Loved the show! It totally fills that “I need a mystery but without true crime” hole in my life.
I used to handle drinking water testing on Wildland fire. The requirements for a camp seem to be way more stringent.
(They, too, use vendors to take municipal water from the hydrant into a potable water truck that fills all the Handwash and shower bladders. The bladders sit on the ground and water is pumped to the faucets.
Kinda similar to planes- except:
1) the materials are strictly regulated (no stainless steel - because bacteria can grow on that. It needs to be brass or pvc)
2) each device that holds water needs to test every 2 weeks. More if there is even one person who gets sick.
3) we only drink bottled water (that needs to be stored on a pallet, off the ground, covered by a tarp at all times).
4) ice is contracted out and brought in by the refrigerated semi.
AFAIK: the bladders and tanks are cleaned 2-3x a year, (between deployments/season) or more if there are problems. They use harsh chemicals and /or sunshine.
Here’s my dilemma with planes- and why I still wouldn’t drink the coffee:
1) how often are the water tanks (that transport the water from reservoir to plane) tested/cleaned?
2) what are their components made out of?
3) what happens if a plane long hauls to Mexico, is filled with Mexican water (which is not clean- and not recommended to drink tap water) and then flys into the states? (And to quote the doctor: “it’s a sealed tank” (great! More place for my bacteria to grow!)
4) what are the tanks made of? Stainless steel? Or some other material that doesn’t promote bacteria growth?
5) how often are the water-system valves checked/replaced? (What’s to stop water from other holding tanks to leeching into the holding tank?)
6) what temperature do they boil the water at on planes? (Is it mcdonalds hot? Or luke warm to prevent burning- but doesn’t actually kill anything?)
(I’ve heard that Starbucks and McDonald’s both have filtration systems that the muni water goes through- which makes their ice/water/coffee ok- which would explain why franchise starting costs are so high).
God, the way that Midjourney creation unfurls and reveals itself to the viewer in layers like the masterpiece it is. First, of course, the literal rocks. Fantastic. Next the eye is drawn to the hilariously tiny laptop (why?). Then, is that a… hand…? And finally, PJ, the guy looks like you. AI doesn’t yet understand figurative language, but it knows what a podcaster looks like. Chef’s kiss.
A mutual told me about this episode ahead of time. I was scared enough by the premise to get my in-flight ginger ale with no ice yesterday. Looking forward to listening to this on my flight back home for maximum effect!
About halfway through this episode I was ready to shout that you were seeing this all wrong. Then the Irish lady appeared and set it all straight, phew. That made me smile, thank you.
Lovely story, nicely played out, great production. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this.
I just boarded a Southwest flight and they’re offering bottled coffee! It’s not complimentary ($4), but I wonder if it’s a response to the coffee hesitancy.
Fantastic, over the moon to have you back, loved the episode (also loved the preview monkey episode). Speaking of coffee, would love if there was one of those "buy me a coffee" ways to support for those of us who cannot commit to a monthly paid subscription but would happily throw in from time to time as we can.
I feel something was glossed over in your interview with the microbiologist. When she’s making the claim that all of the water that goes into the plane is already regulated by the local water authorities (like the EPA), she makes a somewhat ambiguous statement about whether planes do or do not take on water from airports where the local water regulations may be less strict than those in the US. As someone who has gotten sick from drinking the water in other countries, this seems like a pretty important question.
This also seems like it could seriously bias the results of the study that tested airplane water on planes at one airport in Ireland. It seems plausible to me that none of the airplanes tested ever left the well-regulated EU.
First, I heard no mention of backflow preventers. In a variety of situations (pressure changes, etc) it may be possible for poop germs to be sucked backwards through certain restroom supply lines.
And second, how clean is the fill valve that is being inserted into the tank fill pipe?
Loved the show! It totally fills that “I need a mystery but without true crime” hole in my life.
I used to handle drinking water testing on Wildland fire. The requirements for a camp seem to be way more stringent.
(They, too, use vendors to take municipal water from the hydrant into a potable water truck that fills all the Handwash and shower bladders. The bladders sit on the ground and water is pumped to the faucets.
