(08-05-2020 06:27 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote: As a boy, I remember playing golf with my grandfather and he made it a point to fill up his water thermos at a particular spigot that had non fluoridated water. Just wondering if that was still around...
The answer is no. But I can get you a good deal on your own personal artesian well. They turned off the wells years ago. I remember seeing people who would bring crap loads of empty plastic milk containers and stand at the water fountain by the outdoor pavilion pushing the foot petal for long periods filling them. Every time I tried to fill some containers there was several already in line to do the same, but they too had crap loads of containers to fill.
Memphis has won the "Best Water" award a number of times in the past. Believe it or not NYC has won before. When I lived in Phoenix nobody I knew drank tap water. Many would not cook with it even if it were filtered. There were these sky blue vending machines that looked like a Coke or Pepsi vending machine but they dispensed purified cleaned water for about $.30 a gallon in your container. Some of the Phoenix tap water comes from the Colorado River which runs through Utah right beside areas where debris from the uranium mines is piled up. But they claim it is safe. And if not for that it just tasted funky.
And it is not so much the flouride in the water, it is the chlorine or chloramine added to kill the bacteria. But the result of these treatments is they can create trihalomethanes (THMs).
This is the part which has been proven to be a cancer causing element in much of our drinking water. And the usual water filters like Brita or Pur do not filter THMs. The filter I have is Aquasana under counter 3 filter system. It is one that does filter VOCs and THMs.
The water here in Memphis has an advertised ph of 7.0 which is neutral. But when the chlorine is removed and the water is treated to lower the ph to a level of 6.5 to 5.5 plants grow much stronger and bigger quicker which should tell you something. I use phosphoric acid to lower the ph but you can also just use vinegar (an acid, ph is 2.5) to lower the ph. About 10 drops vinegar per gallon if your water registers about 7.0 on average. Another drop or two if you water is 7.1 to7.3 and more if the ph has a higher alkaline level.
Acid loving plants hardly absorb the fertilizers applied when the ph rises above 6.5. At 7.0 you are mostly pouring the fertilizer down the drain. We have a greenhouse and grow orchids. The difference corrected ph makes is noticeable in just a couple weeks. For the greenhouse we use a screw on mobile home water filter which removes chlorine. These are lessons learned over 10 years ago and thousands of $$$ lost in poorly grown orchids which finally get thrown out. Have been growing orchids for 20 years, killing orchids can get really expensive.
Chlorination of water systems began about 100 years ago. The result is it has eliminated waterborne pathogens like chorea and dysentery. Chlorine and chloramine are the perfect and cost effective disinfectants as well as they react with organic matter to form disinfectant byproducts called DBP.
Give your house plants corrected ph water for a month and see what happens. Of course the vinegar has slight smell and is why we use food grade phosphoric acid in our greenhouse. But you can also use lemon juice which has a ph of 2.0. Also you can cut back on the fertilizer by half if you are using Miracle-Gro or Peters. Acid loving plants have what is called
nutrient lock out if the ph starts rising above 6.5. Acid loving plants will grow at the 7.0 ph level but not nearly as vigorous if the ph is at 6.5 to 5.5. Most of the plants we grow are acid loving but there are many that will grow in both acid and alkaline soils. Veggie like asparagus loves alkaline soil.
If you are a backyard gardener you will be happy with the results using a mobile home water filter which screws on to the faucet or garden hose. I get these off ebay, Camco 2 pack 40044 or 40045 for about $30 shipped. Even if you don't correct the ph removing the chlorine is important. It kills important microbes in the soil that produce necessary micro nutrients, and the garden soil itself will help correct the ph.
Important: if you attach the filter at the faucet you need to use the 5 inch flex hose with the spring looking relief. If you screw it directly on the faucet you WILL break it off at the threaded neck and it is ruined. I broke my first one within 10 minutes not using the flex hose. Lesson learned.
Your plants will thank you. Your veggies from your garden will taste better by far just using the filter.
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Can you still get non fluoridated water at Overton Park?
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