4 ms·

Definitely not the case in the US. Our water is full of minerals which is often a serious issue as it makes showers very hard to clean. It also means an increas

by SEJeff 9y ago

Definitely not the case in the US. Our water is full of minerals which is often a serious issue as it makes showers very hard to clean. It also means an increase in kidney stones (my mom just went through this and the reasoning from the doctor was all of the minerals in the water so she used a "zero" pitcher to filter it all out)

noitsnot 9y ago
Saying the U.S. here is probably a bit of a generalization. I've lived in a few states without a very hard to clean shower or kidney stones. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't drink tap water now, but I did for over a decade before the bottled trend.
- Dylan16807 9y ago
  > Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't drink tap water now What changed your mind?
  - InitialLastName 9y ago
    Signalling
- rconti 9y ago
  I gotta believe that drinking tap water is really low on the list of reasons people get kidney stones. I'd think drinking virtually anything OTHER than water is a more likely cause.. I still drink tap water regularly although I lean towards the fridge water dispenser and the cooler at work because I like cold water.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - SEJeff 9y ago
    Kentucky's bluegrass area (where my mother is) is entirely lime stone. Lime stone happens to dissolve trivially in water along with anything held in it. This was literally what the doctor told her and isn't hard to believe[1]. From that article, """Median values of TDS were found below the SMCL of 500 mg/L, but outliers were common, especially in the Bluegrass (Figure 34).""" She has to get one of the Zero filters[2] which removes virtually all TDS[3] and measures it using a little TDS meter. Parts of the bluegrass are super high (> 500 TDS) and they happen to be in that part. I believe it is very low in most the united states for sure, but not where my family is from (I live in Chicago currently) :) [1] http://water.ky.gov/groundwater/Documents/BMU2_NPS_report3.pdf http://water.ky.gov/groundwater/Documents/BMU2_NPS_report3.p... [2] https://www.zerowater.com/ https://www.zerowater.com/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids
- HankB99 9y ago
  We live in the far western Chicago suburbs. When we moved here we got our water from a community well (operated by our town.) The water was very hard and in addition had a lot of sulfur and iron. (A water heater would change the sulfur compounds so they smelled like rotten eggs.) IIRC the hardness was about 450 ppm. I installed an ion exchange water softener that fed the hot water heater and cold water to the laundry. We continued to drink hard water and use it for cooking. Some years later we were switched to a supply that was piped from Lake Michigan. That was about 135 ppm hardness and did not have the sulfur and iron content. Didn't need the water softener any more but we still use a water filter pitcher to remove chlorine and bad flavors from the water. (The filtering activity of zebra mussels clarified Lake Michigan and allowed algae to grow at the depths where the water intakes were located. The algae left a musty taste in the water at times of the year when it flourished.) Even in the same location, water chemistry can vary a lot.
- colejohnson66 9y ago
  I live in Southern California and drink out of the tap all the time. Just stick your head under and drink.
code_duck 9y ago
Many people are unaware that standard hot water heaters concentrate minerals, too, and are not intended for drinking water. My parents and in-laws fill their water kettles from the hot water tap, even though filtered water is available.
- tgb 9y ago
  Wow, I was sure you were wrong when I read this but it looks like you're right. Though the reasoning here is a little different from how I interpreted your comment. It's not that the heaters concentrate minerals by, say, evaporating some of the water, it's that hot water simply dissolves lead from pipes more easily than cold water.https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html
  - Dylan16807 9y ago
    But that's not concentrating anything at all.
- seszett 9y ago
  I thought it was common knowledge that hot water from the tap wasn't drinkable, but here in France the reason I have always heard is that bacteria tend to develop in the hot water storage tanks (which are set to around 60°C usually, not hot enough to prevent their development).
Tempest1981 9y ago
I guess this is being downvoted because of this 2002 study, vs the Japanese studies? http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_heal/medical1/1-water-hardness-and-kidney-stones.htm http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_heal/medical1/1-water... "Any correlation between water hardness, or the drinking water calcium or 14 magnesium level, and the incidence of urolithiasis was not found in the last vast USA epidemiological study with 3270 patients (Schwartz et al, 2002). The quoted Japanese studies did not find that the water calcium or magnesium levels alone had an effect on the incidence of urolithiasis but did find that the Mg to Ca ratio had: ..."
- hcarvalhoalves 9y ago
  This because kidney stones are composed of oxalate + calcium, and is really hard to avoid calcium, but some people have trouble w/ oxalate. Its present in beans, dark green leaves like spinach, many fruits, etc

by SEJeff 9y ago

noitsnot 9y ago

Saying the U.S. here is probably a bit of a generalization. I've lived in a few states without a very hard to clean shower or kidney stones. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't drink tap water now, but I did for over a decade before the bottled trend.

