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Arnomation
Citizen
Username: Arnomation
Post Number: 120
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 9:27 pm: |     |
Do you drink the water from your tap or do you drink bottled water? I tested our water when we moved in and it tested fine and tastes fine but I was just wondering if there's something else I should know about Jersey water.
My son's dentist suggested that we give our kids flouride drops because there's none in the water out here. Has anyone else ever been asked to do this or is that weird?
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bookgal
Citizen
Username: Bookgal
Post Number: 491
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 9:48 pm: | |
NO, it is true..no fluoride in the water here. Flouride drops just now, then fluoride pills...the kids get used to them. |
Ripper
Citizen
Username: Ripper
Post Number: 6
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 9:53 pm: | |
It's poison. Stay away from flouride! |
Nohero
Citizen
Username: Nohero
Post Number: 2856
Registered: 10-1999
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 10:22 pm: | |
On the flouride - we were told the same thing by our pediatrician, since there's none in our water. So, that's what we did.
Maplewood's water is "surface water", from dedicated reservoirs which are relatively close-by. So, it is fairly good stuff. All kidding aside, some of the best water is in Newark, which uses a protected reservoir way west of here. The big brewery by Newark Airport, wouldn't be there if they didn't have decent water. |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2087
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 11:10 pm: | |
The water here tastes really bad. My wife has cancer and wants to be as healthy as possible, so we got a superduper inline filter in the kitchen sink. We also put one in the line in the shower. The water tastes really good. It cost about $300, and the replacement filter will be about $50 per year. Write to me at noglider@pobox.com if you're interested, and I'll dig up the info. The installer was a really nice guy, too.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 157
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:00 am: | |
When we moved here from New York--an eon ago--the tap water tasted horrible to us. We got used to it after a while, but then we decided to get a water softener, which adds a lot of sodium to the water. We didn't want to be drinking all that salt, so now we drink Poland Spring, which we buy by the case from Costco. We like its "mouth feel." We travel quite a bit, and find the tap water to be pretty much unpalatable in many places, so we take a couple of caes of bottled water with us when we go by car. |
thegoodsgt
Citizen
Username: Thegoodsgt
Post Number: 379
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 9:05 am: | |
I drink the tap water by filling and refilling two, gallon jugs that I keep in the 'fridge. It does have a bit of a taste directly out of the faucet, but it seems to "mellow" after sitting for a few hours and being consumed cold.
Bottled water seems like a good idea, but from what I understand much of it is bottled from taps in beautiful sounding places like Crystal Springs, Colorado. A quick Google found this:
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp
I think there may be some science behind the whole taste issue, so maybe someone can confirm or deny. |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 371
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 9:07 am: | |
We used to have Poland Spring delivered, then we got a water filter like TomTPP mentioned. I use filtered water not only for drinking, but for cooking as well.
As to flouride... only in America can someone sell the by-product from the manufacture of Aluminum - which is illegal to dump into the ocean - as cavity prevention & put it in drinking water. My kids never had flouride.. the one who ate tons of sugary treats never had cavities. The one who would always choose a healthy treat did. Go figure. |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2091
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 9:40 am: | |
I've read that municipal water is generally much safer than bottled water, despite the fact that it tastes worse. Municipal water is regulated, and while it doesn't always comply with the regulations, it has a better chance than bottled water, which can contain anything.
Flouride is so very controversial, and I don't understand why. It's like circumcision and abortion. As far as I know, flouridated water isn't toxic and is effective at preventing cavities. But I'm not a doctor or a chemist. I did have a fairly holistic doctor say that the fear of flouridated water is unfounded, for whatever that's worth.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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Redsox
Citizen
Username: Redsox
Post Number: 412
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 9:56 am: | |
the water here tastes awful- i don't even consider drinking it- i reckon i get dosed enough from the morning shower, local coffee, and ice cubes...
nyc water from upstate is so much better.... |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 194
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 10:48 am: | |
Nohero, you mentioned, "All kidding aside, some of the best water is in Newark, which uses a protected reservoir way west of here. The big brewery by Newark Airport, wouldn't be there if they didn't have decent water."
The big brewery by Newark Airport, the Anheuser Bush plant, used to get its water from the Wanaque Reservoir, but in 2002, they changed their water source and are now brewing beer with water from the Raritan River.
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2002/03/04/daily79.html
Just goes to show what a few filters can do. Back in the 50s, the river used to be an open sewer for residential and industrial waste - but to be fair, the river has begun a comeback and some wildlife is able to survive in the water.
I still wouldn't swim in there...
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greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 1990
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 11:59 am: | |
We have a whole house filter & the water tastes fine to me. Sometimes I wonder, tho, since there is still a fair amount of mineral deposit that collects in the bedroom humidifier filter-thingy.
I buy bottled water at work because I am too lazy to walk to the pantry & fill a glass from the filtered tap.
