19 October

Every couple of years I share this tip from San Francisco water engineers. One of the main reasons we’re living such long lives now is that we have clean reticulated water. The price for that though is use of chlorine and cholaramine, to kill nasties in the water. They don’t taste or smell very nice. Easily the cheapest and simplest way to deal with that is just crushing half a regular 500mg tablet of vitamin C into water, I make up 10 litres at a time and have it on a dispenser on the bench. (Half a tablet is enough even for 10 litres.) Ascorbic acid reacts immediately with both chlorine and chloramine, removing it from the water. It tastes amazing. I grew up on sweet rainwater, from a tank. The problem with tanks is that birds, bats and possums go to the toilet on the roof, which ends up in the water. As well as all manner of dirt and other residues blown onto the roof by wind. And animals often die in the tanks, which you end up drinking. You can use water purifiers, though those can be pricey and need regular maintenance. And many won’t remove pathogens. Having mains water is like the best of both worlds, if you can remove the chlorine and chloramine before drinking. Vitamin C is super cheap, and it’s very easy to do.