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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / July 2004Cat Fountain - Spring Water - NOT!
Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely apart and clean it religiously once a week. Get down to the nitty gritty with an old toothbrush and even pipe cleaners for the tiny crevices in the flow control valve. Remove the whatchamacallit from the motor (looks like a propeller) and clean that, too. Last trip with John, we were given a case of spring water by another exhibitor who said he found out he cannot abide spring water. John gave me several bottles to take back with me as the trip would involve a long layover in Atlanta. I had 2 bottles left. Take it from me, the water in Memphis is just fine, thank you. It comes from a natural acquifer, plus I have a filter. So I decided when I refilled Persia's fountain a few days ago I would use some of this bottled water in it. Gotta tell you, it gunked up in days. I had *just* cleaned it! I took it apart this morning and even the new charcoal *filter* was sort of like... how can I describe it? exploded and pink and slimy. Normally you can wash these filters and reuse them for several weeks. This was just GROSS. Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? Jill  SignatureTake into account great love and great achievements involve great risk. --Dalai Lama > Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely apart and > clean it religiously once a week. Get down to the nitty gritty with an old [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? Those are minerals (normally filtered out of our tap water) that are actually good for us. We just filter out so much stuff, the good goes out with the bad. TBird <---- hi > Jill >> Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >TBird <---- hi Yup. Our water has lots of minerals, too; and coffeemakers/tea makers don't last long. Sherry Where I'm at, we've always had "hard" water: it has a LOT of minerals in it, the most prevalent being lime (dissolved limestone - Empire State Building, Washington Monument, Pentagon & most of the historic buildings in Washington DC are made, or at least faced, with Limestone quarried in southern Indiana). The best thing to clear away lime & other mineral deposits is vinegar. To clean a mineral stained coffee pot, boil a water/vinegar solution (about half & half) in it for a few minutes, then let it set for 1/2 hour or so, then wash as normal. To clean coffee/tea MAKERS, run a cup of straight vinegar thru it (just like you were going to make coffee/tea, just don't add the coffee/tea), then run a couple of times with distilled water. Another thing: instead of using store bought "Jet Dry" or it's equivalent in your automatic dishwasher, use vinegar! Also use 1 cup vinegar in your laundry, then your laundry detergent does a better job (it 'softens' the water). It may not smell as nice, but the acidic qualities of vinegar sure does cut through that "hard" water. SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > >> Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Sherry > I decided when I refilled Persia's fountain a few days ago I would > use some of this bottled water in it. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? Distilled water is the best for things like fountains - nothing in it to gunk up. Probably that spring water was full of minerals. Joyce > > I decided when I refilled Persia's fountain a few days ago I would > > use some of this bottled water in it. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Joyce Thank you, Joyce. I figure, if spring water gunks up the fountain that fast it's gonna gunk *me* up, too! Never understood the whole bottled water thing, unless you live in an area where the water is simply unpalatable. In Memphis, it isn't. And my water filter is only on the Britta pitcher, not built-in. As it is, I had to toss out the brand new fountain filter - it was absolutely disgusting! Then I only had one filter left so I had to order more. You know I'd go to Hell and back for my Persia, but being technically unemployed it's getting expensive. She may have to go without her fountain in a few months :( And, being single with no kids, *I* don't qualify for squat in terms of benefits like food stamps. That's right, single middle-aged suddenly unemployed people apparently don't need to eat. (sigh) Jill >> > I decided when I refilled Persia's fountain a few days ago I >> would [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >middle-aged suddenly unemployed people apparently don't need to eat. >(sigh) "Pink and slimy" sounds like a colony of some sort of bacteria was living in the filter, probably liking the higher mineral content of the spring water. If the spring water bottle itself wasn't all gunked up, this means that the contents of the bottle were probably sterile. I have a never-ending battle with what is probably the same organism, growing in my bathroom sink. When humans or animals drink water with dissolved minerals, our kidneys are generally able to dispose of any minerals we don't need. On the other hand, a fountain loses water via evaporation, so the minerals accumulate in it. I know what you mean about limited financial benefits for unemployed single people. I myself am single and underemployed (part-time since February, and running pretty low on funds). Don't forget to apply for unemployment benefits, if you haven't done so already. