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What the FUCK is going on in this country?
- Thread starter Christian
- Start date
It's actually worse than Flint.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016...ylvania-with-higher-lead-exposure-than-flint/
It's in a pretty divided place, more so than any other time in my life, but I think there's definitely a little overreacting going on. It'll be fine, the world isn't ending, and there are far worse situations in the world.
Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone. But so many people are treating it like the apocalypse.
Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone. But so many people are treating it like the apocalypse.
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One of the major problems unfortunately with this country as of late.
Also since when did infrastructure spending become unsexy? You'd think a politician could get elected promising to invest heavily in infrastructure but it seems like that's not the case anymore.
No its not, read the article you posted.
"Health officials stress that high level continues to come from lead based paints and not water."
This SOO much. Adding insult to injury is the misquoting of an article to emphasize the sensationalism of it all.
It's not even that simple, since a lot of wealthy neighborhoods consist of older houses that use lead piping.
I guess the new site's honeymoon period is officially over.
Sure our public infrastructure is ancient and increasingly dangerous. But on the bright side, guns are cheap and plentiful, so it's basically a wash.
You'll find a lot of water systems in the ground that are 50 to 100 years old in the US. It's amazing some of the things we see in my business. I'm a Civil Engineering Inspector. We specialize in Sewer and Water.
The water quality in this country is rough in a lot of older towns and cities. Places that were settled a couple hundred years ago have some awful infrastructure, unless it has been completely replaced recently.
I'll say this, half the towns I go to where we are doing complete water/sewer system replacement....I REFUSE to drink the water there. It's that bad....yet everyone that lives in those towns are drinking water every day, without blinking.
As for the OP, it's possible a simple fluke could cause the need for boiling. Some incompetent person digging in their front yard or a random contractor screwing around could hit a main-line at any time and cause problems.
It's possible you have plenty there too, but no-one is saying anything about it...or it's simply part of life. See my example above about old towns/cities. People go about their daily business never knowing how bad the water quality actually is. They'd only be clued into it if someone told/showed them.
One thing is for sure, even if you have pretty good tap water...we're all drinking a lot of plastic particles and other trace chemicals.
The water quality in this country is rough in a lot of older towns and cities. Places that were settled a couple hundred years ago have some awful infrastructure, unless it has been completely replaced recently.
I'll say this, half the towns I go to where we are doing complete water/sewer system replacement....I REFUSE to drink the water there. It's that bad....yet everyone that lives in those towns are drinking water every day, without blinking.
As for the OP, it's possible a simple fluke could cause the need for boiling. Some incompetent person digging in their front yard or a random contractor screwing around could hit a main-line at any time and cause problems.
It's possible you have plenty there too, but no-one is saying anything about it...or it's simply part of life. See my example above about old towns/cities. People go about their daily business never knowing how bad the water quality actually is. They'd only be clued into it if someone told/showed them.
One thing is for sure, even if you have pretty good tap water...we're all drinking a lot of plastic particles and other trace chemicals.
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Does nobody use water filters that go directly on your kitchen faucet? Are those ineffective? I mean yes, we should have clean water, but in the meantime, why aren't people using filters? At Costco each faucet filter from PUR costs about ~$7 and covers 100 gallons.
It is really the lack of infrastructure funds and building proper infrastructure in the first place. It is not just the United States, there are many cities in Canada also suffering from this problem but it is not as noticeable.
Clean water is a basic human right that everyone should be entitled to.
Slightly off topic, but I've never fully understood why tens of millions of Americans, many of whom live in poverty and squalor, would choose to vote for a political party with absolutely no intention of looking after their interests. The main beneficiaries of the budget and tax reforms proposed by Trump will be the super-rich, whilst the poor will get poorer. Yet they will vote for the Republicans again in 3 years time. Absolutely bizarre to me.
Slightly off topic, but I've never fully understood why tens of millions of Americans, many of whom live in poverty and squalor, would choose to vote for a political party with absolutely no intention of looking after their interests. The main beneficiaries of the budget and tax reforms proposed by Trump will be the super-rich, whilst the poor will get poorer. Yet they will vote for the Republicans again in 3 years time. Absolutely bizarre to me.
