SAFE TO DRINK?

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Original cover.

The 2000 movie Erin Brockovich put a spotlight on the quality of our nation’s drinking water; and one fearsome culprit; Hexavalent Chromium, or Chromium 6 which is a hazardous carcinogen. The EPA’s legal limit is 100 parts per billion of total Chromium; (50 ppb in California currently; because higher ppb’s can cause skin irritation); but the California Environmental Protection Agency cites the total Chromium levels should be set at a “much lower” goal of less than 1 ppb; 0.06 ppb for public safety.

Chromium 6 is found in much higher amounts than the proposed  0.06 ppb “safe” level in much of the country’s drinking water.

Enviornmental Working Group  image.

Environmental Working Group image.

A 2010 study by Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that of the 35 cities tested; Chromium levels were higher than the proposed EPA limit in 25 of them; with Norman, Oklahoma topping the list at a whopping 12.9 parts per billion. Norman was the only city tested in Oklahoma.

Enviornmental Working Group graph.

Volunteers fanned out all over these 35 cities  taking samples of the water at court houses, malls, schools; and various other places. The red dots on the map cover the areas where Chromium 6 was found in higher degrees than deemed safe by the proposed California EPA standards; with Norman showing the largest dot. No wonder there are so many commercials on TV, with ads on how to deal with the effects of Crohn’s Disease; a common malady cited in the movie Erin Brockovich.  This map from the Environmental Working Group’s report attempts to show the amounts of Chromimum 6 in all the other counties in the United States, but this “other”  information on the map was supplied by the water providers. There is no way to validate the accuracy of the reporting areas outside the 35 cities studied in the report.

Enviornmental Working Group map.

Environmental Working Group map.

Drinking water is always open to new contamination; from normally occurring events like the recent flooding in Nowata, Oklahoma.

Aging water treatment facilities, outdated EPA guidelines, agricultural and commercial run off,  and even chemical agents used to clean the water may pose a risk to health; but the copper and lead leaching heavy metals from your city’s pipes, or your own pipes and water heater can pose a risk too. This is why you should NEVER drink hot water from your faucet; and this is why you should never use warm tap water to mix your baby’s formula.

It seems most people are so afraid of their tap water today; many of us have been buying bottled water from the store; the breakdown of the bottles in the ocean into a toxic “food”; leads to disastrous effect on marine life.

Is bottled water safer to drink?

Not necessarily. Bottled water is held to the same minimal EPA standards for drinkability as tap water; and bottles leach chemicals into the water. Setting water loses some of it’s “fresh running” quench. Something we call “stale”.

Filters like Britta, Pur and others; carry a Class 1 Particulate reduction of contaminants; of one half, to one micron. One problem of such filters is that they are only able to filter one or two or three hundred gallons of water until they must be changed. Older Britta pitchers had a lid that fit inside the pitcher its self which allowed bacteria to grow between the pitcher and the lid; and water filters themselves can grow bacteria inside.

Until recently, in-line, under sink water filters were either bulky, complicated or expensive; but a new product which began to sell exclusively on the Amazon.com in September, is a Class 1, NSF under the sink filter with the ability to remove 99.99% of contaminants in all the cold water from your kitchen sink for three years, or at least 10,000 gallons– a far cry from the 200 gallon to 300 gallon capacity of many other filters. Great for cooking, drinking, rinsing fruit and vegetables, and washing dishes. Coffee and tea will taste so much better.

Currently the New York based company sells the filter for $64.95 with free shipping. It’s called the Woder 10k filter, for the amount of water it purifies. There is also a 5k filter for refrigerators that serve ice and water from the door.

IGWS- Woder image.

IGWS- Woder image.

Idan Granit, owner of Woder Filters (http://woder.biz/) determined to build a better filter.

In a blog report by Press Jungle earlier this year the filter was said to work by;

“actively filtering out contaminants before they reach the OEM (other equipment manufacturer) filter. The water stays free from mercury, chlorine, lead, heavy metals and toxic VOCs; (Volatile organic compounds) as well as ensuring that water and ice is 100% safe.”

The filter is also purported to be  silver infused; to keep bacteria from growing inside; and has a built in defuser to keep the water flowing evenly through it with no reduction in water pressure.

The 2013 McAlester water quality report warns that infants, the elderly, those with cancer or other health problems should not be drinking unfiltered tap water, but should you?

We all seem to be water connoisseurs these days; but in the final analysis, fresh, cold,  pure water, tastes just like — nothing else.

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About the filter listed in this article;

Filter set up is easy. The following link shows you how:

It can be ordered from Amazon here:

(http://www.amazon.com/Under-Sink-Water-Filter-System/dp/B00MPGRUNW/).

(The water will have a slight “New Filter” plastic taste, for the first few days after installation). Not meant to filter hot water.

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Martha Virginia Mathews (McCann) 1911-

    Martha Virginia Matthews (McCann); one of McAlester’s most prized citizens was born an only child; October 12, 1911 in Dodge City Kansas, on a dirt road across from a school; but her clearest early memory was when she was five years old after her parents had moved to Oklahoma City in 1914. (She passed away 5 months after this interview).