Dylan16807 9y ago
> Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't drink tap water now What changed your mind?
- InitialLastName 9y ago
  Signalling
rconti 9y ago
I gotta believe that drinking tap water is really low on the list of reasons people get kidney stones. I'd think drinking virtually anything OTHER than water is a more likely cause.. I still drink tap water regularly although I lean towards the fridge water dispenser and the cooler at work because I like cold water.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- SEJeff 9y ago
  Kentucky's bluegrass area (where my mother is) is entirely lime stone. Lime stone happens to dissolve trivially in water along with anything held in it. This was literally what the doctor told her and isn't hard to believe[1]. From that article, """Median values of TDS were found below the SMCL of 500 mg/L, but outliers were common, especially in the Bluegrass (Figure 34).""" She has to get one of the Zero filters[2] which removes virtually all TDS[3] and measures it using a little TDS meter. Parts of the bluegrass are super high (> 500 TDS) and they happen to be in that part. I believe it is very low in most the united states for sure, but not where my family is from (I live in Chicago currently) :) [1] http://water.ky.gov/groundwater/Documents/BMU2_NPS_report3.pdf http://water.ky.gov/groundwater/Documents/BMU2_NPS_report3.p... [2] https://www.zerowater.com/ https://www.zerowater.com/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids
HankB99 9y ago
We live in the far western Chicago suburbs. When we moved here we got our water from a community well (operated by our town.) The water was very hard and in addition had a lot of sulfur and iron. (A water heater would change the sulfur compounds so they smelled like rotten eggs.) IIRC the hardness was about 450 ppm. I installed an ion exchange water softener that fed the hot water heater and cold water to the laundry. We continued to drink hard water and use it for cooking. Some years later we were switched to a supply that was piped from Lake Michigan. That was about 135 ppm hardness and did not have the sulfur and iron content. Didn't need the water softener any more but we still use a water filter pitcher to remove chlorine and bad flavors from the water. (The filtering activity of zebra mussels clarified Lake Michigan and allowed algae to grow at the depths where the water intakes were located. The algae left a musty taste in the water at times of the year when it flourished.) Even in the same location, water chemistry can vary a lot.
colejohnson66 9y ago
I live in Southern California and drink out of the tap all the time. Just stick your head under and drink.

code_duck 9y ago

Many people are unaware that standard hot water heaters concentrate minerals, too, and are not intended for drinking water. My parents and in-laws fill their water kettles from the hot water tap, even though filtered water is available.

tgb 9y ago
Wow, I was sure you were wrong when I read this but it looks like you're right. Though the reasoning here is a little different from how I interpreted your comment. It's not that the heaters concentrate minerals by, say, evaporating some of the water, it's that hot water simply dissolves lead from pipes more easily than cold water.https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html
- Dylan16807 9y ago
  But that's not concentrating anything at all.
seszett 9y ago
I thought it was common knowledge that hot water from the tap wasn't drinkable, but here in France the reason I have always heard is that bacteria tend to develop in the hot water storage tanks (which are set to around 60°C usually, not hot enough to prevent their development).

Tempest1981 9y ago

I guess this is being downvoted because of this 2002 study, vs the Japanese studies? http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_heal/medical1/1-water-hardness-and-kidney-stones.htm http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_heal/medical1/1-water... "Any correlation between water hardness, or the drinking water calcium or 14 magnesium level, and the incidence of urolithiasis was not found in the last vast USA epidemiological study with 3270 patients (Schwartz et al, 2002). The quoted Japanese studies did not find that the water calcium or magnesium levels alone had an effect on the incidence of urolithiasis but did find that the Mg to Ca ratio had: ..."

hcarvalhoalves 9y ago
This because kidney stones are composed of oxalate + calcium, and is really hard to avoid calcium, but some people have trouble w/ oxalate. Its present in beans, dark green leaves like spinach, many fruits, etc