multivariate-adjusted regression coefficient indicated a decrease of 0.248 in the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for every 100 mg/L increase in magnesium levels in drinking water. The results from this study strengthen the hypothesis that magnesium in drinking water helps to prevent death from cerebrovascular disease."
Last night I decided to change my shower head as it had some clogs. While replacing the shower head I found the clogs were caused by Calcium deposit. Same thing I found on my running water tap. So my question is there still too much Calcium in our current household water supply. I really do not know but the quantity found last night was not more than the campsite in Miaoli.
As for drinking water, we have an inbuilt household water filter system which we hope it will reduce the calcium in the water. As for outdoor, we will still stick to water filtration even the water is clean. Our household drinking water is mostly boiled after filtration and as for outdoor, we try to do the same otherwise consume in lesser quantity after filtration.
Water can be the source of life but also a slow death. This is a science beyond my comprehend to know what water is safe to drink but will do the best to reduce harm later.
PS if your authority says the water from the tap is safe to drink, do not believe them fully. It might be safe to drink after the treatment plant but when the water have to flow miles and miles of ageing pipe lines which might have corroded in some areas and comes flowing down your tap....you decide if you need to filter it.
