[00:00.49]Contamination of water supplies is usually due to poor sanitation close to water sources,
[00:08.91]sewage disposal into the sources themselves, leakage of sewage into distribution systems or contamination with industrial or farm waste.
[00:20.68]Even if a piped water supply is safe at its source, it is not always safe by the time it reaches the tap.
[00:29.63]Intermittent tap-water supplies should be regarded as particularly suspect.
[00:35.98]Travellers on short trips to areas with water supplies of uncertain quality should avoid drinking tap-water, or untreated water from any other source.
[00:48.01]It is best to hot drinks, bottled or canned drinks of well-known brand names -- international standards of water treatment are usually followed at bottling plants.
[01:00.98]Carbonated drinks are acidic, and slightly safer.
[01:05.94]Make sure that all bottles are opened in your presence, and that their rims are clean and dry.
[01:13.45]Boiling is always a good way of treating water.
[01:17.87]Some hotels supply boiled water on request and this can be used for drinking, or for brushing teeth.
[01:26.82]Portable boiling elements that can boil small quantities of water are useful when the right voltage of electricity is available.
[01:36.92]Refuse politely any cold drink from an unknown source.
[01:42.13]Ice is only as safe as the water from which it is made,
[01:47.22]and should not be put in drinks unless it is known to be safe.
[01:52.48]Drink can be cooled by placing them on ice rather than adding ice to them.
[01:58.52]Alcohol may be a medical disinfectant,but should not be relied upon to sterilize water.
[02:06.54]Ethanol is more effective at a concentration of 50-70 per cent;
[02:13.34]below 20 per cent, its bactericidal action is negligible.
[02:19.52]Spirits labelled 95 proof contain only about 47 per cent alcohol.
[02:27.08]Beware of methylated alcohol, which is very poisonous, and should never be added to drinking water.
[02:35.82]If no other safe supply can be obtained, tap water that is too hot to touch can be left to cool and is generally safe to drink.
