Don dreenk de water

I was at the synagogue this evening talking to the wife of a guest speaker from Uganda. I asked her about water quality in her country, and she said that her village has a well in the center and everybody has to carry water from the well to the houses. The water quality is good in the summer, but when it rains the water tends to make people sick if it is not boiled.

Then we got onto the subject of American water quality. We discussed the chemicals in water here, chiefly chlorine. I said that I had always been told that a goldfish dies if you place it directly into tap water. I remember my parents telling me that as a child. And I remember the deeply unsettling feeling I had at the time. Do you mean to tell me the water you have been giving me to drink my whole life can kill a GOLDFISH????!!!!! As soon as I got out on my own as an adult I began to purchased bottled water and later got a filtering system.

It so happens I bought a new filter for our house at Costco last weekend. The last time the plumber was here replacing the filters on our reverse osmosis system I asked him about replacing the filtering membrane. He said that it might be better to buy an entirely new system from Costco and replace all of the parts, including the storage tank. So I'm almost ready to call him. I need to buy a new kitchen faucet because that broke recently. When I have all the parts I will call and schedule an appointment.

I learned a few months ago that the wife of one of my husband's colleagues came down with lymphoma. She is about 10 years younger than I am. She had already gone through chemo by the time I heard about it in the fall and was about to start radiation. She said after her diagnosis they completely changed their lifestyle. Including switching from drinking tap water to drinking bottled or filtered water. She also moved away from her home that was very near a freeway to one closer to the ocean and clean air.

I water my plants with water from the reverse osmosis system and they are a lot healthier than the plants used to be. I really don't think it is my imagination.