After reading Jen's thread about whether we all eat as well as we feed our dogs it got me to thinking about the water we and our dogs drink.

Out here are the farm we are on a well. When we bought the place almost 20 years ago the well passed inspection and the water has always tasted great. Recently the township was sponsoring a discounted water testing program so we participated.

Turns out the there is a lot of arsenic in groundwater in the eastern US, more in some areas than others. And the acceptable level of arsenic has been lowered twice in the last 10 years.

Our water was perfect in every way except....the arsenic level was just over the newly lowered acceptable level. i wasn't initially worried. I hate drinking water. so aside from my two cups of coffee on the weekends i didnt think i was getting too much arsenic.

But over the summer i watched as my crazy Cassie would slurp down bowl after bowl of water on a hot summer day after a game of frisbee or fetch. It got me thinking that per pound of body weight she was drinking HUGE amounts of water and therefore potentially accumulating much more arsenic than I ever could.

So I just installed a filter tap just for the dogs (and my coffee, sure why not). I would have eventually had to do that to sell the house in any event, not that i'm going anywhere, but figured it was more consistent with my philosophy of trying to give my pups the best. and me too.

anyone else have their water tested?

Our water here taste like hot, dirt water. :rolleyes: I'm going to assume that is up to Arizona grade since it's a newer subdivision, but it is some nasty stuff! :eek: I must admit that the dogs do drink it, with ice cubes in their bowl because it is so warm. I usually just drink water from the fridge...it's got the dispenser.

Here is Canada BC I find that the water here taste great off tap. Probably because water here is not from a underground source like it is in all if not most of the US. But in any case I also buy a Brita water filter for me and my pup.

I don't test my water because I buy bottled water (for 20 years now). I'm on a well with farming around me and I don't want to take a chance. When I first moved here I did have several tests run and the companies that sell water softeners/purification systems will usually test for free. I also had the county health department check a sample for a fee because they aren't selling anything. There was some differences in some values (not much) but I was told that ground water can change if samples are taken at different times of the year.

We're on a well too. Until recently I didn't like the way our water tasted- too much particulate matter in it(dirt), so I drank bottled water. The ground must've shifted again because now, after 4 years, it's clear and tastes much better! We do know it's higher in fluoride than is recommended for kids under 12 (spots the teeth), and it's almost at the level for manganese. We are looking into well filter rather than just a house filter because we know that high iron and manganese can cause health issues with our horses so we are assuming it's not good for the rest of the living beings here either! Unfortunately it's hard to find ONE filter that removes both fluoride and manganese!

I live rural, no major faming near me and have a 65 foot well. I am not worried about any contaminates or natural sources not meeting CWA drinking water MCLs. EPA has messed with the acceptable arsenic levels so much lately it has me curious why. There are so many other things to be concerned about.

Those of you who buy bottles water, do you know the source? It may be no different than your own water. In many instances this is true. You could save alot of $ buy drining what you alreday have.

Water is a big issue....Forget the water source...the pipes themselves in older cities can be a huge problem...

I've used a Wysong tap filter for many years....Water tastes crytal clear and clean ....or tasteless after it passes though the filter...I bottle it, refrigerate and only serve that to Satch...

My water before filtering has an awful smell ..something between fish and chlorine ..... It is piped almost 80 miles from a huge reservoir in central Mass...

Thing is, they've proven that even bottled water, most sources, are not as clean as most would like to believe either.

That said, we have a water purifier/conditioner in the house.

I live in rural Northwest New Jersey, no city water around here for sure. I have a 110 foot well, the only problem we have is iron in the water which makes it what they call "hard" water. My drinking water goes thru 3 filters before we use, I do not use a water softner for a list of reasons. One double sump whole house filter (rust/sediment 5 micron) where the water comes into the house to be distributed. 2 Under the Sink filters, 1 is another rust/sediment filter but filters down to .5 microns (that's small) and one that removes these contaminants:
97.50% of Chlorine
98.60% of Lead
84.40% of Mercury
99.19% of Asbestos
99.99% of Cysts
99.60% of VOC's
89.00% of MTBE
Chloramine
Rust
Sediment

I would never drink bottled water in plastic bottles. The type of plastic used in the bottles leaches out chemicals that could be harmful in the long term. Drinking bottled water on occasion is another story. I see people drinking bottled water all day long, unknowingly they are poisoning themselves over the long haul. If bottle water came in glass bottles that would be a different story.

