drinking water

It is now OK for JR Central train drivers to sip water (without having to file a report about it)

For someone whose job it is to drive a train or a bus full of passengers, the safety of those passengers is paramount. The training these drivers have to go through is pretty intensive and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the list of things they can and cannot do while on the job.

But let’s check a couple of things on this list. Did you know that while a train is stationary, the operator is allowed to take a drink of water? Sounds reasonable. However, did you know that they have to fill out a report every time they do?

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Are Rotting Pig Corpses to Blame for China’s Electric Pink Drinking Water?

A little while back, we reported on the air pollution problem over in China. This week, however, a different form of pollution has come to light. On first sight, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this for a prop from a mutant zombie movie. However what can be seen in the picture above is in fact the tap water of a residential area in Jinan, China. In total, over 500 inhabitants of the area have fallen victim to this most recent ‘pink water’ phenomenon.

Obviously drinking the stuff is out of the question and many residents have been forced, as a temporary measure, to secure rations of bottled water. Just how contaminated this water is remains unclear, but even more intriguing is what caused the phenomenon in the first place. And how harmful could it actually be? Could simply giving the stuff a good, long sniff be hazardous to people’s health?

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