/r/water

Photograph via snooOG

Devoted to the science and politics of water: aquifers, dams, hydrology, boundary disputes, peak water, riparian rights, climate change, drought & flooding, stormwater, groundwater, fish kills, fossil water, and news by the acre-foot.

Welcome to Reddit Water, founded 2008

Water is the most precious resource on Earth. It will be the most contested resource of the 21st century.

Governments, corporations and citizens are now realizing the policy battles of today will have far reaching consequences for communities, nations, political stability, economic opportunities and profits.

Topics: access, agriculture, aquifers, aquatic farming, boundary disputes, bottled water, cleanups, conservation, contamination, dams and dam removal, desalinization, dredging, drought, economics, fish kills, floods, fracking, groundwater, hydrology, hydrogeology, hydropolitics, intrusion, invasive species, irrigation, overdrafts, peak water, policy, pollution, privatization, riparian rights, river compacts, runoff, sanitation, sewage, stormwater, waste, withdrawals


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  • WaterSISWEB, community-driven water articles
  • On Water, University of California Water Resources Center Archives

Data

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Hydrology & Soil Mechanics Training from the USDA

On the Public Record's reading list for understanding California's water issues


"Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over." --(falsely attributed to) Mark Twain

"Water runs uphill to money." -- the "Law of Los Angeles"

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." --Benjamin Franklin

"We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one." --Jacques Yves Cousteau

/r/water

51,569 Subscribers

1

Flying Over the Stream at Lac Ste Anne

0 Comments
2025/02/03
01:47 UTC

4

Does water really help you lose weight?

I’ve heard it said over and over and was wondering if there was research to support more water increasing weight loss. If you hold calories and macronutrients the same, would the people drinking more water lose more weight?

3 Comments
2025/02/02
22:25 UTC

3

Can treated wastewater pumped back to the city or used for irrigation only? Also what is the percentage of treatment of already used water?

Can treated wastewater pumped back to the city and what is the percentage of treatment per used water?

7 Comments
2025/02/02
12:42 UTC

50

I live in TX and I’m freaking out over the water…

I read this report that Texas groundwater contamination is so bad, over 250 new

cases were confirmed last year alone?? Apparently it’s coming from gas stations

leaking petroleum products...I’m in a rural area where we rely mostly on wells, and

now I’m freaking out about what’s actually in our water!!

I’ve been looking into Waterdrop A2 RO systems with portable options because

they seem practical for kitchens and even RVs...Does anyone know if these systems

are effective at dealing with stuff like benzene or PFAS?

24 Comments
2025/02/02
09:59 UTC

8

Oily film in tap water?

My girlfriend and I moved to a trailer park a few months ago. For the past couple months we have been in a water boil advisory. Even after I boil the water, there is still a film on the surface of the water that looks like some sort of oil. I know it's not coming from the pot because I dumped the water, cleaned it, filled it again, boiled it for like 10 minutes ended up repeating the whole process for a 3rd time. Should I be concerned about cooking with this water or even giving it to our cats after I boil it? What should we even do at this point?

11 Comments
2025/02/01
22:27 UTC

6

Instant hot water chemicals?

We love our boiling(just below boiling in reality) water spigot. Instant tea and coffee! But i was just thinking... the water is sitting there over long periods of time at high temperatures and with some sort of electric heating element... do these things leach heavy metals or bad chemicals over time?

Thanks!

1 Comment
2025/02/01
17:52 UTC

4

How long does the average water filter takes to become weak?

How long does it take for a water filter to partially lose its filtering capabilities?

And is an eventual full loss possible?

1 Comment
2025/02/01
16:51 UTC

19

Well Testing Not Being Done

Hi. Probably obvious but bare with me.

I moved back into my dads about a month ago. I've been stomach upset every other day since, no real pain, but just an immediate "holy fuck I'm going to shit myself" feeling. My dad shit himself the other day as well...

I noticed I feel fine when I'm away for a few days or even drink nothing but soda and hot coffee for a day or two. But always have the shits here. Everyone else seems to but also have natural reasons (lactose, older, medications) that could be the cause. But- I don't. I take stimulants but I haven't for a month, just to see if they were the cause. Nope, no relation.

So I asked my dad about the well. Jaw drops. Never been tested since he and my mom broke up, ten years ago. We are in AN OLD house (almost 200 years) and on limestone karst (no idea if any of this makes a difference) in a rural area.

Should I stop drinking this water immediately and is it likely the cause of my issues? I feel as if I've probably answered the question, but I want to be sure before I berate him into testing (asking won't work.)

11 Comments
2025/02/01
14:31 UTC

2

Water Flavoring idea (I hope this is allowed)

I'm posting this cause I couldn't find it anywhere via google search, so if it's somewhere I couldn't find, correct me.