Also, do you know the real source of bottled water? A test was done not that long ago and there were lots of bottled water companies using just plain tap water run through a taste filter.

READ HERE:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/34361/the-truth-about-bottled-water/

when we lived in NYC, I didn't think twice about drinking tap. I think they actually bottle the municipal water for sale since the quality/taste is so good there.

Now, living in So Cal, I don't trust the water at all. The water has to travel gazillion miles on god knows how old pipes to get to me. So I have a whole house filter and also have a reverse osmosis filter in the kitchen. This water is clean enough to be used by people who have serious hepatitis. I actually like the taste of the reverse osmosis water better than any bottled water. So my whole family (including non-human) only consume that water. The only glitch to it is that there is some water wasted in making the purified portion. I try to compensate by conserving everywhere else and I figured I'm not messing with all the plastic associated with bottled water.

I live rural, no major faming near me and have a 65 foot well. I am not worried about any contaminates or natural sources not meeting CWA drinking water MCLs. EPA has messed with the acceptable arsenic levels so much lately it has me curious why. There are so many other things to be concerned about.

Those of you who buy bottles water, do you know the source? It may be no different than your own water. In many instances this is true. You could save alot of $ buy drining what you alreday have.

I get my water in 5 gallon jugs, I know the source of the water and I own my own jugs.

My jugs are not made of the cheaper plastic that leaches chemicals, the bottoms of plastic containers are stamped with a grade to help you identify types of plastics.

I test my water and read the annual water report that I receive from my water district and am religious about knowing what is in my water because I have 3 reef aquariums so I HAVE to know.

I thought our tap water tasted great too... until I found out that our tap water is loaded with phosphorus and nitrates and that it causes massive (and destructive) algal blooms in freshwater systems (which tells me that our water treatment facility is covering a lot of mistakes by adding a crap ton of chlorine to our tapwater).

Add into that the fact that hard corals don't like water high in nitrates and I bought a 5 stage RO/DI unit for my house and plugged it in, specifically for the aquariums.

The dog and the rest of us drink water filtered from a brita pitcher because for our purposes for consumption, a simple carbon filtration gets rid of most of the gross stuff that I don't want to drink.

We have IRON BACTERIA in our well water. Despite our filter systems (water softener, pH neutralizer, and sediment filter), we still can't get water good enough to drink. When it is acting up, we get very yellow/orange water and it has an oily film in it that you can see when you look in the toilet. It's disgusting! We've had our water tested numerous times and all the other levels of minerals, arsenic, lead, etc... are perfect. So, technically, it is "safe" to drink. It is quite frustrating.

Needless to say, we purchase bottled Poland Spring water --- both by the 5 gallon jug and the small 16 oz bottles. The dogs only get what we drink, the Spring water. (Well, unless they find a puddle outside somewhere) We go through 30 gallons per month + about 4 cases of 16 oz bottles. $$$

As far as someone's question about knowing where your bottled water comes from, I'm not too worried about Poland Spring water. It comes from springs all over Maine. It is NOT filtered tap water. Yes, the plastics are a bit of a worry, but we never let the bottled water sit in the sunlight or warmth which is how the chemicals easily can leach into the water.

We really have no other choice at this point other than moving....

We have IRON BACTERIA in our well water. Despite our filter systems (water softener, pH neutralizer, and sediment filter), we still can't get water good enough to drink. When it is acting up, we get very yellow/orange water and it has an oily film in it that you can see when you look in the toilet. It's disgusting! We've had our water tested numerous times and all the other levels of minerals, arsenic, lead, etc... are perfect. So, technically, it is "safe" to drink. It is quite frustrating.

Needless to say, we purchase bottled Poland Spring water --- both by the 5 gallon jug and the small 16 oz bottles. The dogs only get what we drink, the Spring water. (Well, unless they find a puddle outside somewhere) We go through 30 gallons per month + about 4 cases of 16 oz bottles. $$$

As far as someone's question about knowing where your bottled water comes from, I'm not too worried about Poland Spring water. It comes from springs all over Maine. It is NOT filtered tap water. Yes, the plastics are a bit of a worry, but we never let the bottled water sit in the sunlight or warmth which is how the chemicals easily can leach into the water.