Kinda similar to planes- except:
1) the materials are strictly regulated (no stainless steel - because bacteria can grow on that. It needs to be brass or pvc)
2) each device that holds water needs to test every 2 weeks. More if there is even one person who gets sick.
3) we only drink bottled water (that needs to be stored on a pallet, off the ground, covered by a tarp at all times).
4) ice is contracted out and brought in by the refrigerated semi.
AFAIK: the bladders and tanks are cleaned 2-3x a year, (between deployments/season) or more if there are problems. They use harsh chemicals and /or sunshine.
Here’s my dilemma with planes- and why I still wouldn’t drink the coffee:
1) how often are the water tanks (that transport the water from reservoir to plane) tested/cleaned?
2) what are their components made out of?
3) what happens if a plane long hauls to Mexico, is filled with Mexican water (which is not clean- and not recommended to drink tap water) and then flys into the states? (And to quote the doctor: “it’s a sealed tank” (great! More place for my bacteria to grow!)
4) what are the tanks made of? Stainless steel? Or some other material that doesn’t promote bacteria growth?
5) how often are the water-system valves checked/replaced? (What’s to stop water from other holding tanks to leeching into the holding tank?)
6) what temperature do they boil the water at on planes? (Is it mcdonalds hot? Or luke warm to prevent burning- but doesn’t actually kill anything?)
(I’ve heard that Starbucks and McDonald’s both have filtration systems that the muni water goes through- which makes their ice/water/coffee ok- which would explain why franchise starting costs are so high).
Great show PJ. Loved it. So missed you and very glad to have you back :)
God, the way that Midjourney creation unfurls and reveals itself to the viewer in layers like the masterpiece it is. First, of course, the literal rocks. Fantastic. Next the eye is drawn to the hilariously tiny laptop (why?). Then, is that a… hand…? And finally, PJ, the guy looks like you. AI doesn’t yet understand figurative language, but it knows what a podcaster looks like. Chef’s kiss.
The episode was good too.
Super interesting episode - also as an aside, I love the creepy hands that Midjourney rendered that are also kind of curled into the coffee mug itself
I'm so happy you are back! I can't wait to hear more. You have such a great way of bringing your guests' personalities through the podcast.
A mutual told me about this episode ahead of time. I was scared enough by the premise to get my in-flight ginger ale with no ice yesterday. Looking forward to listening to this on my flight back home for maximum effect!
Thanks god you mentioned there were spoilers and I stopped reading 😂
I'll listen to this episode on my way home, walking slowly to enjoy it fully.
I am sure you'll make my day happy!
So excited to listen!
About halfway through this episode I was ready to shout that you were seeing this all wrong. Then the Irish lady appeared and set it all straight, phew. That made me smile, thank you.
Lovely story, nicely played out, great production. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this.
Thank you PJ for making this great show.
I just boarded a Southwest flight and they’re offering bottled coffee! It’s not complimentary ($4), but I wonder if it’s a response to the coffee hesitancy.
So good to have PJ back. Crypto Island was great. And this is just what I need in my feed
Fantastic, over the moon to have you back, loved the episode (also loved the preview monkey episode). Speaking of coffee, would love if there was one of those "buy me a coffee" ways to support for those of us who cannot commit to a monthly paid subscription but would happily throw in from time to time as we can.
I am utterly delighted with how low stakes this all is. Looking forward to the rest!
I feel something was glossed over in your interview with the microbiologist. When she’s making the claim that all of the water that goes into the plane is already regulated by the local water authorities (like the EPA), she makes a somewhat ambiguous statement about whether planes do or do not take on water from airports where the local water regulations may be less strict than those in the US. As someone who has gotten sick from drinking the water in other countries, this seems like a pretty important question.
This also seems like it could seriously bias the results of the study that tested airplane water on planes at one airport in Ireland. It seems plausible to me that none of the airplanes tested ever left the well-regulated EU.
Two things came to mind for me:
First, I heard no mention of backflow preventers. In a variety of situations (pressure changes, etc) it may be possible for poop germs to be sucked backwards through certain restroom supply lines.
And second, how clean is the fill valve that is being inserted into the tank fill pipe?
Its nice to hear you back PJ!
I'm officially your 100th subscriber on YouTube!