Where do you get your drinking water?

03-08-2019 11:22PM

"Eutrophication is the enrichment of water with nutrients, which leads to the excessive growth of algae"

Anyone else remember this saying from those little green 'key definition' boxes on the Chemistry syllabus in the mid-noughties?

Andy From Sligo · 03-08-2019 11:32PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

"Eutrophication is the enrichment of water with nutrients, which often leads to algae"

Anyone else remember this saying from those little green 'key definition' boxes on the Chemistry syllabus in the mid-noughties?

boards can be quiet educational at times

yeah, anyway put plainly you dont want algae in your bottled water - best to leave them in a dark cool place away from sunlight ...

corner of hells · 03-08-2019 11:40PM

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

But if you leave bottled water, in a clear plastic bottle, in direct sunlight it will kill the bacteria.

Hmmm, I dunno about that. There is a reason why you have to have your water header tank up in the loft in the dark. Can't remember why now though bit it's something to do with bacteria

The header tank is part of the heating system in your house, it's used to fill the heating system in your house , the second larger tank is a cold water store used to provide water to bathroom taps and toilet.
Its nothing particularly to do with algae prevention more functional, height and gravity.

Andy From Sligo · 03-08-2019 11:51PM

corner of hells wrote: »

The header tank is part of the heating system in your house, it's used to fill the heating system in your house , the second larger tank is a cold water store used to provide water to bathroom taps and toilet.
Its nothing particularly to do with algae prevention more functional, height and gravity.

ah right I got confused - it was the cold water storage tank thats what i was thinking of - but they are both up there in the dark and (should) have lids on them so they are away from sunlight.

You dont want stagnant algae in your central heating system and you dont want to be cleaning your teeth and having a bath or shower in algae either - so its more than just gravity and functional

Water John · 03-08-2019 11:58PM

It depends in which part of the country you're Lidl shop is in. Lidl in the south of the country is not supplied by Celtic Pure.

Yes if you are on holidays in the sun, if you put tap water in a clear bottle in the sunshine for 6 hours, all bacteria will be killed by the UV light.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 12:01AM

Water John wrote: »

It depends in which part of the country you're Lidl shop is in. Lidl in the south of the country is not supplied by Celtic Pure.

Yes if you are on holidays in the sun, if you put tap water in a clear bottle in the sunshine for 6 hours, all bacteria will be killed by the UV light.

.. but then do you risk plastic cancer causing chemicals leaking from the plastic bottle into the water and contaminating it? - especially after 6 hours .. let alone what it would taste like (ugh! - warm water!)

what is it they reckon the cancer causing chemical in plastic water bottles? - is it pva or something? am sure it started with a 'p'

madmaggie · 04-08-2019 12:08AM

I get my water from my own well, lovely cold water from 100 feet below granite rock. There is a natural spring in one of the fields, ice cold water, even during last summer.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 12:14AM

as I mentioned before , our area has been on boil water notice for over a year now - works are to be started on a new plant in the autumn I think to include a UV treatment works (planned to be complete in 2020) Cryptosporidium bug keeps getting found in water samples

well I wouldnd trust the water coming out of the tap, so me and my dogs have the bottled water - but I keep coming into the kitchen and find my lad and my wife pouring pints of water out of the tap and drinking it and they have been doing it since the notice came into effect and they keep saying they prefer the tap water over bottled and that 'they are OK' and that it hasnt affected them. (well, right at the beginning of the boil notice for a week or so they had bottle water - but then ever sice have just been pouring it out of the kitchen tap)

We are even supposed to wash our teeth and fruit and vegetables in bottled water , but I have been washing my teeth with the bathroom sink water (which comes from cold storage tank in loft... which comes from water main/tap water) or we are supposed to boil the water 3 times and then cool to kill the crypto bug.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 12:17AM

madmaggie wrote: »

I get my water from my own well, lovely cold water from 100 feet below granite rock. There is a natural spring in one of the fields, ice cold water, even during last summer.

that must be lovely to have your own well water

tuxy · 04-08-2019 12:21AM

Wouldn't it be cheaper to boil a few litres every morning then leave it to cool?

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 12:28AM

tuxy wrote: »

Wouldn't it be cheaper to boil a few litres every morning then leave it to cool?

I was going to say I still wouldnt trust it ... but then again , hearing about this latest thing about bottled water having arsenic in it now I dont personally know what is safest to do now.

I am hoping that this arsenic found is just minutely just over the accepted level to cause the recall, and not dangerously high levels of arsenic found because a lot of those bottled waters on the FSAI list I would have already drunk!

