Luckily I don’t live there, but the drinking water in Utrecht is contaminated. Enterococci, the infamous poop bacteria. The advice: do not drink tap water, first boil it for three minutes. And that also applies to the water you use to wash dishes and brush your teeth. Shower? Only with boiled water. It is better to work with a washcloth and a bucket of pre-boiled water. The enterococcal bacteria found are not dangerous for healthy people, but it can have unpleasant consequences for unhealthy people. That is always the case, as we know from corona times.
These wise words come from drinking water company Vitens, they have no idea how the bacteria ended up in the water. People pay less and less attention to the news, but within a short time packaged water was no longer available in Utrecht and the surrounding area. I would also immediately stock up on packaged water, but Vitens urges you not to stock up on water if you are able to boil water at home. They want there to be enough water in the supermarket for people who do not have the opportunity to boil water, or cannot boil water.
‘Not being able to boil water.’
How many people would that be?
Based on a survey by ProDemos prior to the elections, about one in three. Pro Demos, ‘the house for democracy and the rule of law’ called on politicians to keep it very simple during the campaign because otherwise a large number of people will not understand it.
Avoid Utrecht, don’t go there. If you know people from Utrecht: just to be sure, don’t shake hands with them
If you live in Utrecht and have doubts about yourself or your kettle: get as much packaged water as possible and, if necessary, drive your car to another city to stock up on water. In the meantime, hot drinks were no longer sold at FC Utrecht’s home match and the club guaranteed that the hard plastic glasses in which the 0.0 beer is served will not be rinsed. While a spokesperson for Albert Heijn called on people not to hoard (which is funny in itself), Mayor Sharon Dijksma (PvdA) appeared on television to warn on behalf of the VNG that the election results should not be doubted.
Was she not yet aware of the water shortage? Or has she become so seasoned that she has learned that it is better to leave the hot mess to civil servants. Boiling water before use is very normal in less prosperous countries, they know what that feels like in Utrecht.
But if a water company calls on people not to drink tap water or to buy packaged water, this is reason for negative travel advice. Because she doesn’t say it, I just do it: avoid Utrecht, don’t go there. If you know people from Utrecht: just to be sure, don’t shake hands with them. If you’re there, don’t wash your hands. You can also just cut off all contact – temporarily – not our problem, we will read how it turned out, you were quite a nice city at times.
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