BajaNomad

Safe water answer

bajalearner - 1-7-2014 at 04:03 PM

I was talking to a man who goes many places in the world to set up water treatment plants. I asked him if he thought the water in Tijuana would be drinkable.

He said many places have adequate treatment plants producing drinkable water including many places in Mexico. He said but that is only a small part of the process. Great water might leave a treatment plant but pass through contamiated pipes or leaks that suck foreign particles into the pipe. And in the house, the condition of the pipes, fittings, old lead and fixtures can contribute to foil the water.

This made me realize that every single tap or faucet presents a unique picture of water quality. I buy filtered water for drinking but clean my body, teeth and dishes with tap water.

Just food (or drink) for thought.

Barry A. - 1-7-2014 at 04:23 PM

We have had a high-quality water filter (Multi-pure) on our kitchen-faucet here in the USA for over 20 years, and it makes the water taste so good---------we don't drink "tap water"---------why take the chance is our phylosophy.

On trips we use a small Katadyn water filter, and have for over 40 years when on hikes or canoe trips.

We seldom use "bottled water", carrying our stainless steel water bottles (Kleen Canteens) full of home-filtered water.

I fill my 18 gallon stainless drinking-water tank in our camper with home-filtered water.

We drink a LOT of water, and almost never are sick.

When in restaurants in the USA we do drink the water--------which is probably crazy. :lol:

Barry

Jonno_aus - 1-7-2014 at 09:25 PM

You yanks are funny. Everyone I know in the States buys bottled water by the case all the time. In Australia the reports show that tap water is healthier compared to bottled water and you're considered weird if you buy it.

Hard to believe right? Especially when the packaging says it comes from the 'mountain springs'. Must be true eh....:biggrin:

CortezBlue - 1-7-2014 at 09:28 PM

Yep, that is why we use back flow prevention devices in the states.

bajaguy - 1-8-2014 at 01:55 AM

Actually, Crystal Geyser water is bottled one of their plants in Olancha California. The source, Olancha Creek, is located below the slopes of Olancha Peak, whose summit is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The town of Olancha is on US 395 south of Bishop, California.
Quote:
Originally posted by Jonno_aus
Hard to believe right? Especially when the packaging says it comes from the 'mountain springs'. Must be true eh....:biggrin:

Jonno_aus - 1-8-2014 at 10:38 AM

True, but what pipes do they have to run through? Quality control? Plastic bottles? How long do they sit before being trucked etc etc etc.


It's just a sucky thing when it comes to an essential need for our bodies as to how we obtain it.


I grew up in a fruit growing area in Australia. Pears, peaches etc. Beautiful when its picked. But most of it goes into cold storage for 6 to 12 months or longer before making the supermarkets. :no:

David K - 1-8-2014 at 10:48 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jonno_aus
True, but what pipes do they have to run through? Quality control? Plastic bottles? How long do they sit before being trucked etc etc etc.


It's just a sucky thing when it comes to an essential need for our bodies as to how we obtain it.


I grew up in a fruit growing area in Australia. Pears, peaches etc. Beautiful when its picked. But most of it goes into cold storage for 6 to 12 months or longer before making the supermarkets. :no:


Traveled across Western Australia and then to Darwin via Alice Springs (and Ayers Rock). Lived and went to school in Darwin for half a year back in 1970. What an experience... what a big country!

Jonno_aus - 1-8-2014 at 11:00 AM

Wow. That's a hardcore trip! Been wanting to do something like that myself one day. Yep. Big country with lots of sand.

weebray - 1-8-2014 at 11:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jonno_aus
You yanks are funny. Everyone I know in the States buys bottled water by the case all the time.

Yup, The 'merican people have been duped again by Coca Cola et al. The absolute pinnacle of this madness is that we buy water from FIJI in a really fancy bottle. The pollution involved in this whole bottled water mess is astounding. Bottled water is the DEVIL!

