So, this finally explains the jolly attitude of all those folks. I always figured it was the daily pints.

This sounds similar to the claims in Ringaskiddy Ireland. There is a belief there that the men are more ... er ... energetic thanks to quanties of pharmaceutical dust being coughed into the air by the Pfizer folks at the plant.

Bill

Judyrem, I'm glad someone got my point!

It's probably because the ancient pipes means that the sewage system liquids get into the drinking pipes, and since so many Brits are on Prozac because of the weather, loss of empire, fear of Brusselscrats, David Beckham going to Spain, the "Paki" invasion, the depressing architecture, etc., a lot goes into the loo and back up to the faucet.

Ugh, PalQ, that is a truly disgusting thought!

PalQ is sort of right. I remember reading some years ago about the estrogen levels in streams in England, blamed, they said, on women taking birth control and the residue going down the toilet and eventually reappearing in streams. The article was about how few male fish were being born and those that were born having female attributes. Ah - humans - we're a big mess.

PalQ sounds like he is a medical student or a sanitary engineer.
They frequently like to gross people out.
Mind you the engineer need not be sanitary him or herself, he or she just tries to engineer sanitary systems.

I think I will take my filter straw with me!