Same with me. I went back to filtered tap water. Better than bottled crap that is just filtered tap water anyway.
OT: Water alert
- Thread starter bac2therac
- Start date
I only drink bottled water. I have a well and I don't bother testing it. I have a whole house filter to remove the non solubles, my water has a high iron content. I am fine bathing in it and washing dishes and cloths in it but I don't drink or cook with it. I also flush my well tank and well pretty often. Maybe one day I will have the water tested to find out its quality.
You should. My well water tests better than public water and no you don't need a test every year. Well water is filtered over a longer period of time by the same process that man-made water treatment plants have emulated at a faster rate.
Last edited:
My Refrigerator has a water filter, I figure that is
good enough.
good enough.
It depends on the specific spot. You can be in a rural area right next to an old dumping spot or in a developed area with a deep clean well.
There are rules that require private residential wells to get tested when a house is sold, but there are a lot of wells that have never been tested and a lot of people plausibly consuming contaminated water.
Same.
There is a whole other option than tap or plastic bottle that many seemed to have skipped over.
Reading about wells, I found this blurb interesting
How Old is Water in a Deep Well?
It is not uncommon for water to be some thousand years old in a deep well. It can be millions, and sometimes even billions of years old. The age of groundwater can be detected by Carbon-14 decay or by measuring known contamination.
Not to mention carcinogens seeping into bottled water from the cheap plastic bottle that has been exposed to varying temperatures between bottling and consumer drinking the water.
Forget where I saw it, maybe Reddit? But there was something about a pallet of bottled water outside that had the comments section freaking out.
We have a whole house filtering system in basement and we still drink certain bottled water exclusively. I certainly don't trust anything a governmental agency says,especially when they disclose years later about the contamination seeping into the ground water.
You’re not kidding. I had no idea.
I look at it for watches (certain Casio’s, Seiko’s and Rolex’s) and one of our cars.
So you are saying you put down the controller and went outside to drink from a hose? Why would you do that?
Where do you get your bottled water tested? Alternatively, who is it that you trust that is tesing it for you?
What controller ? Back then we spent our time outside, and when the street lights came on, we
went in, ate, and watched TV.
A Britain that does the lead filtering should work. I use a Pur one and it gets rid of the odor and taste.
Taste and Odor Issues Raritan System
DECEMBER 22 AT 5:45 p.m. Update:We understand the taste and odor changes in the Raritan system have been concerning to customers, and we want to assure you we’re doing everything we can to address the issue. The health and safety of our customers is a priority. There are currently no drinking water advisories in place for customers as the water meets state and federal standards.
Since Wednesday, December 18, we've tested over 200 compounds across 49 sample sites, from the source to tap. We are in consistent contact with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) and diligently assisting their investigation to get to the root of the problem and keep our customers informed. In addition to assisting the NJ DEP investigation, we are running extensive tests which continue to confirm that this is a taste and odor issue and not a public health risk. Targeted hydrant flushing and sampling is ongoing.
While the water meets all state and federal standards, we understand the taste and odor issues are frustrating. NJ DEP commissioner Shawn LaTourette stated yesterday, "Despite continuing taste and odor concerns, we have not found any exceedance of our state or federal drinking water quality standards."
Customers may continue to notice an odor over the next several days. We will keep working with the NJ DEP until this is resolved. We appreciate our customers’ patience, cooperation and trust. As additional information becomes available, the company will provide updates here.
Following NJ DEP’s Identification of a Third-Party Compound Leak, New Jersey American Water Continues to Monitor Water Quality in its Raritan System; No Drinking Water Advisories in Effect
CAMDEN, N.J. – DEC. 23, 2024 – New Jersey American Water continues to monitor water quality following reports of changes in the taste and odor of drinking water from customers served by its Raritan System. In a statement today, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) reported the initial results of its investigation, which attributes these changes to a leak that occurred on Dec. 16 from a repackaging facility in Branchburg, N.J. into a tributary of the Raritan River. The facility repackages fragrances, essential oils, and flavorings.New Jersey American Water continues to monitor water quality and laboratory testing indicates that the water leaving New Jersey American Water’s two Raritan system treatment plants meets state and federal primary drinking water standards established by NJ DEP and US EPA and does not pose a public health risk.
“Providing safe drinking water to our customers is our foremost priority,” said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water. “Since Tuesday, Dec. 17, our teams have worked tirelessly, collecting hundreds of water quality samples around the clock throughout our system to help address the cause of the changes in taste and odor. Our proactive measures to adjust our treatment process and flush our system have allowed us to continue to provide water to our customers that meets state and federal drinking water quality standards, despite these challenges.”
New Jersey American Water first received customer inquiries regarding a change in taste and odor in the water in its Raritan system late in the evening on Tuesday, December 17. The company began to investigate and performed a series of actions including sampling and testing from the source water, different points in the treatment system of its water treatment plants, and sites throughout the distribution system. To address the issue, New Jersey American Water proactively adjusted its treatment processes and commenced targeted hydrant flushing across the system.
