The water conundrum

[sunshine_sieben]

Hi,
I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in, so mods please feel free to move it. I don't really want to start the whole fluoride debate so i thought, I might find more like-minded people here.

Ok, so they started adding fluoride to our drinking water here in SE QLD about 10 months ago. I am not happy about that for many reasons, starting with the principle that I don't like to be forced to take supplements and adding to that all the possible side-effects of fluoride exposure. Whether or not it is good for my teeth is not even really the issue for me.

Anyway, back to the topic. When they started adding fluoride, I and DD stopped drinking tap water especially because I was pregnant (until then I used to drink filtered tap water). First I bought 15l plastic casks of spring water. But firstly, I was concerned about the extra waste I was creating and secondly, I'm not mad on the plasticky taste I used to detect let alone the possibility of leaching chemicals from the plastic (having said that, my water filter is made from plastic...).

So I discovered Pureau from nobles which comes in a 10l bladder within a cardboard cask. A solution that seemed much better. But then I realised that this is basically demineralised water. Not ideal in my eyes either as I feel that the minerals in our water are desirable.

Ultimately, my plan was to buy a reverse osmosis filter to remove the fluoride from my tap water. But that has the same effect of removing all the good bits along with the bad bits.
Yes, I could add a mineral supplement to my water, but that just doesn't seem like a good solution either.

Bottled water from the supermarket doesn't fulfill my endless list of requirements either, as firstly it creates waste and secondly, it's the plastic thig again!
There has to be a better solution!

I am now considering going back to filtered tap water as i feel like I am just trading one evil for the other.

So, am I the only one who is this pedantic about her water? If there are others, what do you do?

Sasa

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

I'm not fussy about my water, but DH is. We've got a ceramic candle filter - basically the water gets filtered through a candle, which neutralises all the bad stuff and leaves all the good stuff, so the water tastes really nice, rather than having no taste like bottled water.

I hafta say though, I thought the fluoride was good??

[Tinks]

Our water doesn't have any additives so we drink it from the tap. I refuse to drink any other water.

I suppose you could get water delivered, they recycle the containers...hmm but they are plastic.

[NaeNae]

We have two brita water filters and a ceramic water filter as well. I am not so sure what minerals are in our water because we catch our own and have a separate tank for drinking and a well for house hold stuff.

I was also under the impression that fluoride wasn't so bad I think there are worse things that go into town water.

I think if you want to be so cautious then maybe get a tank and use that for drinking water ??

Nae x

[Lulu]

I think a rainwater tank is your only option then. Good option though!

[Trillian]

I'm with Lulu - get a rain water tank if you can and you won't ever have to worry about it again.

[sunshine_sieben]

Ok, I will quickly explain my stand point.
Experts do not agree on the fluoride. I am from Germany and if you ask the experts there, most are against water fluoridation.
Fluoride affects the brain. It is the main ingredient in anti-depressants like prozac. It is also linked to many health issues the least of which being dental fluorosis.
Normal water filters do not remove the fluoride from your drinking water, only reverse osmosis filters do, which is why I'm so annoyed at its addition to our drinking water.
The first person to add fluoride to drinking water was Hitler. He gave it to his prisoners of war and had plans of using it in conquered nations. I don't think he was concerened about their teeth... (the theory is that "happy people do not rebell against the oppressive government).
Fluoride addition to drinking water has been stopped in most European countries for ethical reasons (medicating the masses without a medical consultation).
There is no proof of fluoride having any statistically significant positive effect on the teeth.
Adding it to our town water is such an inefficient way of administering it. only a small percentage of town water used actually ends up as drinking water. The rest gets flushed down the toilet, shower, sink or we water our lawn with it. There are no long-term studies on the environmental effects of fluoride accumulation in our ecosystem.
Children drink a lot more water in relation to their body weight, so they end up consuming more fluoride than adults.
People with impaired liver function should not drink fluoridated water. So water fluoridation forces these people to avoid tap water. however they will still consume it if they drink juices or soft drink manufactured with fluoridated water or soup etc.
Some people, like me, drink lots and lots of water, so they get a much higher dosage than someone who only drinks moderate amounts. So this is not a reliable way of controlling individual dosages.
In the 10 months since fluoridation has been introduced here there have already been a minimum of 2 confirmed dosage accidents. in one, they accidentally release a dosaage 30 times as strong, in the other it was a lot less than planned. So this is an added risk.

