#2253802 - 06/13/08 12:29 AM
Drinking water question?
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hunter1960
Campfire Guide
Registered: 10/21/03
Posts: 3040
Loc: Southern Middle Tennessee
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I was watching "Tougher in AK" tonight on the History Channel. It was showing delievering water to folks in the Fairbanks area that live outside of the city supplied water system. It showed a fellow getting 700gal. which was a two week supply. How much does water cost? I assume it would be sold in 100 gal. increments.
I was wondering why people didn't dig a well, but it was stated that the well water wasn't safe to drink. What's the issue with the well water, is it sulpher or is it something worse?
There's places in this state, that folks have sulpher water wells and have been drinking it all of their lives, with what seems to be no physical problems caused by it.
Thank you, for your response.
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#2253806 - 06/13/08 01:05 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: hunter1960]
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ironbender
Campfire 'Bwana
Registered: 12/08/03
Posts: 10575
Loc: Kenai Peninsula
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I was on a holding tank when I lived in Fairbanks. Wells are expensive to drill, and that money (thousands of dollars) will buy a lot of water at 6c per gallon. That's what I paid in 1994 - probably higher now.
Wells often need to go very deep. I knew more than a couple of homes with 400'+ deep wells. The water quality can be an iffy proposition also. Often there is mineral hardness, and iron. A bigger problem is that some wells have high arsenic levels which is a big danger.
Another problem is the complex geology that sometimes is a set-up for perched aquifers - a lens of water that takes a long time to recharge, or may be pumped out requiring an extension to the well. One of the wells I mentioned above was nearing 400' and it ran dry. It was punched to over 450' to get more water.
That complex geology also allows for a neighbor to have lots of safe, clear, shallow water and the person across the street to have the above noted problems.
One can pay for delivery and know what to expect, or you can pays your money and takes your chances.
_________________________
My name is Ron Paul, and I'm the only pro-gun, pro-Constitution candidate running for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. --Ron Paul 
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#2253807 - 06/13/08 01:08 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: ironbender]
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ironbender
Campfire 'Bwana
Registered: 12/08/03
Posts: 10575
Loc: Kenai Peninsula
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BTW: When on a holding tank, one learns how to conserve water: fast dishwashing, quick showers, and different flushing habits. If it's yellow, it's mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. 
_________________________
My name is Ron Paul, and I'm the only pro-gun, pro-Constitution candidate running for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. --Ron Paul
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#2254434 - 06/13/08 10:41 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: ironbender]
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muledeer
Campfire Guide
Registered: 06/20/01
Posts: 4836
Loc: Ketchikan, AK, USA
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Geology here doesn't generally allow drilling wells. Fortunately it rains a little, so most homes and businesses outside of town have roof catchment systems and cisterns. Mine holds 18,000 gallons  . Townies have a reservoir in the mountains. It also never gets cold enough long enough to freeze solid, though it's sometimes interesting to be near the cistern when the top five or six inches freezes, then cracks under its own weight when you have a big laundry day or something. Makes a hell of a racket...
I have a double filter system, just in case a random bird craps on the roof or something. Finest, freshest water in the world -- from the sky to my roof to the tap .
Dennis
_________________________
"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets."
"If you're asking me something technical, you may be looking for My Other Brother Darrell."
"It ain't foot-pounds that kills stuff -- it's broken body parts."
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#2254785 - 06/13/08 02:12 PM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: muledeer]
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AkMtnHntr
Campfire Guide
Registered: 08/15/06
Posts: 3531
Loc: Alaska
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I lived in North Pole in the early 90's and clearly remember how bad the water was. I know it was full of iron and was told that it also held arsenic though not on lethal levels. We would run it through a softner and filter and it was still bad. It would stain everything brown, including dishes and laundry. There's a place in Fox where you can get good water for free but you have to have the containers to fill and i'm not sure if you could do a big tank.
_________________________
Let your gun accompany you on your walks, the heft will do you well and it will ward off evil doers. Thomas Jefferson
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#2254792 - 06/13/08 02:18 PM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: AkMtnHntr]
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MuskegMan
Campfire Regular
Registered: 09/29/04
Posts: 410
Loc: S.E. Alaska
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I got this one today and it's TFF not to share . . .
____________________________________________________
A Yup段k, walking through a field, sees a white man using his hand as a
scoop to drink water from a pond.
The Yup段k calls out to the white man, "Agu! Tuaken menrilu anarrlirtuq."
(Translation: No! Don't drink that water. It's full of schitt!)
The man shouts back, "Can't you speak English you stupid
native!"
The Yup段k calls back in English, "Use both hands. You'll get more."
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#2258624 - 06/16/08 07:53 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: muledeer]
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Klikitarik
Campfire Ranger
Registered: 08/12/03
Posts: 2388
Loc: Alaska
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Finest, freshest water in the world -- from the sky to my roof to the tap . Dennis
Huh? We interrupt this program to re-alert good folks of the pre-GW (global warming) threat(s) to the environment (and human civilization as we know it): (u)acid rain(u). IOW, don't forget to correct the pH on your rain water.  And don't forget that by the calculations of the Weekly Reader I was once given to read, we should now be looking at less than 10 years worth of (acid rain-producing) coal left on the entire planet!
