chlorinating produce and filtering water

I have failed to share with you the process we go through in order to eat and drink water. The water is not safe for drinking, so each apartment occupied by missionaries, as well as the mission office, has a filtering system. We can only run cold water through that system. It's not difficult once you get in the habit of not just turning on the faucet for a drink of water. There are 3 filters and they have to be changed, each one at a different period of time.

The more challenging thing for me is that all produce (except bananas and oranges or anything else you remove a thick peeling from) have to be soaked in filtered water to which has been added a few drops of bleach. They are soaked and rinsed and drained. That has, on more than one occasion, kept me from buying apples here. (The apples don't look all that good anyway.) The bananas and oranges have been excellent so I'm eating a lot of them.

We bought potatoes and sweet potatoes to cook up for a Christmas eve dinner we will have here at the office with the 10 young missionaries serving in our area. Sis. Harper washed and scrubbed them and set them out to dry off. We have to do that even though we will peel the regular potatoes before cooking them.

We also are advised not to eat fish here. There is a high rate of mercury in the rivers.