Day: 01/28/2016

Harder Water

I thought we had hard water in Texas, but New Mexico has created a whole new category. (In fact, our water is famous, having been referenced in the popular Breaking Bad series.) The water not only leaves a residue, it stains everything, from silverware to pots and pans. In other words, it don’t come off, no matter what you do. So, one is forced to pay for treatments like these:

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Case in point, my kitchen faucet. Here it is before treatment:

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Disgusting, isn’t it? You know, I don’t mind the water stains that much, but if the water leaves residue like this on my faucet, what kind of residue is it leaving in my body?

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Picture me standing at the sink, having to hold this stinky bowl of toxic chemicals to my faucet:

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Well, it looks a little bit better, no?

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No, actually, it doesn’t:

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Perhaps there’s nothing in the water that can harm me, but it’s hard to look at this gunk and say I have clean water. If these chemicals can’t remove the gunk, what the hell is in the water?

Lead contamination for everyone!

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/too-much-lead-in-nabisco-ginger-snaps-california-alleges-012616.html

Ginger Snap cookies proclaim proudly that they are “made with real ginger and molasses,” failing to mention a rather generous dose of lead…

Ironically, it turn out that the ginger and molasses Nabisco marketers promoted so proudly played a big part in the lead contamination. Experts have linked high lead levels in molasses to soil in which sugar is grown, and also to the manufacturing process. Sources of lead in powdered ginger have also been linked to contaminated soil in which ginger is grown, and to the brining process in which it is dried, a news release from Harris’ office said.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/01/26/Ohio-EPA-knew-about-lead-issues-in-Sebring.html

State environmental officials knew as early as October that residents of Sebring in Mahoning County were drinking water contaminated with lead but did not warn the public, records show…

What good would it do to notify the victims when they can’t do anything about it? Except maybe to stop drinking, cooking, and bathing in the water? Other than buying bottled water, what else can they do?