[Sca-cooks] Medieval water

[Laureen Hart]

I think the masses are convinced that all of Europe was covered in feces, and people had no sense.
The cookery texts advising "use fair water" might lead some to believe that most people weren't using clean water.

We have remote vacation property and drink water from the large, rushing, mountain stream.
There are no people or farms upstream.
People have warned us for years that we are courting microbial disaster. No one has gotten sick yet.
We are clear that we are at risk for Giardia at the least, but the general agreement is - should you get sick tell the Dr. you have been drinking untreated water.

Randell Raye

-----Original Message-----
From: Sca-cooks [mailto:sca-cooks-bounces+lhart=graycomputer.com at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Drew Shiel
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 6:09 AM
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] I Tried a Medieval Diet, and also watered wine

On 21 June 2016 at 06:08, <JIMCHEVAL at aol.com> wrote:

> There is simply no evidence that medieval water in general was 
> especially dangerous, given that a lot of it was rural (springs, 
> wells, etc) and at any  rate the real damage done by cities 
> (over-population, industry) was some ways  off.


   I'm always a little puzzled by this. I grew up in rural Ireland, and our running water in the house was just diverted from a stream, fed from a spring a few hundred metres up the hill. Most rivers here (those that are not downstream of factories or major towns) are clear and entirely drinkable - and that's now, in 2016. Indeed, I'd often be happier drinking water from the Avoca or the Slaney than the water from the taps in some parts of Dublin.

  What do people think was in medieval water to make it anything less than safe?

  Le meas,
  Aodh

--
Ebb & Flow: A fortnightly letter about stuff.
http://tinyletter.com/ebbandflow
"Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish." -- Ovid.
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