Why we drink bottled water


This is my freshly run bath today. We have had the same colour water for 5 days now which leaves a fine mud deposit when drained away.
During the 8 years we have lived in our current house we have experienced this situation several times. I will be visiting the Marie tomorrow but probably will get the same response that it will improve in a few days.

Is the Mairie the Supplier of your water?

Yuk.
The last time I remember water that colour is as a child in a Devon village. After a lot of rain the red mud somehow seeped into the water supply. I assume Mum still made hot drinks etc with the water. I don’t remember bottled water as a child.

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No Stella, it is Sogedo but in fairness to our very helpful secretary at the Mairie she will contact Sogedo and relay their Gaelic shrug.

That is quite a common occurrence here these days, and our water used to be so good. I’ve managed to negotiate a discount on our water bill now.
BTW, severe water restrictions now in 23, one commune had their water turned off yesterday.

why not contact Sogedo yourself. I sent them a fax some years ago. In plain but perfectly understandable French, I asked them to confirm that the cloudy water I was receiving at the tap, was not going to damage my health ie was safe to drink. :zipper_mouth_face::roll_eyes::relaxed:

That resulted in a chappie visiting and checking our supply after (apparently) checking further up the line.

No idea what they did, but the problem was sorted.

However, if the Water Co is working on pipework in the area, they do notify the Mairie and a Notice that water might be cloudy (whatever) is put on display. This happens rarely and is no hassle.

We are in department 24 which usually is one of the last departments to get restrictions due to natural underground supplies. Perhaps these are getting low and the pumps are dragging up silt ??

Not really an excuse for bottled water but a great case for you own filtration setup.

The Mairie is my first port of call as I can quickly find out if others are suffering the same problem.
Depending on the outcome I will move onto Sogedo.

Fair enough. The Mairie is my first port of call for most situations. I took matters into my own hands after the poor Secretaire could get no sense out of Sogedo.

In more recent years, the Commune has changed suppliers, with no adverse results. :relaxed::relaxed:

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Yes possibly but I feel that the amount of mud residue would be a challenge for any filtration system. If the water company can’t filter it then what chance a domestic filtration system?

many people pay a lot of money for a mud bath…….

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More than happy to welcome paying quests🤣

I very much doubt that dirt is from the supply filter, much more likely from a damaged pipe en route to yours. Worth asking neighbours and different legs of the supply.
Every chance with a domestic filter and I would be asking for bacteria count tests and full spectrum culture tests on your water.

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Our water gets a little murky when it’s been hot for a while, & the supply levels are low.
We had a routine test, years ago, & everything was well within the current norms for that period (apparently.)
Since then, I’ve connected the well to the house for sanitary use toilet, washing machine etc., & I fill bottles with mains water for drinking.
With regard to the other threads on septic tanks, my tank was very quickly thrown in the ground some months after our arrival, & hasn’t been touched since. It’s certainly not 35m from the well,& is certainly not within the recently revised norms (2016 ?)

Ours gets murky sometimes after heavy rains, or when it’s running low. The tests on it are fine, and show it’s sand, so we no longer worry. Anyway, it’s local water as village has it’s own source so hasn’t been messed around with too much.

The only time we did worry was when our farmer’s tractor took the top off a manhole by the reservoir, which left it open to the passing cows. But the commune provided bottled water until it was fixed.

My visit to the Mairie this morning revealed that we are not alone with our dirty bath water. Advice from Sogedo is to run water until it becomes clear. All well and good and will clear the dirt but, shall not be sending many litres of useable water through our fosse. Our hot water storage will take a while to replenish itself to be rid of the silt as not prepared to waste our hot water so it will take a day or two to clear. Good news is our pool water is currently 32 degrees ( heater cuts out at 29 degrees ) and water crystal clear so a daily dip should cleanse the body :swimming_woman::swimming_man:‍♂

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Might be an idea to fill the water butt, to use in the hot dry weather…:thinking:

Just what I was going to suggest.

Stella, Paul, thanks for that suggestion.
It’s often the blindingly obvious that you need someone to remind you of :+1:.
Being a yorkshireman l already have 6 x 1000 litre butts around the garden that are/were full from spring rain and the well for backup so hopefully all our veg and flowers will get what they need.
It would hurt too much to think that we had paid for the water that we were giving the plants but thanks for the thought.