It feels like a stampede in the Auchan car park in Roncq (France). It’s a large French supermarket just across the border from West Flanders Province. Flemings are flocking here en masse because of fears about triazole levels in West Flemish tap water. Mineral water in supermarkets in France is cheap and West Flemings fearful of what is ending up in their body are coming here more and more often.
Triazole levels in West Flemish tap water drive people to French supermarkets for bottled water
Colin Clapson
Published:
Though the Flemish authorities say tap water is safe and triazole levels are being reduced stubborn West Flemings are choosing to be safe rather than sorry. Triazoles in West Flemish drinking water originate primarily from the degradation of triazole-based fungicides widely used in agriculture, particularly in potato cultivation.
Drive into the vast Auchan supermarket car park and there is one constant: cars with Belgian number plates. And (West) Flemings filling their boots with trolleys crammed full of water and soft drinks.
“Because it’s so much cheaper here than in Belgium,” beams Francis Verfaillie from Zwevegem. “A pack of six bottles costs only about one euro here. That’s not much, is it? And it’s not far to drive for us either.”
Francis and his wife don’t drink tap water. “Never have, but with that substance in the water now—what’s it called again, something with ‘tria’—triazoles, yes—I certainly don’t trust it anymore. I don’t think it’s healthy. I do still use tap water to make coffee, but then it’s boiled and I reckon that substance goes out of it.”
Roger and Jeanine Savein have also filled their shopping trolley with water “to save a bit of money”. “It’s almost cheaper than tap water,” laughs Roger. But that’s something they don’t drink. “The tap water in the Westhoek isn’t exactly great,” Jeanine points out.
"I don’t trust tap water," says Nadine Buysse from Waregem. ‘I’d even boil my potatoes in bottled water," she explains, justifying their large purchase. "I’m worried, because we hear so many strange things these days." Her husband Livin agrees: "Only bottled water now, yes, with all these problems with drinking water in Belgium."
Bernard and Nicole aren’t from far away; they’re from Rekkem, near the French border. “I’m not sure I’d drink anymore tap water. All that fuss about the drinking water in the Westhoek District makes me think twice.”
Hubby Bernard still trusts the local water, though. "For 30 years, I’ve drunk nothing but well water that we pumped up. And I still look pretty good, don’t I?" he laughs heartily.