Here? In Taipei? The city government sure does, as another fountain just down the block was shut down for Level 3. Isn’t that what started this topic? Public drinking fountains being closed?
+1 to this. I have a high-flow version (Sawyer brand) and they are excellent. If you’re starting with more-or-less clean water then they last for a long time, too.
I’m sure there are still a few places where potable water is available, but if I were homeless, I’d want a filter. In a pinch you can strain out the crap from surface water using some fabric and then pass it through the filter. IMO LifeStraw isn’t the best brand out there, but it’ll definitely do the job.
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It’s all the same water.
It is pretty messed up that anyone in developed countries could be without a drinking water source. I am sure there could be a way to modify the fountains , so as to only be able to fill up containers or cups and not allow for people to actually drink from it. It would be easy for any homeless people to get a container.
Being homeless is bad enough let alone having a choice between diarrhea and dehydration. Has anyone drank unboiled unfiltered water here for a few days ?
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Lots of people do.
We have a whole house filter but never boil water…
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a few years actually, in Taipei, nothing happened to me. besides the drinking fountains, I think there are plenty of tea stands, coffee shops, restaurants, I’m sure few people will be so cruel to refuse someone to fill a water bottle.
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Because that’s exactly where it will easily pass from the infected to the uninfected.
I still do it in NY.
Boiling protects against parasites and microorganisms but concentrates chemical pollutants from what I remember, and I’m only concerned about chemical pollutants. That’s why I don’t boil water unless I want tea or coffee.
Btw, there is no law to lock up homeless people in shelters where they can at least get water, so Taipei and NTC are giving them vaccines, while migrant workers are locked up in their dorms.
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Its about liability. If society werent such dicks and sueing everyone every chance they get, the government and shops might not need to be like this. As it works now, they would need to hire a person to staff the water and have every person sign a waiver. even then, if anyone got the ccp virus (or whatever is the flavor of the day) imagine the utcry a nd finger pointing they would get. how dar you dontbprotect us etc etc. The response: fuck off, no free water for you. The blame goes all directions, including us the public. right or wrong…
No good deed goes unpunished.
The actual reasoning behind that is based on steam and distillation. The term chemical is broad and wrong.
For example, compare many oils to heavy metals via bioling water and steam.
The reason some may think its concentrated is because heavier things, like heavy metals, wont come up with the steam. And the steam is actively taking away from your water. so you lose some mass of water with the same.level of heavy metals.left inside. This is why, depending on your source, distillation is considered better as common tap water contaminants are more likely to be heavier than the steam can extract. There are those that claim minerals and all that, bu t you can google those arguments.
Here, on Forumosa, the mods. I don’t think the mayor of Taipei is a member.
Either while mayor or president, Ma Ying Jeou said, on reopening the water museum, that as a child he drank unsanitary water from the tap, but now Taipei has clean safe tap water that he drinks every day at home and in the office. Doubtful, but a public official wouldn’t encourage it if wasn’t reasonably safe.
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Isn’t in common knowledge that the issue with water in TW is the pipes?
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How many small food places use filtered water?
No idea. But I always BMOW to restaurants in TW.
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He was standing in a pipe for the photo-op.
Ever get a drink with ice? Yes, the pipes are bad, especially in old buildings, but it’s still drinkable water. It’s safe than most of what the typical person puts in their body. Or breathes.
So, 2 wrongs do make a right 
Poifect!