Bisque German doll early 1900's

Bisque German doll early 1900’s

    “My first memory was about a little boy who lived across the street in a duplex with his mother and father. I wasn’t allowed to cross the street; but he could; or he did! I always had bisque head (porcelain) dolls from Germany; and he had come over to play. I guess he got mad at me for some reason and took my doll out of my arms, and threw it out in the street and broke it’s head! I thought I’d die. Later when she had to attend class with him in school; she refrained from speaking with him; “I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I thought about that.”

    This was understandable; because she said; “In those days, people didn’t really speak their mind like they do today. People were more reserved than they are now. I think it’s a good thing that people can tell you what they are thinking these days but it can be a bad thing too if you go too far.”

    She remembers her mother Effie getting up early in the morning; putting on her corset and getting all dressed up to fix breakfast for the family; and seeing Virginia’s father Edward off to his job as a Realtor. “My family had a car; but my neighbor whose property touched our property behind us; still had a horse and buggy. I remember getting a buggy ride from my neighbor; but I liked to go and just sit in it on occasion. The lady with the buggy died of pneumonia in 1917. A lot of people died of pneumonia during the first World War.”

    “Ice came to us on a horse drawn wagon; and people used to put placards in the window early in the morning to let the ice man know how many pounds of ice you needed for the ice box, and he would come around back and put it in for you. You didn’t have to pay him every day. He would keep track of the ice you bought and you would pay him once a month.”

Tulsa Ice Wagon 1913 (Internet image).

Tulsa Ice Wagon 1913 (Internet image).

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Ice Ad from 1920. Click to enlarge.

     “My dad wanted me to be strong; so he made me a chin-up bar; but in those days they were called performance bars; because you got up and performed things on it. I remember begging my dad to make it lower; I must have been nine.”

    “On Sundays it was popular to go for a drive in the country. My dad would take us out to a pretty spot and ask the farmer if we could have a picnic there.”

Historic photo (Internet).

Historic photo (Internet).

     “In the winters we used to have a LOT more snow. I think it must be true about global warming. I needed boots and I remember him taking me to B&M in Oklahoma City and buying me boots that laced up to my knees. I was so proud of those boots!”

    “Oh, I had a half brother; but I don’t remember much about him. My dad’s first wife had died of tuberculosis at the turn of the century; and when I was born my half brother was already 12. He moved out when I was six. He loved to fish; and died young. He drowned.”

    Basically growing up an only child; she was never lonely. She liked to sing and dance in front of a full length mirror which hung from a door in her parents livingroom; to opera music she played on a Victrola. She claims one of the keys to longevity; is to keep active. She liked walking and ballroom dancing.

Victrola ad  (Internet inage).

Victrola ad (Internet image).

    “We used to ride the trolley cars. They were two lane trollies; one on both sides of the street, with an island in the middle. I think it was a dime to ride. I was young and didn’t pay that much attention; but they went all the way to Norman.” (30 miles away).

OKC to Edmond 1911.

OKC to Edmond 1911.

    “The most fun I ever had in Oklahoma City was when that flier came; oh what’s his name… the man who flew; Charles Lindbergh came, and I think I was 15 going on 16 at the time. That was really a thrill. Somebody took us out; way out East in a car and then we walked the rest of the way because we wanted to be sure to get a good look at him; which we did as he rode by sitting on the back of the seat; because we were way out there. It wasn’t crowded out where we were.”

Charles-Lindbergh_New-York-to-Paris_HD_768x432-16x9

Charles Lindburgh (Internet photo)

    From that time Virginia was interested in aeroplanes. “The only thing I regret was never being able to fly in a plane. Oh I don’t mean in a big commercial plane; I’ve been in those; but I always wanted to take a ride in a small plane; just the pilot and me because a smaller plane would be able to do more tricks. “ So is that on the list of things to do in the next century; was the question. “Oh my, I’ll probably be doing good to make it another year.” she said laughing.

    To look at her one would never think this youthful lady is to be 103 in a few short months. She spoke about her dad taking her out in the country to learn to drive at age 12 even though the legal age to drive was still 16 even way back then; “I drove a car until I turned 90; because I kept my mind.” she said. She still likes to walk around Walnut Grove Living Center with her walker at a pretty good clip. “I kept my mind; but I wish my legs were better.“

    Married at 19 to Lloyd McCann; the couple moved to McAlester when their two daughters were starting Junior High and High School. “He was a good looking man; dressed nice, and looked good with his clothes on, but I didn’t like him at first; I thought he was conceited; but he was persistent, so I eventually married him.”

    “I had some premonitions in the form of dreams. Once I had a dream that my mother in law’s house burned down, and it did! My mother used to tell me she didn’t like it when I dreamed.”

    Virginia’s husband who owned the Chevy dealership in town; passed away in 1966. Her oldest daughter Patricia passed away two years ago at the age of 79. “I have seen a lot of people come and go in my time but at my age it can’t be helped.” she said.

    She attributes her long life to activity, and most importantly staying happy. “You have to just try to be happy and contented; or you may as well die.”

virginia

Click on image to enlarge. Martha Virginia Mathews McCann today.

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