According to the NJ DEP, the material of the spill consisted of compounds, most notably alpha-pinene, which are commonly used as fragrance and food additives. Due to the fragrant nature of the compound, it can be smelled at minute concentrations measured in parts per trillion (ppt). For context, 1 ppt is equivalent to 4 drops of liquid in the amount of water that would fill Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium. Though detection levels of the compound are infinitesimal, customers may continue to notice the taste and odor over the next several days.
"We are grateful to the NJ DEP for their collaboration and diligence in investigating the cause of this issue that has resulted in both of our teams working around the clock and our customers concerned about the safety of the water,” said Mark McDonough, President, New Jersey American Water. “We understand our customers’ frustration, and we look forward to the prompt resolution of this problem.”
New Jersey American Water will continue to monitor water quality in cooperation with the NJ DEP and provide any additional updates to customers via its customer notification system as well as a dedicated webpage for this issue, njamwaterwaterquality.com, which includes a form for customer inquiries.
I don't think the testers saying the water is fine to drink, would drink it.
Leak At Repackaging Facility Cause Of Taste, Odor Issues In Water
The facility in Branchburg repackages fragrances, essential oils, and flavorings. It had a leak into a tributary of the Raritan River: NJDEP
How was the water safe?
alpha-pinene is toxic and can have many adverse health effects:
Acute health effects
Exposure to alpha-pinene can cause immediate or short-term health effects, including:
Skin and eye irritation
Nose and throat irritation, leading to coughing and wheezing
Headache, nausea, and vomiting
Loss of coordination, dizziness, confusion, seizures, and coma in very high exposure
alpha-pinene is toxic and can have many adverse health effects:
Acute health effects
Exposure to alpha-pinene can cause immediate or short-term health effects, including:
Skin and eye irritation
Nose and throat irritation, leading to coughing and wheezing
Headache, nausea, and vomiting
Loss of coordination, dizziness, confusion, seizures, and coma in very high exposure
The majority of people do nor drink tap water today without filtering. We switched to free, locally sourced spring water (Roosevelt Park, Colonial Park) in the late 1980s and when they were closed down we started to buy bottled water. The only exception is NYC, where I used to work for 33 years and the tapwater in the City tasted like spring water. Currently we live in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater, but we don't experience problems with the tapwater (discoloration, smell), perhaps because of our relatively high elevation on Somerset Hills.
We don't, but the house next to us on a different street that was built 30 years earlier does have well water.
I only started drinking bottled water last 4-5 years and actually drank very little water before that. I needed to drink 4 bottles of water or 8 glasses a day due to the water pill and other medicine. The last couple of month I switched to tap water boiled before drinking. I read an article of the microplastics in the bottles but everyone has plastics in their body the question is the quantity. Stay hydrated to protect your kidney.
Officials ID company that caused foul smell, taste in N.J. drinking water
Officials ID company that caused foul smell, taste in N.J. drinking water
The company, which repackages fragrances, essential oils, and flavorings at a facility in Branchburg Township, was issued a notice of violation for an unpermitted discharge.
The problem with Somerset including Colonial Park is that the state lowered the safe level of natural occurring arsenic such that many wells fail for it. I used to drink the Colonial Park water all the time, the wells had hand pumps and you would get a work out getting the water flowing.
How is it that the spill was identified and cleaned on 12/16, yet the state and NJ American Water claimed to have no idea what the issue was once complaints started on 12/17, and didn't disclose anything for 7 days until 12/23? Why didn't Somerset County OEM disclose anything earlier? Is there no coordination and reporting by Somerset County OEM to the state, NJ DEP, NJ American Water, or was this intentionally not disclosed? Something doesn't sound right.Officials ID company that caused foul smell, taste in N.J. drinking water
Officials ID company that caused foul smell, taste in N.J. drinking water
The company, which repackages fragrances, essential oils, and flavorings at a facility in Branchburg Township, was issued a notice of violation for an unpermitted discharge.www.nj.com
Branchburg firm issued violation for spill that led to taste, odor changes in NJ water
The DEP issued M&U International on Readington Road a violation for an unpermitted discharge, a violation of the Water Pollution Control Act.
www.mycentraljersey.com
Somerset County Office of Emergency Management responded to the area and conducted initial cleanup of a spill at M&U International on the night of Dec. 16.
Oh, Chiner...How is it that the spill was identified and cleaned on 12/16, yet the state and NJ American Water claimed to have no idea what the issue was once complaints started on 12/17, and didn't disclose anything for 7 days until 12/23? Why didn't Somerset County OEM disclose anything earlier? Is there no coordination and reporting by Somerset County OEM to the state, NJ DEP, NJ American Water, or was this intentionally not disclosed? Something doesn't sound right.
Branchburg firm issued violation for spill that led to taste, odor changes in NJ water
The DEP issued M&U International on Readington Road a violation for an unpermitted discharge, a violation of the Water Pollution Control Act.www.mycentraljersey.com
Somerset County Office of Emergency Management responded to the area and conducted initial cleanup of a spill at M&U International on the night of Dec. 16.
