Drinking Chlorine
And believing that it's safe
We recently relocated to a city and for the first time in many years, we are supplied with water that has been chlorinated. In the morning, when I turn on the shower, I can smell the nasty stuff.
Chlorine is a common element in household cleaning and pesticide products. You’re probably most familiar with its use in pools to keep them free from bacteria and algae. However, chlorine is also found in a gas form. Inhaled chlorine gas poses dangerous health risks.
Chlorine is used in drinking water in very small doses to kill bacteria. With proper use and handling, it is safe to be around. Still, you should always keep it and other chemicals away from children.
Definition and Chemistry of Mustard Gas
Germany's first attempt at chemical weapons came in 1915 at the battle of Ypres in Belgium, in the form of chlorine gas. The gas cleared large sections of soldiers from the front lines, who fled once exposed, and ultimately killed 5,000 opposing troops [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]. Chlorine gas burns the throats of its victims and causes death by asÂphyxiation, much like smoke kills people during a house fire.Â
Mustard gas comprises four elements found on the periodic table: carbon, sulfur, chlorine and hydrogen. When you first encounter mustard gas, you may not even know anything is about to affect you. The best way to detect mustard gas is through smell. (similar to the smell of the shower in the morning when the water is turned on?)
‘It’s Safe - in Small Doses’
But hey, a little chlorine in your drinking water is perfectly safe. The government would never allow it in our water supply if it was not safe. Right?
Needless to say, we would never drink this shit. It smells like shit - it tastes like shit - it quacks like shit. Therefore it is shit. In fact we don’t even give it to our dogs.
There are alternatives, but governments prefer the chlorine option because they do not want you living to 100.
A friend in a small town close by has chlorinated water on the tap. No matter how little, it smells and tastes awful. I recently read how tiny an amount it needs to be to disinfect, and forwarded to a page with camping gear, and the tablets to disinfect water 'in the wild'. The water in the swimming pool where I used to go in my former country was desinfected with some salt solution. The only pool around at the time using chlorine was outdated and closed years ago. I think chlorine is unsafe and have not used it for cleaning in many years, I use vinegar and peroxide.
Over here in New Zealand they've recently just rammed chlorinated water down our throats. My family bought a filter to remove it, thank God. The local authorities call it residual disinfection because 99% of all nasties are eliminated with UV sterilization. I have sister who lives rural and she relies entirely on UV to sterilize her water. No chlorine, but then again, it's tank water, rather than bore water.
The chlorine is dosed by using sodium hyochlorite bleach. Yummy.The bottle says it's NOT RO BE TAKEN.