Fuckin' Walmart

[RopeFiend]

I've been to two different Walmarts here in the Dallas area in the last few days, and it appears they've stopped selling spring water (Ozarka, here in Texas).  The only crap on the shelves is 'filtered water'.  WTF???

Yeah, thanks, but I could do that myself with an RO filter (Reverse Osmosis) and tap water.  I don't need to pay Wally World for that.  Pure spring water is important to me.

The problem is, an RO filter will not remove chloramines.  Even a cheap carbon filter with high-tech carbon won't remove it, it takes something on the order of a dialysis filter stack to do the job ($400USD and up), and you have to replace the carbon pack at least once per year, even with regular back-flushing.

Chloramines are a problem.  They're toxic to fish, yet the EPA says the shit is safe to drink.  Mostly.  In my case, I get REALLY weird smelling diarrhea about every 4 to 6 months when I drink as little as 4oz of tap water every day.  If I drink 16 to 20oz per day, I get the shits every week.  That's a sign that I can't tolerate chloramines, even in relatively small quantity.  One of the cities here in Texas recently had a problem with their chloramine injection, and the levels were twice the 'allowed' limit.  NEITHER THE CITY NOR THE COUNTY WARNED RESIDENTS THAT THE WATER WASN'T HEALTHY TO DRINK.

[None]

Looks like you can buy it online and shipped to the store. It also looks like Sam's Club has it.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nestle-Waters-Bottled-Spring-Water-0.5-Liter-24-Count/26690401

[ChirpingGirl]

I've been to two different Walmarts here in the Dallas area in the last few days, and it appears they've stopped selling spring water (Ozarka, here in Texas).  The only crap on the shelves is 'filtered water'.  WTF???

Yeah, thanks, but I could do that myself with an RO filter (Reverse Osmosis) and tap water.  I don't need to pay Wally World for that.  Pure spring water is important to me.

The problem is, an RO filter will not remove chloramines.  Even a cheap carbon filter with high-tech carbon won't remove it, it takes something on the order of a dialysis filter stack to do the job ($400USD and up), and you have to replace the carbon pack at least once per year, even with regular back-flushing.

Chloramines are a problem.  They're toxic to fish, yet the EPA says the shit is safe to drink.  Mostly.  In my case, I get REALLY weird smelling diarrhea about every 4 to 6 months when I drink as little as 4oz of tap water every day.  If I drink 16 to 20oz per day, I get the shits every week.  That's a sign that I can't tolerate chloramines, even in relatively small quantity.  One of the cities here in Texas recently had a problem with their chloramine injection, and the levels were twice the 'allowed' limit.  NEITHER THE CITY NOR THE COUNTY WARNED RESIDENTS THAT THE WATER WASN'T HEALTHY TO DRINK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A

[GEMINIGUY]

I buy spring water myself too, and when I'm forced to drink sink water it messes with my stomach and I hate that. I know there's a lot of copper in our tap water up here, but we must have that stuff in our water as well.

[Elizabeth]

I have two wells on the property, Thankfully I don't have to depend on the city or county for water. The only thing that I'm required to do is report "water usage" on each of my wells (flow meter). As a matter of precaution I have the water tested every 6 months for contaminates.

Love,
Liz
 

[RopeFiend]

GG, you probably *do* have chloramines in your water.  Lots of municipal areas have switched to it because it lasts much longer in the lines than chlorine does.  If you don't have a disinfectant in the water lines, they grow algae and fungus.  People have died from water systems when the chlorination failed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine
(read the sections on USES IN WATER TREATMENT and REMOVING CHLORAMINES)

Basically, they're a bitch to get rid of, and some animals (including some humans like me and GG) are sensitive to them.  I'm one of those "one in a thousand" kinds of guys, on some things "one in ten thousand".  Yeah, it's great being 'special'. 

The section mentioning boiling is fuckin' hilarious.  Yeah, TRY boiling water for 27 hours to remove half of the chloramines.  After a few hours you have an empty pot and no water, but you still have half of the chloramines, and you're breathing the other half.  Wonderful damned (pointless) suggestion.

BTW, don't pour bleach into a toilet that has urine in it.  You can produce dangerous amounts of chloramines that way.  Chloramines ARE toxic, and you can't really smell 'em over the odor of the bleach.

For anyone that missed the reference, the pic I posted initially is from Dr. Strangelove, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/
The crazy general is a nutter about drinking nothing but pure spring water, and I flash on that scene every time I go off on a rant about water.    Hey, at least I'm honest about being nutty!


Realistically, most folks don't have a strong reaction to chloramines in drinking water, but I do.  The stuff that comes out of me gives me a "WTF IS THAT GAWD AWFUL *SMELL*?!?" kind of response... it's WAY different than normal diarrhea... it smells like a chemical solvent.  I've never smelled anything quite like it, so I can't tell what it's similar to, but it's a BAD thing.  Anything that makes your body do weird freaky shit should be avoided; that's just common sense, or should be.

[Lois]

Try shopping somewhere other than Walmart. 

[MissBarbara]

Try shopping somewhere other than Walmart

+1

[RopeFiend]

Wally World is cheap, and it's absolutely the ONLY grocery store conveniently along my way home.  Anywhere else is > a mile away from the freeway, so added time and cost, plus the higher cost for the groceries.

I can get much of what I want at the Farmer's Market, but it's miles out of my way.  I only go there every few months for the stuff I can't get closer.  There aren't near enough Farmer's Markets here in the Dallas area.

