Water, Adelaide
One of Adelaide’s biggest claims to fame is that it has the worst drinking water of any city in the developed world. ‘It’s the closest thing to Guinness without tasting nice,’ is the most apt description. Adelaide water is a bit like Vegemite and test cricket: you can’t acquire a taste for it as an adult. You need to grow up with it.I was about 12 before I drank rainwater for the first time. It tasted weird. I eventually realised that what I had assumed was the natural flavour of water was actually a combination of dirt and chlorine. The story used to be told that Adelaide was one of only two ports where ships refused to take on water—Calcutta being the other one—but this was probably just boasting. Adelaide water doesn’t actually give people dysentry or anything like that.
As former premier Don Dunstan once pointed out, ‘The only criticism that could be made of the water supply was that it was alkaline and its taste was unattractive.’ Well, yes…What makes Adelaide water so bad is that South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent, and relies partly on the last murky trickle of the River Murray for its water supply. Scientists say that unless the Murray’s salinity problems are addressed, the water will be too salty to drink within 20 years.
But that’s all right, because South Australia is also home to Coopers Brewery. [HV]