Water vs. Wine--Q & A

E. coli Bacteria

Invisible bug
Breeding in my H2O
I blow constant chunks

Gadabout recently received and email from one of his fans regarding E. Coli in water. After some research I found the exact spam email plastered all over the internet, but surprisingly it was not mentioned on www.snopes.com (the world leader in uncovering internet lore). The form email follows:


Water Vs. Wine

It has been scientifically proven that if we drink 1
liter of water each day, at the end of the year we
would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in feces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of Poo.
However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine
(or rum, whiskey, beer or other liquor) because
alcohol has to go through a purification process of
boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

WATER = Poo

WINE = HEALTH

Ergo: It is better to drink wine and talk stupid than
to drink water and be full of crap.
There is no need to thank me for this valuable
information; I am doing it as a public service.

Now, Gadabout doesn't know beans about bacteria (except that you should always wash your hands after using the restroom), so I decided to do some simple math. If we did, indeed, consume 1 kilo (1 Kilo = 2.2 Pounds) per year in drinking water, that would equal 0.10 ounce of crap per day. Let's consider a few obvious facts:

1. 0.10 ounces of crap is most likely visible to the naked eye.
2. USA water supplies are most likely cleaner than most of the world's. Gadabout knows this from his travels.
3. We tend to drink lots of bottled water instead of tap water.
4. We cannot survive on wine alone.
5. I personally cannot taste crap in my drinking water from the tap.

So, in reply to "CD," I guess the answer is, "I don't know!" But we haven't died yet from drinking water, and I am certain that we ate and drank a lot worse on those nasty aircraft carriers over the years!