And I never, ever shop at Whole Paycheck Foods.

[Lois]

Walmart is far off the beaten track for me.  Fry's/Kroger is much closer.  One problem I have with Walmart is their produce.  It simply does not last. They must buy old stuff.  Fortunately there is a Sprouts close to home, too.

[Elizabeth]

Wally World is cheap, and it's absolutely the ONLY grocery store conveniently along my way home.  Anywhere else is > a mile away from the freeway, so added time and cost, plus the higher cost for the groceries.

I can get much of what I want at the Farmer's Market, but it's miles out of my way.  I only go there every few months for the stuff I can't get closer.  There aren't near enough Farmer's Markets here in the Dallas area.

And I never, ever shop at Whole Paycheck Foods.

LOL....
I'm sorry for laughing (no I'm not).
but you have to travel a little bit for your necessities?
LOL....
The gas station "near" where my farm is: 6 Miles one way (only one).
The supermarket "near" where my farm is:  12 Miles one way (only one).
The Mall "near" where my farm is:  33 miles one way (only one).
The Hospital "near" where my farm is:  16 miles one way (only one), but it does have a helipad (which I have utilized twice).
However...!!! The Pizza Shop and Chinese Restaurant "near" where my farm is: 6 Miles AND they deliver..!!! (they are also right next to the gas station).
Granted you live in the suburbs and there has to be "some" advantages.
I live in the country (sticks, way out in the sticks) and that's just where I want to be, shopping is something you plan for. You can't just jump in your car and go get a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk (unless you want to drive 24 miles to do it).
Some when I hear people complain "about" how far they have to drive or go to get something I smile and laugh (not really at you RF, I promise) because they haven't got a clue.

Love,
Liz

[GEMINIGUY]

The Chinese restaurant and Pizza place deliver? Now I know what I'll be eating a lot if I come and work on your farm.

[RopeFiend]

Update:  last weekend I went to 2 different Krogers, two Tom Thumbs, and a Fiesta.  No spring water, nada.  Lots of bottles of FILTERED DRINKING WATER, but thanks, I already have tap water available for lots cheaper.

Is it so hard to produce this:  

One convenience store had 3 cases of the 1/2 liter bottles, so I bought the lot.  I've already burned through one case.  Bad thing to be running short on water in the summer time.

Liz, I just saw your post.  The closest 'store' is the Wally World, and it's 5 or 6 miles from here (all distances are one-way).  The Kroger and Tom Thumb are ~ 10 miles.  Anything closer than 5 miles is Apu's Kwikee-Mart.  The nearest Farmer's Market is about 11 miles, but the one I usually shop at is around 25 miles.  Thankfully I get 25MPG in my wittle twuck.  You have me beat a bit.  It's close enough to the boonies out here for me.

Let's see: closest mall is 11 miles, and the hospital I prefer is 15 miles.  There are a few closer hospitals, but I don't like 'em: too 1940s or too pricey (Baylor).  Baylor is closest.

[RopeFiend]

Well, I take back the nasty things I said about Walmart.  It's not their fault.

http://www.kltv.com/story/31868940/ozarka-assisting-employees-after-wood-county-tornado

That's from just after April 29 when 4 twisters hit that area.  The local supplies lasted until about June 20, and it's been a Dry County since then.

It appears the big bottling plant in Hawkins was significantly damaged by a tornado, thus the shortage of spring water in Texas (nearly everywhere here).  One gal said that Sam's Club has water, but that doesn't do me a bit of good without a card.  Same for the other member-only outfit out here.  Apparently they're trucking in Arrowhead from AZ and CA.

Contrary to the Public Relations claim in the article above, there ain't none to be had unless you want 'filtered drinking water' (in other words, tap water).  Unless they 'filter' it with something like a catalytic carbon dialysis filter, I can't drink it.  FUCK!!

[Lois]

Drink beer and relax. 

[JBRG]

Drink beer and relax. 

What Lois said.

Or wine.

[RopeFiend]

Yeah... it's summer... I know intellectually that beer is ~88% water, but it doesn't quench the thirst quite the same.  The alcohol in it probably dehydrates you.

It's not just Dallas, that one plant sources spring water for the whole South Central part of the country.  Some of the other folks here should be feeling the pinch, too.



It's a freaking huge facility; only the one up in Canada comes close in size.  For those here in Texas, it's about 20 miles north of Tyler.

Until it comes back online, I guess I'll spend the next week or two trying to find a 'drinking water' source that filters the chloramines out.  That, or start adding vitamin C (ascorbic acid) to my bottles of water (about 2mg per liter of water).  I'll have to see how to do that tiny amount.

[Elizabeth]

Use a 3-5cc syringe.
I think 2mg would convert into something close to that dose (3cc).
You do mean 'milli" right and not "micro".

Love,
Liz

[RopeFiend]

2 milligrams is the dry weight of ascorbic acid, dunno what that'd work out to with something like lemon or lime juice.  Lime won't depress the pH as much as lemon would.

[RopeFiend]

I guess Nestle got the plant repaired out near Hawkins (20 miles NE of Tyler or thereabouts).  There's no mention on the Ozarka website, but there's suddenly spring water in the stores again.  I was down to around 45L of water, which would barely last me 1 month.

I'd snagged some other brand of water in the interim before I found the stashes of Ozarka, and it just tasted weird... plastic-y and flat.