FWIW, our water is taken from isolated volcanic craters which get their water from the sky, a bit of tundra run-off - somewhat acidic I would assume, and whatever remnant dinosaur whiz might remain. Funny thing is, our water is just a tiny bit higher than 7.0 by pH testing and it's so pure in respect to dissolved stuff that it eats metal pipes and tanks like nobody's business.
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#2258804 - 06/16/08 09:58 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: ironbender]
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akpls
Campfire Regular
Registered: 12/01/03
Posts: 299
Loc: Alaska
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......... water at 6c per gallon. That's what I paid in 1994 - probably higher now.
_________________________
They told us to open up the Embassy, or "we'll blow you away." And then they looked up and saw the Marines on the roof with these really big guns, and they said in Somali, "Igaralli ahow," which means "Excuse me, I didn't mean it, my mistake".
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#2258809 - 06/16/08 10:02 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: akpls]
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1akhunter
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 8557
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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ironbender pretty well summed it up.
Muskeg Man made me laugh, twas a good one!
_________________________
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
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#2258862 - 06/16/08 10:35 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: muledeer]
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steffco
Member
Registered: 02/04/01
Posts: 21
Loc: sitka, ak. usa
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Do you mean that once you take the cork out it goes in the fire?
Coastie sends
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#2258911 - 06/16/08 11:18 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: muledeer]
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Steelhead
Campfire Kahuna
Registered: 10/17/02
Posts: 20821
Loc: SE AK
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Nope, that's women for the Coasties, God knows what for Forest Circus.......
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#2258925 - 06/16/08 11:24 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: muledeer]
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Steelhead
Campfire Kahuna
Registered: 10/17/02
Posts: 20821
Loc: SE AK
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I've seen you with a LOT more hair than women.......
Nope on the manual.
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#2258991 - 06/16/08 12:23 PM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: Steelhead]
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AlaskaCub
Campfire Guide
Registered: 01/12/06
Posts: 2878
Loc: Interior Alaska
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I'll add living in Fairbanks, that hauling water is what many do (lots of pickups around town with water tanks in the beds), especially those in the hills. My friends that haul water in their pickups for their families fill up every 3 days but its a lot cheaper than $40,000 + to have a well drilled with no certain idea of at what depth you'll hit good water. I almost bought a house in the hills and most all of them are on the water hauling/deliver plan, plus the water they get is really good.
North Pole water is a big gamble, theres some folks with good water and some folks with real bad water and they have built many new construction homes on bad wells. I have a buddy that bought a near $300,000 house and has the worst water imaginable. I live in the Pole too and know what to look for when I evaluated buying ths house and fortunately I have good water, not stinky, no staining, but we do have a RO system for our drinking tap and ice machine in the freezer.
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#2259001 - 06/16/08 12:30 PM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: Steelhead]
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muledeer
Campfire Guide
Registered: 06/20/01
Posts: 4836
Loc: Ketchikan, AK, USA
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I've seen you with a LOT more hair than women.......
Nope on the manual.
Not lately... .
I was hoping you had gotten your manual, as I heard they had been shipped.
Dennis
_________________________
"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets."
"If you're asking me something technical, you may be looking for My Other Brother Darrell."
"It ain't foot-pounds that kills stuff -- it's broken body parts."
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#2259171 - 06/16/08 02:23 PM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: MuskegMan]
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Chandalar Jack
Campfire Regular
Registered: 05/23/06
Posts: 300
Loc: foothills of the Brooks Range
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I got this one today and it's TFF not to share . . .
____________________________________________________
A Yup段k, walking through a field, sees a white man using his hand as a
scoop to drink water from a pond.
The Yup段k calls out to the white man, "Agu! Tuaken menrilu anarrlirtuq."
(Translation: No! Don't drink that water. It's full of schitt!)
The man shouts back, "Can't you speak English you stupid
native!"
The Yup段k calls back in English, "Use both hands. You'll get more."
that was too funny!
the days are gone when I use to drink from the rivers lakes etc..use to go to fox just to drink the water, have tasted the well waters so often that I would not opt for it, now days the clorine treated waters prevent my system from fighting back normal bacteria when forced to drink from normal water systems. Have had bloody stools for a week one particular really thirsty time-never again. Treat your water or carry one of them filter do-dads.
just my .02
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#2260097 - 06/17/08 06:03 AM
Re: Drinking water question?
[Re: Chandalar Jack]
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mcknight77
Member
Registered: 04/14/07
Posts: 219
Loc: Anchorage, AK
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Hunter1960, where in "southern middle Tennessee" are you? I grew up there, in the very south of Rutherford County. We had a good well, but my grandparents had a mildly sulfer smelling/tasting one. My best friend's family had a strong one. Whew, it was bad! Not harmful to drink. Once you got past the smell, it was OK.
Kinda like my first girlfriend! Love those country girls!
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