I sometimes think back to the time that I was in Boston with the Acadia University hockey team. It would have been around 1996. We were all in a restaurant for some kind of free afternoon, or maybe a pregame meal for an exhibition game against Harvard. Those days called for some pretty diligent budgeting if I was to be able to partake in the evening events of a few beers so when the waitress asked me what I would like to drink with my meal I answered "water please". It was at that point that she asked me what I thought was the most preposterous question I may have heard at the time. "Would you like bottled water?"
Bottled water?! Who in their right mind would buy a bottle of water? What kind of rip off, snake oil scam was this she was trying to pull? I of course went with the trusty old glass of tap water. Ridiculous question I thought.
These days if I am on the road, I'll even drench my toothbrush with bottled water. I mean, who can really trust that potentially toxin laden stuff that pour freely out of the tap? It is pretty funny what we can get used to and sold on I guess. My whole childhood to adult life I was hydrated with water straight from the pipe, and now I'd walk a kilometre to a store to buy a bottle rather than take a sip from a fountain.
I believe I know the turning point for me. I went to India to take part in the Military World Games as a support staff and the team doctor was adamant that we drink only bottled water. Even a drop of the other stuff could bring on disaster he told us. Drink Coca Cola; don't eat any vegetables that may have been washed in the water; be careful even with the bottled water as the little ring on the bottom of the cap may have been glued on if someone refilled it and is trying to resell; beer is always a good option (my go to for the entire trip). I was literally tight lipped about the water situation. I wouldn't even let the shower hit my face. A ducks backside would let more water in than I did. I was one of the people that didn't get sick, and the ones who did...lets just say I was quite happy to have passed on the salad.
I took the same advice that doc gave us on my first trip to Mexico with Kelly. Boil it, Peel it, Fry it, or forget it. Good tips! I was prepared not to have ice in my drink and to only drink beer and wine. That was until the guy that toured us around the resort informed us that the water in this particular resort had a double osmosis filtration system and was perfectly fine to drink. No worries at this resort he said. He was on loan to the resort from a company in Toronto so I believed him....and he was right! We dived into every pool, drank iced margaritas....no worries and no effects! It was a fantastic trip!
The next year we went to a different resort; and that's when I let my guard down. I knew enough not to go pour a glass from the tap. In fact even at the last resort I hadn't done something like that. This time though, I still had last years resort and the safety of it in mind. I know exactly where it happened...it was the shower that rained from the ceiling with lights that would change depending on the heat of the water. I looked straight up at it oblivious that I was spouting the bacteria riddled fluid up and out of my mouth like a marble fountain in Venice. It hit me that night. I couldn't be more than a few feet from a bathroom for the rest of the night...then all day the next day. Fortunately, they had chewable pepto bismol and bottles of gatorade at the gift shop. I bought both and before bed that night I chewed up a couple of the pink chalky pills and hoped for the best. Success! Way better night!!
I was on top of the world standing confidently then side by side with Kelly in front of one of the his and her sinks brushing my teeth with bottled water...until I spit the toothpaste into the sink. It was black. I opened my mouth and looked into the mirror...my tongue was black. I mean ink black. My stomach sunk and as did the slow turn to Kelly and said "What the #$&% is that?!". We had heard the horror stories of finding a doctor in some of the local areas so I began the internet search right away on getting home, finding a reputable doctor in Mexico....I was sure I had some sort of bubonic plague that would be my demise. For some reason, I did regain a bit of logic and thought about anything that changed in the course of the last 24 hours. I was an Athletic Therapist for years so I could think logically about something like this. Pepto Bismol. I looked up the contraindications online. Chewable pepto bismol it turns out can leave a residue on the teeth that may turn stool and the inside of your mouth...black. Phewwwwwww. The relief of that moment made the rest of the trip enjoyable and I was able to carry on with the trip and enjoy the remaining days.
That was the turning point I think. That was the last time I really trusted the water coming form the pipe nearly anywhere for quite some time. Nowadays I am a little more careful. I still brush my teeth with bottled water at the hotels, and I don't fill a water bottle at the rink anymore; but I am fairly trusting on the water a restaurant would serve in town here. I do drink the well water from my tap, though we get it tested as well.
So if we cross paths sometime in the future in Mexico (or some other place that the local tap may be a bit suspect), and I have a beer in my hand at 9 am...don't judge...it's for the safety of my trip.