Drinking Cape Cod Tap Water Makes for a Wonky Gut

Evian also markets to the naivE

Walter, thats an apples and oranges comparison. Your water systems are reporting "Final production" wter, not raw product as they get it from the reervoIR or the well. LilK is telling us that her folks water is from a well, so her raw water is her finished product except for what a filter or GAC can do.

Sulfates are "low stand" water deposits because sulfate salts will precipitate out when there is an excess in solution. The WAter Encyclopedia (2nd addition which I have in my RV believe it or not)claims that Sulfate can vary from 35 to over 200000ppm in natural waters in US . SO, In yhe Zechstein basin Permian and in the graben valleys of Germany, are vast deposits of gypsum anhydrite, the water in those areas is loaded with Sulfate.
Water with >250 ppm has a bitter taste and is "cathartic" in sensitive populations. >1000 ppm, everybody gets Montezumas Revenge" with an attendent feeling of nausea and bloating.

Sulfates and Hydrogen Sulfide
That Rotten Egg / Sulfur Smell
Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB)

"sulfates can have a temporary laxative effect on humans"

Thanks, farmerman and H2O_MAN.

Water from wells is examined here as well, and if the data are above the standards, they are closed (which happened in our country to many, due to high nitrate).

Is it dangerous to have high sulfate?

Yeah, that rotten egg smell is what we get when there's no salt for the softener.

Someone else had mentioned sulfates a while back. Last night I checked out what sulfur in the water would do to a drinker. Laxative effect, yep. They also say that it won't harm you besides causing possible dehydration.

Brita filters take out sulfur smell. Does that mean they take out the sulfates too? It must right?

Thanks all!

I think it's interesting how something can affect one person and not another.

This is one of those a2k threads where you actually learn stuff - thanks to farmerman, H20 man, and Gary Slusser (if I remember correctly).

Farmerman never ever ceases to amaze me.

Quite interesting aside: we've got a couple of mineral waters in Germany, which are just and only bottled due to their high sulfates (1.600ppm).
And I remember that one of those was even prescibed until the 60's by doctors: you only got it in pharmacies/drugstores.
(No idea against what it should have been a remedy - it stinks.)

mineral waters with gypsum ( calcium sulfates) are usually called "anhydrite" on the labels and , for the life of me, I cant figure out why anyone would even want to drink that kind of stuff. It has a very bitter aftertaste. I like my water to be unnoticeable, its just there, and a big glass should be cold and wet and thats it.
I dont need bitter or salt or rotten eggs or metal tastes in mywater. And I dont need a laxative in every glass.

I know!

Well, we have more than 500 different brands with more than 1.500 sources here in Germany.

Mineral water, that is. "Selters", to name one brand/origin.
And, indedd, all were bottled and drunk for health reasons.

I've looked it up in some 40 years old prescription book this morning: more than 300 different mineral waters are mentioned there for various sufferings .... as to be got on your doctor's pescription, paid by the health funds.

And nowadays we buy those for less than 5o cents per bottle in the supermarket.

I did a search on a subscription waterweb that I use for work and found that the Coastal areas around the Cape Cod area also have Magnesium Sulfates from old deposits underground. Mag sulfate is also known as "epsom salt" for where it was first described. Epsom salts also have a bitter and sour (together)Taste. so Maybe your folks have an epsom salt excess. The good thing about Epsom salts is that theyve been using it in asthma nebulizers as a dilator for your broncial tubes. So , in one respect its a medicine. However, it too will cause stomach distress.in doses at or greater than 250PPM or 1000 ppm for everybody else.

Remeber when Proctrer and GAmble was making that artificial "fat" for frying? It ws something like Elestra. We called Diarheeta. They had potato chips made with the stff and the warning label said that
"Use of this product may result in stomach distress , and flatulence accompanied by liquid discharge" Is that yer trouble bunky?

I can't recal any laxative effects from our well water, but I was diagnosed with acid refux last year and I wonder if there's a connection.
Since I met lots of people at the lobster shop with reflux, I thought it may have had something to do with working there.

Softeners and Brita type filters do not reduce or remove sulfates. Membrane technologies or anion ion exchange resins (in a water softener as a 'filter' or top dressed meaning the anion is on top the cation softening resin) or distillation must be used.

There are a number of pretreatment requirements that must be met for the successful use on anion resins. Many regenerate with softener salt the same as a softener does.

If there is a 'sulfur' odor in this water, then it's very likely to have high sulfates, or at least enough to cause your problem. I still suggest a Coliform bacteria test because many people confuse a "rotten egg" odor with odor caused by bacteria contamination.

I've never heard of any connection between something in water and acid reflux.

We must drink a lot of water to get any to little benefit from the minerals in it. And drinking too much water can kill us.

Fman, are you asking me to describe my wonky gut? You know the coast. You know that smell you get from marsh mud? And that dark and greenish color? Well.... then you know something of my wonky gut's production. Not any more gas than usual. Slightly dehydrated, maybe. And a sort of sour stomach at times.

Gary, I'm saddened to hear that Brita won't help with this. Can I have a second opinion!?!? I dad just sold my dad on the idea. He doesn't like the taste of the water. He's also interested in looking into an under-the sink filter system that might deal with the problem. Any suggestions on a brand or type that would work as such?

Again, than you both!

An under counter RO would probably be the best choice unless it's not a permanent residence. Of course that assumes no bacteria present in the water. If it isn't a permanent residence then bottle water would be better.

You need to have the H2O tested for bacteria before you look at POE and POU treatment equipment.
Knowing the Ph and the Iron/total harness content will help in choosing the correct system.

Do any of the homeowners in the area have similar problems?
What have they done to correct it?

Yeah I and IIRC others mentioned that a couple times days ago...

Eat more meat and drink distilled beverages.