Speaking of "Potable..."

The term potable is used to indicate water purified to high standards.

The sign is there for some reasons.

1) To indicate to a viewer that the truck is not wasting purified water and the water in the tank may not be safe to drink.

2) The operator may not fill at at a (big) tap but may only use grey or untreated water.

Portable water is very much cheaper than potable water.

I)AVI)

At least I got it!

I grew up in New Mexico, where were you at?

Grant County. Huge county, population 10,000 or so: of course, New Messico's total population was under 1,000,000 in those days. Kennecott was the Big Monkey in those days: then Phelps Dodge: now tourism and retirement communities. I'm about ready, (gasp, wheeze).

This post would be "off topic" except for the fact that the whole THREAD is "off topic" and therefore no violation is incurred....

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One of the possible problems with this ??amazingly?? humorous pun is the fact that many (if not most) folks pronounce the word as (cooking) pot ....................... able, which makes perfect sense, but it's wrong.

po·ta·ble /ˈpoʊtəbəl/ Pronunciation Key -[poh-tuh-buhl]

–adjective 1. fit or suitable for drinking: potable water.

Working in construction I can easily visualize this guys face (think of Scooby Doo... Arrrn?). It is funny that non-potable water is labeled as not for drinking but at the same time is put into our hand washing stations (mandated by Cali law for us to clean up after using the john). This, it seems to be defeating the "non-ingetsable" part of its use because we use the same place to wash up for break and lunch.

A current project is a marine Laboratory on the coast of New Zealand. They pump sea water from, well, the sea and store it for use in the labs for, well, keeping sea creatures alive.

In the pump house I was unhappy about how the pipework had been labelled and identified. I did not want sea water pipes being mistaken for potable water pipes. My exact words were "It's not clear. This should be a sea water pipe, that one a mains water pipe." The contractor nodded sagely. I left him to provide the necessary wrapping & labelling.

Imagine my surprise 2 weeks later to get a large variation cost order for approval. The contractor had replaced a section of pipe with transparent poly pipe, at great expense as the pipe was a special order. Asked why he replied:

"It's clear so you can see the water in it."!!

The client agreed the additional cost was worth it for the pure gold story it has produced!

Pure Gold? I hope you guys refused the cost of the chagne order since you all didn't really authorize it. Hmmmmmmmm, proper labeling vs. extra costs so a contractor can get a jab in at you for more money. We are going to be getting a de-salinization plant here in the north part of our county. I haven't heard how big or when it starts nut I guess it will be a bunch of good work, for those of us in this town who Enjoy Industrial work...Cheers