Clean water

captkw - 1-8-2014 at 11:18 AM

National Geograpic issue April 2010 states that less than 2 percent of the world water is safe to drink !! and takes a double tanker truck of water to grow a pair of Levi's,,,this addition is a SPECIAL ISSUE....well worth searching out......K&T:cool:

BajaLuna - 1-8-2014 at 01:59 PM

not to mention that food a living thing looses it's life-force energy soon after being picked, so obviously anything other than fresh is not as nutritious for you....but ya know its hard to eat fresh all the time, eh..especially when you want an apple in the middle of Spring. There's something to be said about eating locally what's in season, but where I live, there isn't much to eat in the Winter or Spring seasons LOL! Unless of course it is preserved and comes from the root cellar or freezer, or canned goods, or you grow winter hardy veggies in a greenhouse or under cloches! One does get mighty tired of kale, spinach, and Swiss chard if one does try to eat fresh and local in season up here!

I agree BarryA...Having your own water filter if you're drinking tap water anywhere in the U.S. is a wise thing. And it doesn't cost that much to put a filter on your faucet and when you look at it from a cost standpoint, you'll save money by buying a filter and not buying all those bottles of water. We didn't drink tap water unfiltered in SoCal when we lived there, SoCal water tastes sooo awful, sorry peeps, but it really does! Is it any wonder people drink bottled water there, because wow it tastes like water!!! Not to mention you can see through the water after it is filtered instead of all those unknown things floating around in it LOL!

So ya have people buying bottled water because it's supposedly healthier for ya and tastes better too, but then drink it out of plastic bottles, go figure! Oh the irony of it all!! Oh that's right the plastic bottles are BFE-free, so they gotta be ok, right? Not if that bottle/plastic sits in the hot sun! It's pretty darn easy to just fill a stainless steel water bottle, carry it with ya, and reuse it! We've just gotten complacent that's all (including me at times), and perhaps it is hard for some to get into this habit, afterall we do lead busy lives these days and it's not so easy to get into the swing of things. IMHO those disposable bottles of water should be banned like Seattle banned it's plastic bags! Unfortunately, gently nudging people to get onboard voluntarily doesn't always work, but more extreme measures do!

There sure IS a lot of dishonesty in the U.S. in buying bottled water. How do we REALLY know where it really comes from? Do the people in charge of monitoring, really monitor that it comes from where it says it comes from? Highly unlikely! Big Brother watches over that about as well as they watch over our food system! Stuff like this really irks me! Ohmmm!

We are on a well where we live in the U.S. and it's awesome water...but we do test the water often because we are in a high arsenic mineral area.

Another layer to this post not being mentioned... the black plastic water storage tanks. Those plastic tanks sit in that hot Baja sun, sure they are a better quality plastic, but a big no-no is plastic and heat. Just something I pondered while sitting on the patio looking at those big black tanks on the house.

bledito - 1-8-2014 at 07:57 PM

coca cola has ph of somewhere around 2-4 acidic and we drink it. it's useful to clean rust off nails. maybe I can use it to clean up that rusty rebar.

bajalearner - 1-8-2014 at 08:28 PM

Arrowhead bottled water is a well known brand. I don't know how many bottling plants they have but I know there is a large one along Interstate 10 east of Los Angeles and a few miles west of Palm Springs adjacent to an Indian reservation for the marooongo tribe. There is a mountain which climbs from the valley to the south and much of the reservation includes mountainous land. The tribe sells "spring" water to the Arrowhead plant. Hence the indian conotation of "arrowhead". I think I have seen the arrowhead brand nationwide and in other countries too.

The marooongo tribe has built up a large Las Vegas style casino after years of operating a casino in a large circus tent.

I don't know much about the tribe operation, but I worked nearby it in 2004 and learned that each tribal member was given $44 thousand dollars per month from the tribal profits. Not bad for not having to work.

I drink water from the faucet in San Diego and have all my life in California. I buy filtered water in Mexico because I see the infrastructure is very fragile and basic. I have survived 60 years so far but I am starting to think I am not going to live forever. Oh well that is the only equal thing in this world. No one will make it out of here alive.