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A man who traveled to India recently posted a video of himself bringing back two bottles of water from the Ganges River. But the sight of the murky water, already starting to grow algae, drew condemnation from commenters, who accused him of bringing potentially disease-ridden pathogens back to Taiwan. In a response video, the man apologized and promised to bring the water back to the Ganges.

- Algae’s started growing in my Ganges water.

When visiting the Ganges River in India, this traveler filled two plastic bottles with water to bring back with him. Little did he know he was about to start a firestorm.

- Ganges water, I’m bringing you to see a plane.

Just seeing these bottles of turbid water is enough to make your skin crawl. Even though the Ganges is a sacred river, it’s also a place where locals wash their clothes, prepare food, and conduct funeral rites. Commenters on the man’s post called on customs or the CDC to intervene.

Hsiang Hsiang
Traveler
Last month, I went to India with some friends and filmed travel videos. I heard the locals will bring water from the Ganges back with them for worship, so I thought I’d bring some back to Taiwan to share with my friends. I never thought it would be shared around to all of Taiwan. I’m so sorry! It’s been in Taiwan for a month now and nothing has leaked. Not a drop.

Hsiang Hsiang promised to return the water. An Indian friend also told him that people believe the Ganges holds the souls of the dead, so taking water without permission disrupts their rest. The Ganges has often become a topic of conversation. Once, a Chinese influencer drank a glass of water straight from the river while filming himself. But could bringing two bottles back really cause pollution or spread infectious disease?

Huang Yu-cheng
Pediatric infectious disease specialist
If you left a bottle of water from a Taiwanese river sitting for a month, there would definitely be some bacteria in it as well. Drug-resistant bacteria don’t necessarily multiply quickly unless they’re under pressure from antibiotics. So unless those bottles of river water have been fed antibiotics every day, it won’t breed particularly resilient bacteria.

The doctor said that unless it’s cultured intentionally, there isn’t much danger posed by the bottles of river water. But from the look of them, it’s no wonder people are concerned.

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#Ganges #India #river #riverwater #publichealth #bacteria #souvenir #holywater #influencer #pollution

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