I don't drink bottled water from coolers anymore; unless the mouth of the new bottle is wiped down very well before it is put into the cooler, lots of funky mold will grow in the cooler itself. I've also worked in places where roaches lived in the electical elements of the coolers. Look inside the cooler, where the water flows out & into the spout the next time the water is empty at work. If you see light pink or any other debris, that's mold caused by the mouth of the bottle not being cleaned before it is inserted. Ugh! |
Unhinged
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 2752
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:02 pm: | |
I drink filtered water and ice from the fridge door and it tastes fine. The filter has to be changed every year or so. |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 824
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:29 pm: | |
Got news for you folks, bottled water is municipal water.
Just read the label of your Dasani next time. |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 195
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:32 pm: | |
Ooh, that reminds me of a company that I used to work for a few years ago. They had a water cooler for many years and it was never maintained.
It wasn't working well one day so I decided to take it apart when the bottle that was on there ran out.
When I took the bottle off, the first thing that I noticed was the brown shag carpet looking stuff in the holding container for the water. It came right off when I rubbed my finger on it. I'm guessing that it was years of mold buildup.
After wiping that down, I noticed that the hose leading from the holding container to the spout was also clogged with the mold. I cleaned this out, but there was still a problem with poor water flow.
I next removed the water spout and disassembled it. What I found was a dead bumblebee carcass stuck in there. Once I dislodged it and reassembled the unit, all was fine.
Anyway, please make sure that your personal/company water dispenser gets cleaned once in a while.
Happy Drinking!
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Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2102
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:33 pm: | |
Yeah, Dasani is, if I remember right, NYC water. The bottlers (Cocacola, I think) pays the city. Perhaps Dasani is safer than spring water. I think water that sits in bottles for unregulated periods of time increases the likelihood of bacteria etc. and that affects both spring water and Dasani.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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clkelley
Citizen
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 107
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 1:35 pm: | |
Re fluoridation of water:
I just assigned this very topic to one of the student groups in a college class that I teach. It is for a very elementary science unit, and each group has been assigned a different low-level, controversial health risk to study (other topics are the alleged link between MMR and autism, eating organic for health reasons, Mad Cow, and health risks of aspartame).
I figured the fluoridation paper would bring out the serious nut cases - i.e. I expected only a nut would oppose fluoridation. (watched Dr. Strangelove too many times, I guess.) But my students have dug up some pretty credible sources suggesting that 1) ingested fluoride doesn't do much to prevent tooth decay. Fluoride applied to teeth does. 2) There are actually some risks to fluoridation, which are beginning to get serious attention. 3) Most European countries have either never fluoridated, or are withdrawing their fluoridation programs.
They're not done with their paper yet, and I'm sure they'll dig up some credible sources on the other side. But I have already learned some new stuff that surprised me.
My daughter's first pediatrician insisted on fluoridated vitamins; after we switched pediatricians, new guy said they weren't necessary. My dentist concurred, or so I seem to recollect.
And to not drift too far - we use a Brita filter on the faucet. It gives us a warm & fuzzy feeling, not sure if it actually has any real effect. |
Habanero2
Citizen
Username: Habanero2
Post Number: 24
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 9:07 pm: | |
First of all Tom, I agree that Fluoride has no negative effects at small doses and Pueblo Indian studies show positive dental effects that have been backed up for years by other studies. Yeah for Tom for taking a stand (he usually rides the fence out of kindness).
Also, the Bud factory near the airport stopped using the local water during the drought last year and was training in water from the Adirondacks.
"You kids today have it easy. When I was a kid everything was HUGE. My dad was nearly four times bigger than me. You couldn't even see the tops of counters.... Then gradually everything became smaller until it was the manageable size it is today." |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 826
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 10:24 pm: | |
Habanero2,
In order to rail in enough water you are talking perhaps hundreds of railcars per day. The cost is astronomical and it is logistically unfeasible. |
Moose11217
Citizen
Username: Moose11217
Post Number: 26
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 11:09 pm: | |
Has anybody tried the water from that place on Northfield Ave? Rock Spring or something like that? |
Marc
Citizen
Username: Bautisma
Post Number: 93
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 11:23 pm: | |
I knocked on the door over at Rock Spring on a Saturday afternoon but noone answered. I'm not sure what kind of hours they have |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 374
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 11:31 pm: | |
Habenero - I must disagree. Several years ago, the S.Orange Trustees debated adding fluoride to our water. Dr. John Yiamouyiannis, a leading authority on the negative effects and health risks associated with fluoride addressed the Trustees - apparently quite convincingly since we do not have fluoride in S. Orange water. Try Google and see how many sites there are regarding the dangers of fluoride.
