what do I need the most

[chickenista]

My birthday is coming up and it is the time I can get what I need from mymother no matter how weird she thinks it is. Last year it was my canner and his year I said weaner pigs.. shoud have heard the silence on that one. But she agreed. and if I didn't seriously want serious stuff I would try to top myself each year with weirder and weirder requests.
But I have been thinking....perhaps a water filter instead. This is prompted by a discussion I had this AM about hormones and antidepressants in the water supply.
Does anyone have a good recommendation about water filtering systems or any other ideas of must have and nifty HT gadgets that I don't know that I need?

Please.. at least the water filter question.

[Jennifer L.]

There was a thread on here recently about water filters and I bought a Berkey Light based on what people said. IT'S GREAT! It's so nice to know the water I'm drinking now is good. Before if it tasted ok I thought it was ok, but now I know it is. Big difference! It's spendy, but the filters should do me at a gallon a day for a good 15 years.

Happy Birthday when the day arrives.

Jennifer

[Sparticle]

what about a series of homesteading books you may not buy yourself? There are tons of threads recommending good books. also there are lots of DVD's on "how to" do anything.

[decolady]

Originally Posted by chickenista

....
But I have been thinking....perhaps a water filter instead. This is prompted by a discussion I had this AM about hormones and antidepressants in the water supply.
Does anyone have a good recommendation about water filtering systems or any other ideas of must have and nifty HT gadgets that I don't know that I need?

Please.. at least the water filter question.

Not to mention chlorine, flouride, etc. We got the Big Berkey and are very happy with it. Happy birthday, whatever you decide.

[piglady]

What! How are hormones and antidepressants getting in the water supply?

[chickenista]

Through urine ad feces. Zoloft and birth control pills. They did a study several years ago and found female fish with testicles and male fish with ova in the testicles. The also tested the amount of antidepressants in the water and it was alarming.. so the fish are all messed up, but they are happy about it.
Everything that goes in must come out. It leaches into the water sstem.

[BillHoo]

So without those antidepressants, will you get really bummed out, sit on the couch all day and gain weight?

[avandris]

We have the Berkey light too. We have had it for just about a year now. It is well worth its price. When you compare it to the nasty stuff in our water or the cost of bottled water(most still with the nasty stuff in it) it is priceless.

We usually go through about three gallons a day so our filters won't last as long as others, but I do clean them every couple of months and they are still going strong.

[comfortablynumb]

if there is zoloft in the water supply.....

shouldnt we all be alot more mellow?

I think maybe alex jones people are pulling your leg maybe

[BillHoo]

There is currently an alarmingly high rate of tooth decay in the United States due to the trend for drinking bottled spring waters.

Apparently, people have stopped drinking flouridated municipal water and cavities in children and adults is becoming more common.

[BillHoo]

And to offset the antidpressants and zoloft, there is also more caffeine in the water outside of Seattle. Apparently when people step out of a starbucks and their coffee cup is overfilled, they like to spill a little into the gutter. It results in a measurable (though still extremely low) amount of caffeine in water that the fish and animals use.

No wonder the squirrels there are so frisky!

[BillHoo]

Then, in New Jersey, they have put a cap on the number of cemetaries that are allowed in the state. Apparently there, the formaldehyde used in preserving corpses is leeching out of the cemeteries into the ground water in measurable amounts.

The good thing from this is that elderly people in the state look remarkably well-preserved for their age.

[chickenista]

Well, I have decided. I have asked DH for Carla Emory's book. Better be good! And I put the weaner pigs aside and just asked for a Lowe's gift card from Mom. It is not exciting, but I really would like some fencing. I will try for the water filter at Christmas.

[Cindy in NY]

If you have grapes available to you, how about a grape steamer??

http://www-podunk.com/

[avandris]

You will not be disappointed in Carla's book. It is fantastic. Mine is over 10 years old and sure looks it.