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > > > I decided when I refilled Persia's fountain a few days ago I would > > > use some of this bottled water in it. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Memphis, it isn't. And my water filter is only on the Britta pitcher, not > built-in. Most non-electric "filters" won't take out the minerals, as they are dissolved. What filters do take out are small undissolved solids (clays, plant matter, etc), and possibly some of the bacteria if its a really good filter. Some electric filters may work on reverse-osmosis and also remove dissolved minerals, but I can't imagine them being affordable by as kitchen appliances. The minerals in spring water are actually quite good for you, and add a sublte but interesting taste to the water. If you are looking for a bottled water that won't gunk up stuff, look for ones that don't have high mineral counts (I"m assuming that like us, you folk have the mineral assays printed onthe bottle. Low Calcium and low Carbonates are probably most important for the gunk factor. Rain water is also quite nice, if you can get it. Distilled water, with all the impurities taken out, tastes very flat and dull. > As it is, I had to toss out the brand new fountain filter - it was > absolutely disgusting! Then I only had one filter left so I had to order [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > squat in terms of benefits like food stamps. That's right, single > middle-aged suddenly unemployed people apparently don't need to eat. (sigh) Purrs for the job-hunting Yowie >The minerals in spring water are actually quite good for you, and add a >sublte but interesting taste to the water. If you are looking for a bottled [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Rain water is also quite nice, if you can get it. Oh wow, Yowie. You just jogged a memory I hadn't thought about since I was a kid. My mom used to "catch" rainwater and save it. She used it in her iron. We were pretty poor. She probably couldn't afford distilled water. She also used to use it to rinse our hair. It always made it so soft and shiny. Or we thought so, anyway. Sherry > >The minerals in spring water are actually quite good for you, and add a > >sublte but interesting taste to the water. If you are looking for a bottled [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Or we thought so, anyway. > Sherry Nice memories. Grandma and Grandpa has a rain barrel. (I don't think Grandma had a steam iron, but she likely sprinkled clothes with rainwater) It wasn't so much that the rainwater made your hair soft and shiny. But the well water they had was so hard and so full of minerals it could change the color of your hair. And made it dull and stiff. So it was rain water with lemon juice for the blondes and rain water with vinegar for the brunettes. Jo >Nice memories. Grandma and Grandpa has a rain barrel. (I don't think >Grandma had a steam iron, but she likely sprinkled clothes with rainwater) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Jo Yes! I'd forgotten that part. The rainwater had vinegar in it. Sherry > >Nice memories. Grandma and Grandpa has a rain barrel. (I don't think > >Grandma had a steam iron, but she likely sprinkled clothes with rainwater) [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Sherry We notice the big improvements in our lives like computers and cell phones, but tend to forget things like the horrible excuses for shampoo that used to be all that was available. A little acid in the water helped to get the soap all out. Jo > Thank you, Joyce. I figure, if spring water gunks up the fountain > that fast it's gonna gunk *me* up, too! LOL. :) Fortunately, that's not quite true. Your body is more efficient at dealing with the normal mineral content in water than some mechanical device would be. In fact, your body needs some of those minerals! Not so the device, which has no way of getting rid of them once they start to build up. Actually, I know someone who drinks only distilled water. She has a lot of allergies and sensitivities, so I guess even the trace minerals in water give her a rough time. Most people benefit from them, though - as long as the worst of the pollutants have been filtered out. > And, being single with no kids, *I* don't qualify for squat in terms > of benefits like food stamps. That's right, single middle-aged suddenly > unemployed people apparently don't need to eat. (sigh) I'm sorry! That sucks. And I understand - I'm in the same boat: middle- aged, unemployed, with no children. (Hey wait, no kids?? I have *3* mouths to feed! :)) When I was in my 20s, I had a roommate who was on disability (SSI) and she got food stamps. But that was in the 1970s - things have changed a lot since then. :( Joyce > Thank you, Joyce. I figure, if spring water gunks up the fountain that fast > it's gonna gunk *me* up, too! Never understood the whole bottled water > thing, unless you live in an area where the water is simply unpalatable. In > Memphis, it isn't. And my water filter is only on the Britta pitcher, not > built-in. The minerals aren't going to gunk you up, unless your innards are made of iron, but some bottled water is none too clean. The sludge that grew in your fountain might have been a mat of microorganisms. Yuck. > Take it from me, the water in Memphis is just fine, thank you. It comes > from a natural acquifer, plus I have a filter. Burgie Foods (are they still in business?) used to sell bottled "water from artesian wells", which as all Memphians know, flows from every tap in Memphis. > Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely > apart and clean it religiously once a week. Get down to the nitty [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? Erm ... So's you can be trendy and fashionable and green and anti-evil-capitalist-public-water-companies and classy? I *am* a wee bit startled that the charcoal filter "exploded" - I don't think I've ever heard of that before! SignatureThe One-and-only Holy Moses? >> Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely >> apart and clean it religiously once a week. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I *am* a wee bit startled that the charcoal filter "exploded" - I > don't think I've ever heard of that before! You would have had to seen it to believe it. It was only 4 days old, a new filter, and it had swelled to twice the normal size, got all funky, pink and slimy and I had to throw it out. I gagged just removing it from the fountain. And as someone else suggested, I hope it wasn't 'infected' because it came from a sealed foil packet. Jill I've been using spring water in Brio's fountain for months and have never found it to be slimy. I clean it once a week. Where I live (Ontario) the water is so chlorinated no way am I or my pets drinking it... it's disgusting! I have a water cooler and buy spring water ... sometimes distilled for a change. > Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely apart and > clean it religiously once a week. Get down to the nitty gritty with an old [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Jill actually, in thinking about this again, once Brio dropped a piece of food into the water fountain, then the filter looked all yucky. Maybe Persia had food in her mouth at the time she got a drink and the water got contaminated. > Persia has one of those Drinkwell fountains. I take it completely apart and > clean it religiously once a week. Get down to the nitty gritty with an old [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Jill I gave up on my Drinkwell. I used spring water (from a local free spring) because my well water contains so much iron it would turn the fountain brown in time. In less than a week everything would gunk up. I was advised that distilled water was not good for you - something about it taking away minerals in the body. I never saw the cats drink from the fountain anyway. ---MIKE--- > I gave up on my Drinkwell. I used spring water (from a local free > spring) because my well water contains so much iron it would turn the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > ---MIKE--- Persia LOVES her fountain! And I do clean it religiously, take it completely apart, once a week. The spring water just had a freaky effect on it. *Might* have been food dropped in the water but I didn't see evidence of that. The local tap water works so I'll stick with that :) Jill >actually, in thinking about this again, once Brio dropped a piece of food >into the water fountain, then the filter looked all yucky. > >Maybe Persia had food in her mouth at the time she got a drink and the water >got contaminated. Sounds entirely possible with my crew. I don't really now who it is that dunks the dry food in the water, but it happens pretty regularly. And, as I mentioned before, Sammy sometimes feels the need to wash her toys, and for some reason I'd actually prefer her to use the water bowl than the toilet like she has on occasion. SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html <SNIP> > Someone please tell me again why we should drink bottled spring water? > > Jill Personally I have never bought bottled water. I have to admire the marketting companies who have managed to convince so many people that it's better, and worth paying several hundred times the price of tap water. The cats seam to prefer rain water, and that's free.:-) SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat.
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