We have pipes in the ground. The ground moves. Pipes get old. Water back up when it floods. Sewage can go haywire. Boiling water helps kill any impurities. It's happened here all my life. However, I agree with the infrastructure comment on the first page. Nobody wants to pay taxes. Stupid. Also, human's have a right to clean water; I wish all humans had clean water.
It sounds like Pittsburgh has a bad water utility company and that's a local government issue, not a state issue and certainly not a national one.
Republican lies and Democratic vilification.
But I can ask a similar question to you, why would anyone vote for either party given that they both are responsible for the trillions spent in the last 16 years on foreign wars and the American Empire? I don't blame people who are lied and manipulated and strike them off my love list, I blame the liars and manipulators.
These do not remove many of the more harmful chemicals and particles present in bad water. They also work terribly in my experience. I have well water at my apartment that almost certainly isn't up to code; we tried using these filters and they lasted maybe 50% of the time they were supposed to because there was so much to filter out of our water. The filters become expensive then, they often work slowly or provide dribbles of water (especially the PUR ones that attach to the faucet).
Even then, I picked up some kind of bacteria or something that gave me serious gastrointestinal problems (I had to get a colonoscopy to make sure I didn't have Crohn's or something). I've had to buy gallons of water ever since, and even that can be a challenge in a rural area where many people are far from the nearest Walmart or supermarket (luckily I'm only 15 minutes from a 24 hour Walmart, but I shudder to think of the people further out from me who run out of water/their filter dies and they cannot easily make a trip to get more).
They're not something to rely on, is what I'm saying.
Moreover, water is used in food prep, good luck filtering the burrito you had for lunch.
A lot of it is also local politicians. If the city is providing the water (charging for the water), they should also be changing out old lines and regulating their water. The city isn't going to pay to have your house pipes replaced though.
The faucet filters are shit. But you can buy filters and water softeners that hook up beneath your sink or do your whole house. You can get a 3 stage water filter system that will go under your sink for around 120$.
In PA I believe water is handled at the township level. I can go 1 mile down the road and even the water content is completely different. In fact when I go to the dentist they ask what township I'm in and make recommendations based on which one you are in due to the different fluoride levels ranging from none to too much. Anyway its alot to apply such a local geographical issue as a larger critique of the US infrastructure system collapsing. It needs help but we take for granted how much work was done and how much it takes to maintain it.
We've literally built entire cities on top of the water system and half a century later have to go in and repair it without demolishing everything we built on top of it.
Because they're often low-information voters who only care about populist ideas like "jobs" and "families" for the "working class". They're caught in a system where they aren't empowered to understand the actual ramifications of their decisions, many of which only further entrap them into the system.
I mean, the USA isn't the only country in need of infrastructure improvements.
But yes, it's a problem that'll only get worse.
But yes, it's a problem that'll only get worse.
Took my daughter to her 1 year doctor appointment yesterday, and found out our town has been identified has having a higher risk for lead, and that they recommend she get a blood test done. This is in the Chicago suburbs. All of her water has been bottled or filtered through the fridge water filter, but it's still a little scary. Also a little scary that this wasn't mentioned to us at all during my older daughter's one year appointment, unless this was a recent finding.
Took me around 30 min. You follow the color coded hoses. You might spring a leak or two but you just trim the end of the hose.
If you get one and have trouble send a message! I'll help you out.
You can't trust the tap water
I had to walk 15 miles uphill to get clean water, and 15 miles uphill to get back.
I had to walk 15 miles uphill to get clean water, and 15 miles uphill to get back.
Yep, Rome didn't fall in a day... can't help but feel like it' only downhill from here
There is a loss. Quite significant depending on your water source.
I just had a glass for you and focused. I tasted some residual iron and calcium and that was about it. It's pretty "pure" but not in a bad way.
For example there is half a second to a second of aftertaste. Some waters sometimes last in your mouth several seconds. That can really impact the flavor of a tea or coffee. Personal preference on liking it of course.
For a few hundred I'd still give it a go. You can use it for many other things besides drinking! Teas! Cooking! I've cubes! And tons more. Imagination is the limit.
Water advisories can happen in any developed country. I don't know if they're getting more common in the US, but this stuff happens.