As-Salaamu 'alaikum everyone,
Yesterday I found myself in Slough in the evening and I went to a HMC restaurant near central Slough for, I hoped, maybe a biryani or something. I asked if they'd give me a jug of water and was told they wouldn't. They would only sell me a large or a small bottle of Evian. Their excuse was that the water quality wasn't good enough in the area. I said I didn't believe him, that this was the only place I'd ever heard this nonsense. (Think about it: if the water quality wasn't good enough to drink, it's not good enough to cook rice in either. I doubt they use mineral water for that.) He basically told me the door was over there and to "jog on". I did.
So, I then went to another restaurant in Slough and asked for a bottle of plain water. In other branches of the same chain, they will happily give you a bottle of tap water but here, they told me the same story about the water quality and that restaurant staff won't drink local tap water either. They gave me a bottle of mineral water "on the house", though I didn't drink it as I didn't like taking for free something that costs money and I ordered another drink which was enough to go with the food. The drink had ice in it, which I presume was made from tap water. I haven't got sick yet, alhamdu lillah.
Is anyone from Slough on this? Do you drink the water from your kitchen tap? Perhaps you filter it, but what about the water you cook rice or pasta in? I can't believe there are whole places in England where the water is not safe to drink, yet you only find out when you ask for a jug of water in a restaurant. It's not even national news. I live in south-west London and have only heard about this in restaurants. Think of how we heard about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. If you follow enough Americans on Twitter you'll have heard about it.
(By the way, boiling water doesn't make hard water soft. It kills germs but increases the mineral content of the water, because water -- H2O -- boils off but the minerals don't. If germs were the issue, it would be a huge scandal as people would be getting ill.)
But also, why Evian? Why are they selling French mineral water? Do they not know how the French treat Muslims? They treat us like dirt, especially our sisters. We shouldn't be buying luxury items like mineral water from them, or selling it. If they have to sell mineral water, at least get something from a respectable source. We have British mineral water like Brecon Carreg and Harrogate.