I took about 2 decent sized handfuls of cinnamon heart candys (specifically Carnaby brand), and put them into a 710mL bottle of water, and then I put that concoction into the fridge for a few hours until the cinnamon hearts were disinttagrated or mostly disintagrated in the water, and I shook the bottle every so often during that process to ensure the melted cinnamon heart-flavor went throughout the water enough. The end result is a really good flavored water that tastes like the sweeter version of cinnamon hearts, with a hint of the spicy part. Hopefully this blurb made sense, and hopefully this kind of post is allowed, feel free to try and tell me what you think of the idea :)

2 Comments
2025/02/01
08:16 UTC

0

Icelandic Bottled Water Smelled Musty

I just opened a brand new bottle of Icelandic Spring Water and as I put it up to my mouth to take my first sip I noticed a very musty smell. Sort of the same smell you get if you leave your clothes in the wash too long. I immediately spit out the sip and went to brush my teeth but I think the thought has just made me a bit nauseated.

For context I heard the seal crack when I opened it and the expiration date isn’t for another year and a half. I opened 2 other bottles from the same pack and they seemed completely fine. The water that got in my mouth didn’t taste off but the smell was just very concerning. What would cause this and if I did swallow any, what are the chances it would make me sick?

0 Comments
2025/01/29
01:44 UTC

1

How concerning should these hexavalent chromium, radium, lead, arsenic and boron levels be?

Local coal plant doesn't seem to have contained their pollutants, the lake has filled in which what we thought was silt at the time, It was in operation from roughly 1950-2015 they shut that plant down, then started trucking in 400 tons of fly ash a day from a different plant which is out of storage (or has tighter regulations in that county) and creating a mountain with it. Dust is flying all over. An ex employee came forward at a public meeting stating they had him dumping ash directly into the lake.

I would like to test my own water, any recommendations for a kit I can use and send off to a lab?

They've closed the local school, it's also been brought up that an Oncology clinic has been opened in the area and the cancer rates to make that a good investment in an area with this population density is alarming but it's not clear to me how much of that is specific to this.

https://www.mykdkd.com/2025/01/23/environmental-water-sediment-sampling-test-results-for-montrose-clinton-montrose-lake/

5 Comments
2025/01/28
18:54 UTC

1

Best at home RO machine

I'm looking for a table top reverse osmosis machine to make my water extremely pure to drink for health benefits. Does anyone have a brand they use they would recommend. Additionally I was looking to get one of those electrolysis water bottles that hydrogenize water so if anyone has a good brand for that as well please let me know.

0 Comments
2025/01/28
04:33 UTC

1

My water runs clear but in a large container it looks blue, very obvious in a tub

I'm in a rental property and my landlord refuses to test the water because they say it runs clear. What could it be and can I test it myself? What kind of tests should I run? Thanks

7 Comments
2025/01/27
19:19 UTC

18

Non political question about California water debate

I live across the country but interested in the debate about the water in Cali. The fires have brought up all kinds of things fueled by political partisanship and I want to avoid politics and see where the truth lies.

Is the water in southern California controlled by private business? Is there truth to water being diverted for a species of fish?

14 Comments
2025/01/27
16:17 UTC

3

Prefilter for (countertop) water distiller?

Hello-

I bought a countertop water distiller as my area is known to have VOCs in the water, and would like to just get decent, fresh water.

Since I went with a countertop vs an auto-refilling one, I'd like to add a prefilter under my sink so I can take advantage of the same setup as an auto-refilling style. Any recommendations?

Or is the post-filter carbon filter good enough here?

For reference, I went with the Mini-Classic CT water distiller.

0 Comments
2025/01/27
16:07 UTC

2

Rental friendly non plastic water filtration

As I read the filter recommendations on different posts, I noticed plastic was a common material. Could that add microplastics to the water? Do you know of any rental-friendly filtration that may not use plastic? Thank you for your insights.

1 Comment
2025/01/27
08:46 UTC

20

Environmental Working Group (EWG)

This organization is starting to get referenced more and more as some authority on drinking water. It’s important to understand what EWG is and does regarding water. They compile publicly available data, and establish “health guidelines”. A majority of these guidelines are carried over from proposed or adopted Public Health Goals of the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (COEHHA)

It’s important to understand that COEHHA acknowledges “it may not be feasible for SWRCB (State Water Resources Control Board) to set the drinking water standard for a contaminant at the same level as the PHG. The technology to treat the chemicals may not be available, or the cost of treatment may be very high.”. This is something EWG fails to disclose. In other words people read EWG’s health guidelines and are alarmed by their water’s results, when in reality those health guidelines may be impossible to meet.

Other EWG health guidelines are set by their own research, which is not readily available for review. So the means by which those health guidelines were set is a mystery.

Just because an organization is not selling something does not mean there isn’t a financial interest. Reports show 11 people at EWG earning more than $200,000 per year, one of whom earns over $300,000. Let’s not forget donor interests and assets, as well.

EWG’s site is also very outdated. If you want to know what your water results were in 2019, then it’s a great resource. Otherwise I suggest you obtain a copy of your public water supplier’s Consumer Confidence Report.

16 Comments
2025/01/26
00:01 UTC

5

Water testing

Hello, I would like to test our home water quality. Could you recommend some reputable laboratories that provide such services?

Thank you.

6 Comments
2025/01/25
19:48 UTC

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