Water John · 04-08-2019 12:30AM

Yes, well water is very nice. Ours is soft, low ph, lovely for tea.

BTW washing your hair in water that hasn't chlorine really improves it.

If someone is concerned about bacteria in well water they should install a UV unit on the line.
If I was disinfecting a larger water supply, I wouldn't use chlorine. I'd use something like Sanosil.
https://www.sanosil.com/en/productlines/wasserbehandlung/

I would also use ozone instead of chlorine to disinfect a swimming pool.

The only reason products like this are not used is because chlorine is so cheap.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 12:47AM

Water John wrote: »

Yes, well water is very nice. Ours is soft, low ph, lovely for tea.

BTW washing your hair in water that hasn't chlorine really improves it.

If someone is concerned about bacteria in well water they should install a UV unit on the line.
If I was disinfecting a larger water supply, I wouldn't use chlorine. I'd use something like Sanosil.
https://www.sanosil.com/en/productlines/wasserbehandlung/

I would also use ozone instead of chlorine to disinfect a swimming pool.

The only reason products like this are not used is because chlorine is so cheap.

I am premung these type of UV units are quite expensive and out of financial reach of a lot of householders? - the only reason I am asking is that our tap water has Crypto bug in it and chlorine and bleach wont kill crypto bug because it has a hard outer shell like a snail - but apparently UV light can kill the bug, so I was thinking what about if people like in our area wanted to fit some kind of UV treatment into the water main pipe can it be done reasonably easy and reasonably cheaply ? - because its quite some time of the water utility company can install the UV equipment at the lough where we get our drinking water from, some time next year it wot be ready

Bigmac1euro · 04-08-2019 01:45AM

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

according to Irish mirror - LIDL still water is affected:

- Aldi/Comeragh (Still and Sparkling)

- Applegreen (Still)

- Broderick (Still)

- Dunnes Stores (Still and Sparkling and Flavoured)

- Itica (Still)

- Lidl (Still)

- Londis (Still)

- Mace (Still)

- Macari (Still)

- Plane (Still)

- San Marino (Still)

- Spar (Still)

Consumers have been advised not to drink the water and to seek medical advice if they feel unwell.

The FSAI added: "Consumers are advised not to drink the implicated batches of water.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/bottled-water-recall-lidl-dunnes-18820151?fbclid=IwAR2lb-_Kvh-lOivdbJ8iF-n1mpjHa8v8_U7cxQrOL1gqfywqXKQcrRoM6lM

Yeah but the FSAI website says
Lidl 750ml
500ml
2L

But it doesn’t mention the 5L bottles. Boom.
See yous all in hell.

Water John · 04-08-2019 03:12PM

You can't use the UV really after the water is chlorinated. The household UV units aren't dear, a few hundred euro and change the bulb each year. Great protection for an individual well supply.
The dosage of UV to kill crypto is a multiple of what is used to kill bacteria. Really done at water treatment works at an industrial scale.

Igotadose · 04-08-2019 03:15PM

Water John wrote: »

You can't use the UV really after the water is chlorinated. The household UV units aren't dear, a few hundred euro and change the bulb each year. Great protection for an individual well supply.
The dosage of UV to kill crypto is a multiple of what is used to kill bacteria. Really done at water treatment works at an industrial scale.

I have vague memories of reading somewhere that using UV releases Ozone into the atmosphere as a side-effect? Really that there's no free lunch when it comes to sterilizing water. Deionizers use nasty chemicals, RO isn't 100%, chlorine has its downsides, etc. RO might help with metals well enough though.

Water John · 04-08-2019 03:35PM

Well UV would be used in Ozone plants to kill off the residual ozone before it gets released into the atmosphere AFAIK.
RO is quite power hungry. It is an over sell in most situations.

Igotadose · 04-08-2019 03:57PM

Water John wrote: »

Well UV would be used in Ozone plants to kill off the residual ozone before it gets released into the atmosphere AFAIK.
RO is quite power hungry. It is an over sell in most situations.

Hmm. No power used in home RO in the US, at least, though it *does* use a lot of water. US has mains water at 65psi, which I suspect is much higher pressure than typical Ireland mains water. Lower-pressure water systems do require auxiliary pumps to make RO work.

FWIW, I had a home RO system in the US, while on a well which at best managed 35 psi and mostly around 30. Fortunately, it generated a LOT of RO of good quality in a relatively short period of time, the pump raised the pressure to like 100 PSI

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 04:11PM

Water John wrote: »

You can't use the UV really after the water is chlorinated. The household UV units aren't dear, a few hundred euro and change the bulb each year. Great protection for an individual well supply.
The dosage of UV to kill crypto is a multiple of what is used to kill bacteria. Really done at water treatment works at an industrial scale.