If you're interested in more info, google "John Colquhoun" His article "Why I changed my mind about water fluoridation" is great reading. He is a former advocate of fluoridation. There is sooo much information out there on the dangers of fluoride. Some of it reads a little like a conspiracy theory, I have to admit, but there is enough reputable info out there as well.

The bottom line is, I do not want to consume artificial supplements unless I know that I have a deficiency.

I have been thinking about a rain water tank... I might have to investigate that further. For those of you who have one, what is involved in installing a tank for drinking quality water?

Sasa

[Lulu]

My father just bought a tank from bunnings, stuck it under the downpipe and fills his jug for drinking water. It's not even very big but it's all he needs.
You can get rebates etc for buying a tank but you will find you are charged for storing your own water (ffs, I'm not even going there) so it's best to avoid the rebate.

[sunshine_sieben]

what???? you are charged for storing your own water??? that's just criminal!
so it's that simple? i thought it would be more involved due to all the crap (including bird poo) being washed from the roof and the gutters. Or does he have some sort of filtration system? Wouldn't he get a lot of sediment (especially after all the dust storms we've had)? Also doesn't standing water go putrid after a while???
I'm not criticising, just asking as I have absolutely no idea about tank systems...

Sasa

[NaeNae]

I was going to suggest Bunnings as well.

You can get a plumber to add on a tap with a filter on it but to be perfectly honest save yourself the hassle and buy a ceramic water filter to keep on your kitchen bench.

My PIL never used a water filter while they lived in this house and just took the water straight from the tank. We live on a farm so we have a lot of dust etc there is no way I couldn't filter the water but I don't filter the water when I use it in my kettle.

I also wouldn't worry about the rebate and just get yourself a tank. They are not very expensive considering. You will need to have the tank cleaned once every 5-10 years just to removed the sediment that does accumulate at the bottom of the tank its a bit like cleaning a fish tank if you have ever done that.

I had to laugh (not in a bad way) about being charged for storing your own water.

Where we live we cannot claim rebates for installing tanks because we do not have town supply. The funny side of that is IF we ran out of water we would be buying the town supply - go figure! We also don't have town sewage and yet we have to pay for water and sewage as part of our rates. Just a way for the government to make money of people who are self sufficient really.

Nae x

[Lulu]

Yeah, thank John Howard for that one....actually I don't know why people aren't screaming from the rooftops about it.

I think there is some sort of sediment filter in the tank, but I don't think it's too fancy. I remember my grandads big old corrugated tank that filled from his roof and no one got sick from sediment or anything.

Call a tank place up I suppose, although Trill might come in and have more info.

[NaeNae]

Also doesn't standing water go putrid after a while???..

I forgot to say - I am sure water does but we haven't experienced that at all with our tanks or our well. I know the dams certainly can get stinky but I have never ever noticed particularly the tank water going off/stinky etc. In fact even on the hottest days we find the tank water is still quite cool in temperature.

Our well water does very rarely when it gets much further to the bottom but one good day of rain fixes that right up.

Nae x

[Astrid]

You can get a first flush diverter added to the tank, the first amount of rain which cleans all the crud goes into one section, that you clean out after every rain, then the rest flows into the tank. One was shown on Costa's Odyssey the other night.

In some new developments they properly harvesting rain from the roofs of all the houses to go back into the town water supply. I think in those cases there are issues with people storing water for themselves.