Except for Heraklion ( heavily chlorinated water) the tapwater is excellent in Crete. If we want to keep the water quality as it si now in the other places here is some advice:
Borrowed from Camden KiWI:
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Waters of Chania June 19, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , trackback
In Heraklion, the water is awful, over-chlorinated and salty. Its probably safe for teeth-brushing, but is undrinkable. In Chania however, its lovely. The white mountains of the Lefka Ori are limestone, and the water comes down through them to provide the drinking water of the town.
This is a limited resource though, and in the summer with the increased usage by tourists, it is not enough. Despite its excellent drinking water, Chania is plagued by the same problems which occur in virtually every tourist destination around the mediterranean. Overuse of local water resources by tourists having too many showers, hoteliers providing fresh water swimming pools to cater for those who want to look at the sea but not too bathe in it, watering gardens which look lovely but are unnaturally green for such a dry climate.
In many places, local villages are put on water restrictions to allow the tourist hotels to keep working in their profligate way. A few years ago, I visited Paphos in Cyprus, and had dinner with a rep who lived in a village just out of the town. Her village only had water available for two hours a day during the summer months, and this is not unusual in all summer tourist destinations around the mediterranean.
There is an argument that, because tourism is the major industry in these areas, that is a choice made by governments and people living there. That’s probably true, but someone living in a village not far from a big resort doesn’t necessarily profit much from mass tourism, and may not have a say in the allocation of water. It may not even be necessary as so much of this is put down to the ‘demands’ of tourists. Perhaps tourists could start demanding something different.
Here are some suggestions:
Take short showers. In Greece, you’ll often be confronted with a handheld shower with no way of attaching it to the wall. That’s good. It forces you to clean yourself quickly without lingering. Don’t complain about it, and tell the hotelier how much you like it. This may discourage them from replacing it with a full shower.
Don’t take too many showers. Try to keep it to one a day. Remember that in the high season, when the hotels are full, the populations of many resort towns expand by a factor of 5-10 or more, so water systems will struggle to cope. If you normally shower in the morning, but are planning to be on the beach all day, try switching to taking a shower just before dinner.
Swim in the sea. If you have children, and are worried about their safety, how about getting them swimming lessons in the UK. Make sure you swim between the flags, and keep them in sight. Sea water is much healthier, and possibly cleaner, than chlorinated pool water. After all, when small boys do what small boys do in the sea, there’s a lot further for it to dissipate than in a pool.
Encourage hotels to build salt water pools. Tell them how much you like salt water for bathing. Waterfront hotels can do this fairly easily, pumping water from the sea and round, though it needs more infrastructure for hotels set further back from the beach.
If the tap water is drinkable, drink it. This isn’t so much to save water, but to save all those plastic bottles that are a blight on the landscape everywhere. It is very unusual for the water in EU countries to be dangerous to drink, but it is often very salty, which makes it unpalatable. Try a little and make your own decision. If you have to buy water, get the biggest packs you can find, and decant into a smaller bottle.
Ask your hotel / restaurant if they provide filtered water, rather than bottled water. Express surprise if they don’t. Many good hotels and restaurants will do this now, particularly the more environmentally conscious ones.
Play golf in Scotland, not the Algarve. Scotland is lovely in the summer, and being outside all day in August will be much more pleasant there than in the boiling hot sun.
Visit in the late Spring or early Autumn. Many of these places are much more attractive in May or June than in July and August. They’re not so crowded and not so very hot. If you have to fit in with school holidays, maybe taking a holiday Britain, in northern Europe, or on the Atlantic coast of France, Spain or Portugal would be a better idea. Its not so far to travel, the weather is still good, and most places on the Atlantic coast of Europe have better water supplies.
Happy holidays!
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