IF you're anxious about pollution in Hong Kong drinking water, a cup of coffee in the morning may help protect you, new research suggests.
As the SAR undergoes a coffee boom, an international team of scientists has shown that automatic coffee percolators can remove up to 85 per cent of harmful copper and lead in tap water and filter out pesticides and heavy metals.
Team leader Herbert E. Allen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the coffee grounds and the filter could absorb harmful chemicals.
'Sure, where caffeine is concerned it isn't so good, but the process of making coffee removes a lot of contaminants in [the water],' Professor Allen said.
But do not throw away your bottled water yet - drinking more than about four cups of coffee a day has been linked to arthritis, high blood cholesterol levels, irritability and possible bone problems.
With recent questions over the quality of water coming out of our taps, a caffeine fix may not be such a bad thing in moderation, however.
The fierce debate over the cleanliness of water piped in from the mainland was sparked by a Water Supplies Department official who said last month that Hong Kong had some of the cleanest drinking water in the world.