We really have no other choice at this point other than moving....

Well yeah, but it sounds like even filtered tap water from New York City would be better than what you have available on tap at home!

Iron bacteria!? For Pete's Sake!

Have you looked into a Reverse Osmosis unit? Mine wasn't that expensive, but the cartridge replacement does add up... it sounds like you need it worse than I did tho.

We have well water here, with the well pump down over 300 feet. Our water tastes really, really good. And we are big water drinkers. We recently had a quick test done for bacteria and a few other things. This fall we plan to do a more expensive test of our water. A company is obtaining permits for drilling for natural gas in the area and there is alot of concern about the drilling impact on the water table and its quality. We want to get a baseline test before they start.

Well yeah, but it sounds like even filtered tap water from New York City would be better than what you have available on tap at home!

Iron bacteria!? For Pete's Sake!

Have you looked into a Reverse Osmosis unit? Mine wasn't that expensive, but the cartridge replacement does add up... it sounds like you need it worse than I did tho.

Yeah, I should have someone from NYC bottle there water and mail it to me. It probably would be better!

Have you ever heard of Iron Bacteria? If not, you should google it. It is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to remove.

We are going to consult with another water treatment company for a second opinion. I'll ask them about the Reverse Osmosis unit. I read a little about it, but it can't be any more expensive then what we are currently doing per month...

$45 (30 gallons spring water)
$20 (bottled spring water)
$64 (rental of our water softener & pH neutralizer)
$24 (filters for the sediment filtration unit)

Total: ~$153 per month (+ all the cleaning supplies used for the toilets, tubs, laundry because all of our appliances turn rust colored despite the above filtration)

UGH!

Well yeah, but it sounds like even filtered tap water from New York City would be better than what you have available on tap at home!

Iron bacteria!? For Pete's Sake!

Have you looked into a Reverse Osmosis unit? Mine wasn't that expensive, but the cartridge replacement does add up... it sounds like you need it worse than I did tho.

You may keep the water in a cool place, but you do not know where the water was before you bought it. Especially if you live in a warm or hot climate or during the summer months in other areas. It could be sitting in a warehouse someplace with temperatures reaching who knows what.

Sounds like you might need an undersink water filter. The Omni CB3 filter will practically remove anything bad from your water:

http://discountfilterstore.com/water-filter-undersink-omnifilter-cb3.html

You may already have the housing for this type of filter, if not they can be bought at a reasonable price.

I use the double filter housing, one holds the rust/sediment filter and the other takes the CB3...

Our water is horrible. It's very hard for one and has a lot of dissolved parts in it - some good, some bad. I bought one of those ZERO water pitcher - boy does that thing really work unlike the Brita and Pur pitchers which basically do nothing.

Nancy

Sounds like you might need an undersink water filter. The Omni CB3 filter will practically remove anything bad from your water:

http://discountfilterstore.com/water-filter-undersink-omnifilter-cb3.html

You may already have the housing for this type of filter, if not they can be bought at a reasonable price.

I use the double filter housing, one holds the rust/sediment filter and the other takes the CB3...

That is the same type of filter system we have in our basement for our "sediment" filter. Only, we only have the single houseing sediment one because the rest of our water tests fine with regard to arsenic, chlorine, etc.. Yes the sediment filter is great for removing rust/sediment but it does nothing for the iron bacteria.

Here is the information about Iron Bacteria, if anyone is curious as to what it is...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_bacteria

That is the same type of filter system we have in our basement for our "sediment" filter. Only, we only have the single houseing sediment one because the rest of our water tests fine with regard to arsenic, chlorine, etc.. Yes the sediment filter is great for removing rust/sediment but it does nothing for the iron bacteria.

Here is the information about Iron Bacteria, if anyone is curious as to what it is...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_bacteria


Okay you have an entirely different situation with iron in your water. I have iron in my water, but no iron bacteria as described in your link.

Direct chlorination of your well is suggested in the article and then pumped until the water is clear, sounds like it could be an expensive project. If it's a one time thing to do to clear up the water, it may be worth it, but if it is going to come back again, maybe not a good idea.

Here is a good read by the government on Iron Bacteria (in PDF format):

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-21.pdf

We give our dog filtered water from the tap, the same water we drink. I read somewhere that chlorine is not so great for dogs (it can dry out their skin).