Thanks for the reply that's interesting information

Capt'n Midnight · 04-08-2019 10:18PM

FSAI issues further recall of bottled water over arsenic levels

Aldi/Comeragh (Still and Sparkling)
Applegreen (Still)
Broderick (Still)
Dunnes Stores (Still, Sparkling and Flavoured)
Itica (Still)
Lidl (Still)
Londis (Still)
Mace (Still)
Macari (Still)
Plane (Still)
San Marino (Still)
Spar (Still)

Perrier shot themselves in the foot when the added Benzine to the worlds leading brand of water.

Coco Cola had to retire the Desani brand here and in the UK because they couldn't bottle tap water. They added bromates.
It's now called Deep River Rock

tuxy · 04-08-2019 10:26PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

FSAI issues further recall of bottled water over arsenic levels

Aldi/Comeragh (Still and Sparkling)
Applegreen (Still)
Broderick (Still)
Dunnes Stores (Still, Sparkling and Flavoured)
Itica (Still)
Lidl (Still)
Londis (Still)
Mace (Still)
Macari (Still)
Plane (Still)
San Marino (Still)
Spar (Still)

That's the exact same list that was available yesterday morning and posted here a few times now. By further they mean more than the small list that was originally released a week ago.

YFlyer · 04-08-2019 10:44PM

Water John wrote: »

It depends in which part of the country you're Lidl shop is in. Lidl in the south of the country is not supplied by Celtic Pure.

Yes if you are on holidays in the sun, if you put tap water in a clear bottle in the sunshine for 6 hours, all bacteria will be killed by the UV light.

Lol

madmaggie · 04-08-2019 11:06PM

I still go to the spring in the field and drink the water out of my hands. My cousins won't touch it, they reckon I've built up an immunity to any bugs in it. No bugs, just a few water spiders!

tuxy · 04-08-2019 11:09PM

madmaggie wrote: »

I still go to the spring in the field and drink the water out of my hands. My cousins won't touch it, they reckon I've built up an immunity to any bugs in it. No bugs, just a few water spiders!

Don't drink water from a source for anywhere near a farm!
If hiking be sure to be well above farm land before drinking from springs.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 11:23PM

hmm, Pesticides used in the field? - cryptosporidium that live in animal guts and digestive tract and then they poop it out? , slurry spreading? - no, I dont think I would be drinking any water in a field

JupiterKid · 04-08-2019 11:48PM

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

We have had Boil Water Notice for our area in Sligo for a year now - our tap water has Cryptosporidium bug in it so Tap water has been no go for us

Ridiculous and scandalous that tap water in an urban area in a developed country is deemed unsafe to drink.

Of course Galway city had that horrible cryptosporidium contamination outbreak in the 2000s that made many people very very ill. What wasn’t revealed at the time was that the probable source of the cryptosporidium was from faecal matter polluting the water source for the city from thousands of substandard leaking septic tanks from one-off rural houses in the Galway hinterlands...

Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral that leaches out of rocks into the water courses and wells. It is a huge problem in rural India where deep tube wells in villages installed by the UN development agencies and NGOs have poisoned millions of people.

Andy From Sligo · 04-08-2019 11:59PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

Ridiculous and scandalous that tap water in an urban area in a developed country is deemed unsafe to drink.

I should check and double check my facts but here I go anyway, the reason I hear that its been going on for so long (and there are a lot of rumours as you can guess) but is that the water company applied for planning permission to build a new treatment plant at the location of the lough , but there was an endangered type of snail in the lough where the drinking water comes from for the area .. so planning permission was refused.

It seems these species of snails have more rights, than safe drinking water that humans can consume ...

Atoms for Peace · 05-08-2019 07:29AM

In most cases I have my doubts that bottled water is any better or safer than tap water.
Public supply water here is regularly tested.

Gwynplaine · 05-08-2019 08:16AM

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

In most cases I have my doubts that bottled water is any better or safer than tap water.
Public supply water here is regularly tested.

Exactly. The manufactures are laughing.

Capt'n Midnight · 05-08-2019 10:47AM

tuxy wrote: »

That's the exact same list that was available yesterday morning and posted here a few times now. By further they mean more than the small list that was originally released a week ago.

Perrier was 1990 so more than a week ago

Dasani was 2004 and like a lot of bottled water it was little more than this

Where do you get your drinking water?

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