I am downcast by a single sentence on the front page of today's Daily Telegraph (and here's a spoiler alert before I continue)…
In a story headlined "Householders asked if they would drink treated sewage water", the paper has dared to debunk a myth that I, and I'm sure, many others, have believed to be true for years.
The final paragraph stated simply and cruelly:
"The idea that Londoners currently drink water that has passed through at least seven other people is a myth."
I read that to my 12-year-old grandson this morning and he immediately replied: "That's got to be wrong! Everyone knows it happens."
See how the comforting power of an urban myth can be destroyed by just a casual, annoyingly factual, statement.
Next, I thought, they'll be telling us that there is water on the moon. And I turn to The Guardian to find that not only is there an abundance of water, , it is the same water as that on Earth. But surely it will have passed through at least seven green aliens?
