Life in Southeast Alaska

Where Does Our Water Come From?

And what is in it?  I did some reading on this today - went to the City and Borough of Juneau's website and looked at the current water report.  The city water comes from underground wells and surface water from local sources.  I knew that our city water is treated with chlorine and fluoride, and I wanted to find out about how much is added and what is known about using fluoride in drinking water.  I found that Sodium Fluoride is added to our water at a rate of between .7 and 1.2 mg/l and that the recommended average is 1.0 mg/l.  So, if I am drinking more water than someone else, I am getting more fluoride than they are.  I don't know what amount is considered too much.  When you consider that we use fluoride toothpaste and that many of the packaged products we buy and consume probably have been produced or contain fluoridated water - there is a good chance that we are consuming more than the recommended amount.  Fluoride in water is very controversial - some say unnecessary.  Do you know what Sodium Fluoride is?  It is a white, crystalline (sand-like) powder which may be dissolved in a liquid.  It is used widely in the chemical industry, in water treatment, and as an insecticide!  EEWWW!  And I am drinking this everyday?  I also found that ingested fluoride is helpful because it is used in the tooth-formation process.  I'm 32 - I think my teeth are done forming, aren't they?

So, what can we do?

We could filter our tap water.  Does that filter out fluoride?  I don't know.  Would it filter out all the chlorine?  Not sure of that either.

We can switch to bottled water - but I would want to make sure we know how it has been disinfected - some use chlorination.

We can look at an alternative source of water for our house, i.e. spring water, well water, or rain water.  I was raised on spring water - we had a wood box that collected water from the hillside and was pumped up to the house.  It was the best tasting stuff!  We have a well on the property, but isn't good for drinking.  We do live in the perfect place for rain water though!  I think we will seriously look into this and what it will take to set up.  Even if we have a small tank that we could use for our drinking water, that would be better than nothing.

Just for fun, I set a plastic bucket outside today with a mesh over it to keep out the leaves to see how much water would accumulate.  I left it out for about 2 hours and already had plenty to fill up my glass!  I know, I'm silly    But I know exactly what was in it!

we are in the same \"place\"

5:43 AM, Thursday, October 12, 2006 .. Posted by Donna Henkel

Good morning!



It was so nice to read your blog. We are in a similar place in life now. We, my husband and I, have been convicted on what we place in our bodies. We also are slowly moving to organic.



We were blessed to be able to move from Phoenix AZ to a small 4 acre plot in north Louisiana. We have forever been \"city\" and are now learning how to be \"country\".



Planting and growing our own vegetables. Which we have NEVER done will be an experience once we actually get on our new property (about 4 more weeks, yea!). However, we have gone organic on toothpaste. We also had a hard time deciding and chose fluoride free (Jason toothpaste). We are unable to find any local eggs or meat. My husband may need to pray for the heart to hunt. We do order several things from the local grocer and health food store in bulk. 6 dozen eggs for 21.50. Unbelievably expensive!



I am excited as we are in the process of purchasing a mill/grinder for wheat etc... Now I just get to learn how to cook bread from scratch. It is embarrassing to admit I don\'t know these things; however, I am convinced this is the way to raise our ch8ildren.



How awesome that you were raised on spring water, wow!!! Where have you found resources for collecting and storing rain water? That sounds wonderful.



Just wanted you to know that your site was a blessing, thank you again!



- Donna

Same thing here.

12:44 AM, Saturday, October 14, 2006 .. Posted by Hisirishgem

I must say, I've been smelling Chlorine in my shower since last spring. I kept telling my husband I thought they were treating the water after they had serious algae problems.

I've never personally drank water from tap because I have a hormonal imbalance and so many other health issues. In certain areas it's been known that bigger companies dump waste and one area says their children have started coming up with odd numbers of cancers.

I've been buying 5 gallons of water at our local organic food store. They filter the water through several ways. I'd say at least 5 ways...they use ultra violet I think to get rid of bacteria and some other types. It's the clearest tasting water there is! I can taste metal in other types of water, even in restaurants. So I stick with my 5 gallon I get from the health food store.

As for springs, I've heard that one should test for bacteria. Bacteria numbers can change from week to week so you'd have to test weekly sometimes even daily to get an outcome.

I'll be interested in knowing what you'll choose. Your right though!