The Pueblo Indian story is true - however, the fluoride occurs naturally in their water - as it does in many foods. The fluoride most people get in their water is chemically added by dumping in a poisonous manufacturing by-product. |
lah
Citizen
Username: Lah
Post Number: 187
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 7:58 am: | |
We tried Rock Spring. I thought that the water tasted moldy. My spouse thought it was ok. Now we're Culligan people. |
Elmwoodian
Citizen
Username: Java_drinker
Post Number: 304
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 1:16 pm: | |
OK, I think I'm standing alone in this corner, but I drink the tap water all the time, and I like it just fine. My wife drinks the filtered h2o from the KitchenAid fridge door.
Then again, I come from Philly where the water (wudder) smells funny. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 703
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 1:20 pm: | |
You get use to the water where you live. I grew up on well water and though it was great. Then in the Navy I drank purified sea water, still good after a while. Now SO tap. It's all the same. |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 375
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 2:15 pm: | |
I grew up on well water too. When my grandmother, who lived in Chicago, would visit, she'd put a slice of lemon in her glass of water - she claimed it had no flavor otherwise. |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 2426
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 7:32 pm: | |
I drink the water straight from the tap and I think it tastes fine. I only use bottled water in emergencies when tap water is unavailable. |
Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 400
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 7:53 pm: | |
I drink the water from the tap, and we also have a pitcher with a Britta filter in the fridge. Kinda depends... |
cody
Citizen
Username: Cody
Post Number: 475
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 8:48 pm: | |
I don't mind the tap water in the winter, but in Spring and Summer it tends to taste "swampy" from algae growth. If it doesn't taste swampy, it tastes like chlorine from the chemicals they put in it to kill the algae.
So, we usually have a good supply of bottled water (we get it as Costco, too) handy. Also have a filter on the tap and a filtered system from the fridge as well. |
bpaandco
Citizen
Username: Bpaandco
Post Number: 89
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 11:17 pm: | |
I figure I have to pay for the water out of my tap, so why not drink it? It can't be that bad. Laws and stuff. Besides, it frosts my behind to see all the half empty bottles of water lying around from the kids, and they all say "EW, I'm not gonna drink that. How do I know who drank out of it last?". And this is from a child who just lost his gum on the floor, picked it up and put it back in his mouth! |
bak
Citizen
Username: Bak
Post Number: 426
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 14, 2004 - 10:49 am: | |
Tom-
Can you post any information on the super-duper water filter? My Poland Spring bills are getting out-of-hand. Thanks. |
sac
Citizen
Username: Sac
Post Number: 952
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 14, 2004 - 11:13 am: | |
We use a Brita filter in the fridge ... the one that sits in the fridge and has a spout to dispense the water. It seems to make the Maplewood water taste OK. (I really don't like the way it tastes straight out of the tap.) We buy the sports bottles of Poland Spring (and other brands) fairly often, also, as much for the bottle as for the water inside. |
Joe
Citizen
Username: Gonets
Post Number: 3
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 9:48 am: | |
Folks,
Something that hasn't been mentioned is the quality of the pipes in your home.
NYC water is famously high quality, but much of the infrastructure is so old that pipes are rusty and thus your tap water isn't nearly as good as it should be. |
Ignatius J
Citizen
Username: Ignatius_j
Post Number: 166
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 12:19 pm: | |
That's true. When we had a plumber in to do some work he mentioned that the water mains in Jersey are also made of lead. So the water is coming into your house through rusty, lead pipes. . |
notehead
Citizen
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 934
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 4:03 pm: | |
My understanding is that the possible health risks from fluoride pale in comparison to the health risks from the chlorine, particularly breathing in the vapor while in the shower or bath. The best reason to get a whole-house filter (which we have yet to do) is to remove the chlorine. We have a chlorine filter on the shower, and aside from mitigating any chlorine-related health problems, it also makes your hair softer and your skin less itchy.
For drinking, we go with Poland Spring, because we like the taste the best -- but we much prefer the taste of NYC tap water. |
Dave
Citizen
Username: Dave
Post Number: 6403
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 4:44 pm: | |
Where did you get your chorine shower filter? |
hch
Citizen
Username: Hch
Post Number: 47
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 5:34 pm: | |
Chlorine is used as a disinfectant in the water. It's level in our water is less than one part per million. I don't think there is a realistic health risk from breathing vapor.
Your hair is softer probably because you are removing hardness from the water (calcium & magnesium). |
eliz
Citizen
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 708
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 6:36 pm: | |
Sometimes I find the smell of chlorine overwhelming in the shower - like showering in pool water. It seems to be random and I've gotten used to it over the last few years. |
notehead
Citizen
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 936
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 1:53 pm: | |
One place to buy an chlorine filter for your shower or bathtub is www.gaiam.com.
Here is one of the first articles I found with a quick Google search about the potential dangers of chlorinated water, including this quote:
Dr. Joseph M. Price, MD, in Moseby's Medical Dictionary: "Chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times. It is an insidious poison."
http://www.lehigh.edu/~inenviro/waterstuff/chlrine2.htm
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