5 ms·

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,

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
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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.

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.