I live in a rural area where the regional district is responsible (we trust) for drawing our drinking water from the lake, adding the correct chemicals in the correct amounts and in the correct order before distributing it to the residents who are on town water.
There is now a dilema developing regarding this practice - our tourist population is growing far more rapidly for what our rudimentary water filtration system is prepared.
Currently, we are on a boil water alert...
Translated, that means that any water we use must be brought to boiling tempurature and kept there for at least ten minutes before consumption.
...nothing worse than drinking hot water.
Apparently the turbidity of the water is too high.
Tubidity being a degree of cloudiness in water caused by suspended solids - in this case, due mostly to increased motor boat traffic.
So what do I drink in the stead of tap water?
Wine?
No... but I have the perfect solution!
There is a magic place where a simple hose protrudes from the ground bearing fresh, sweet spring water.
People have been collecting and drinking water from this boundless spring for more than one hundred years.
The mineral content is high (but not too high as to interfere with the taste) and the water is crystal clear.
It is a mere ten-minute scenic drive from my house, up a high mountain road that eventually leads past a gypsum mine then deep into the back country.
All I have to do is load up my water jugs and head for the hills!
The above photo is of the actual hose leading out of the ground and the bottom one is of my van loaded and ready to head home.
I do drink tap water - water tapped from the ground!
... and I have not given up drinking wine.
eating "store bought" bakery items like May Wests while drinking clean rural water .... sounds like what's old again is in the present too.
ReplyDeleteI sure do remember that bakery truck and how excited we would be eating store bought foods instead of homemade. Boy! did we ever have it wrong. Guess its true the grass is always greener on the other side... If we only knew back then.
well, never give up the wine, of course!! Sorry to hear you are on boil water alert though. Thank goodness for your magic spring!
ReplyDeleteHi Dale,
ReplyDeleteI saw your post on Stefan's blog. Where exactly is Rocky Mountain Trench? I live in so. cal. I like your pictures of your area.
eva
Ahh Dale, that reminds me of being in Africa and collecting water from the dam because of the drought....those were the days...there's far too much of the wet stuff everywhere here!
ReplyDeleteI bet you don't get a refund from the water bill!!..
ReplyDeleteyou should bottle the hose water and sell it...
'Dales Mountain spa juice'
make a fortune!..
and er yes wine is permitted when you can't get to said hose..
I too live in a rural area and I never ever drink the tap water. Once, some moron upstream poured some diesel fuel in the river where our "lovely" water comes from. I had the pleasant odor of fuel emanating from the faucets whenever we turned the water on. Best thing was they didn't tell any of the residents until the next evening. I love where I live.
ReplyDeleteYou take water for granted until something like this happens. Hope it gets sorted out soon!
Zoe
What a pain in the ass to have a boiled water alert. It's nice that you have your secret spring, though - it makes the pain in the ass a little more enoyable. :)
ReplyDeletehahahahahahaha! That is such a cool post!!! Oh my gosh I can so totally remember my dad getting us water there when we lived in Dry Gulch (yes you guys, there really is such a place) and our water would go the colour of pepsi... eeyach.
ReplyDeletethank you for those photos Dale! What a trip!
Dale, bad luck about the boil water directive, but you've done well to find such a wonderful alternative. Do people have tanks for rain water where you live? Our place on the coast has only tank water. Rainwater runs off the roof and into a holding tank, and is pumped up to another tank up the hill, so the system is gravity-fed. The water is so sweet and wonderful. Probably not as good for us as your mineral water is for you though.
ReplyDeleteSorry to read about your son's arm over on Rachel's blog. I now understand. Gypsy had the right idea in her comment on your last post though - use this time for yourself as much as possible.
Many, many hugs.
M x
Not a time to complain about winers.
ReplyDeleteOr was that whiners?
Does not matter after enough winers.
--Dan L.
The boil water directive doesn't really impact us that much, as we haul our drinking water all the time anyway.
ReplyDeleteLesley - I miss Mum's home baking.
Grace - I'll just make sure I drink more water than wine.
Eva - thanks for coming to visit. I left a comment on your blog.
Val - it must have been quite an experience living in SA. I find it doesn't rain enough here, but that's the attraction - lots of sun.
Gypsy - no water refund, but we use it to wash, etc. Our water bill in minimal to begin with. As far as bottling it - hasn't someone done that yet? And wine all around when we can't get to the hose!
Zoe - when we were kids we used to have to haul our water, too, so this is really not a huge chore. I don't take it forgranted, though.
MB - like I said, it's not a big deal, but you're right - it makes the pain a little less dull. The good water, that is, or maybe the wine?
Steph - I lived in Dry Gulch, too... I didn't have the problem of pepsi water - the only trouble I ever had was simply NO water...
Margie - we have rain barrels to catch the rainfall from our gutters, but not on a very large scale. We don't have enough rain here to make it worthwhile.
Bobby's arm will be ok - I just feel so bad for him.
Dan - quit your wining...;)