How could a country broadcast digital data through tap water (instead of radio waves)?

Background: I'm toying with the idea of an alternate Earth that never developed wireless technologies. Radio transmitters, Wi-Fi, etc... were never invented, meaning that light-speed communication is practically nonexistent. One nation progressed into the modern world with an extreme grasp on chemistry, synthesizing artifical hydrocarbons and hyper-efficient batteries. Without understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, however, they have no means of instant digital communication.

Question: In a city with no need for underground power lines, the only utility that reaches homes is the tap water line. What are some viable ways that chemists can encode data into tap water itself, replicating widespread communication like radio or television without the need for wireless signals?

Note: I'm looking for answers that fit a "chemistry" theme, because my world is divided up into factions who have monopolies on different areas of science. One faction does know how to utilize the electromagnetic spectrum, and another does know how to encode data into DNA strands. This nation has exclusively chemistry going for it, and nothing else in particular.

posted over 6 years ago

System‭

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