I Am So Upset

[confused]

I dont know what to do. OUr water is contaimated here were i live and it will be for 3-4 weeks at the least. So this means all the produce and stuff in the grocery store is also containamated. They just want you to eat pre-packaged food, well that leaves me nothing to eat unless i want to chance amys and not care about all my other intolerances but gluten. I also can not take a bath cause i called my dermatologist and he said it was not good for me to bathe in the water due to the DH. And i cant afford to buy 10 galloons of water to bathe every day, well i could but i would feel bad taking so much water just to bathe when tohers need it to drink.

I just dont know what I am going to do for the next month.

paula

[lizard00]

First... I am SO sorry to hear about your situation! Most of us do not realize how much we rely on water, until we don't have it. The only chance I have of understanding is that we have been in a drought here in NC. Worst in a century. We at one point only had 60 days of water left. There was talk of water rationing. But even then, it was safe to use.

As much as I hate the following: Frozen veggies and fruits. And just use the bottled water to cook with. You can find some frozen veggies that aren't bad after cooking. Same with fruits; definitely not the same as fresh, but better than without. Surely they are not all packaged where you live. I understand the not wanting to eat packaged foods, I eat as little of that as possible.

And it sounds gross, but if you can bathe every other day, it really saves water. A large amount of folks around here were doing that and you truly didn't notice. Also they would turn the water on long enough to get wet, turn it off to soap up and shampoo, and then turn it back on to rinse. Maybe that could be adapted for your situation??

I don't know if any of these are helpful... Hope something is anyway.

You'll definitely be in my thoughts the next month!!

Liz

[Lisa16]

Can you get some kind of filter for the water? Maybe you can get one for the kitchen tap so you can wash your veggies. And there are some that you can screw onto your shower head that might take out whatever it is.

You would have to find out what the contamination is, exactly, and then figure out what kind of filter you need.

On the up side, once you have done this, you won't have to worry anymore as long as you keep the filters cleaned/replaced.

We had e-coli not so long ago and I got sick from it. I totally understand!

Good luck!

[gheidie]

wow.. I am so sorry... that has got to be tough!!

What about a sponge bath... or are there any wipes you can use that won't upset your skin? just to feel a little cleaner.

I would have to agree about the frozen fruits and veggies... although not ideal.. at least it is safe.

[Phyllis28]

Below are my suggestions, good, bad or indifferent:

1) Check to see if the water is safe if you boil it. If it is make sure you get the instructions for how long to boil the water.

2) Check to see if there are any products that can be added to the water to make it safe. I am thinking of the kind hikers use where there is no running water.

3) If it is possible, drive outside of the contaiminated area to buy your food.

4) Take sponge baths with clean water.

5) Order glutenfree food online and have it delivered by as quickly as possible. Amazon sells gluten free food in bulk quanties. The downside to this suggestion is it is expensive.

6) Locate the nearest store that sells organic foods. Ask if their fresh food has been contaiminated.

7) Buy your bottled water in cooler size. I think these are 5 gallons.

I hope everything returns to normal very soon.

[kbtoyssni]

Could you drive out of the area to buy uncontaminated veggies? Or take a shower at a gym outside the contaminated area?

[dlp252]

Egad Paula, that totally sucks!!! You've got some great suggestions already so basically just wanted to send you {{{hugs}}}.

[confused]

Well it is salmonella, so im not sure an filter would help with that or not. Also they are not sure if there is other bacteria in it. They said we can boil the water until they start to flush it out, then it is no longer safe to boil it. But of course they have no idea when they are going to flush it out.

Tommorow my hubby is going to drive to our hometown and grocery shop. Or my parents will bring everything we need up here.

The sad thing is it ihas been in the water for over 8 days now and we bought a bunch of food last week and now it is not good. SInce the stuff at the grocery stuff was contaimated with the water. In a few im going to look in the freezer and what stuff we bough prior to last week and i guess throw everything else away.

The red cross is supposed to be bringing water here today but not alot to cover everyone in this town. The stores are sold out of sanitizing soap, well the main grocery stores, so i am running to the health food store when they open, im sure people wont think to go there lol.

Does anyone think that taking my activated charcoal helped me from getting really sick. I know last week i would wake up very nasuated, but i thought it was the charcoal and now im wondering if it was the water.

paula

[dlp252]

Wow, what a mess! I don't know about the charcoal...it's a binder, and I know they give it to people who have ingested harmful substances, but not sure whether it works with bacterial stuff.

Scarey to think that salmonella can get into the water supply!

[babysteps]

wow

hang in there!

a few thoughts - food, if you're near a trader joe's they have pre-cooked ready-to-eat (or ready-to-heat) items that could work (brown rice, some of the indian side dishes, etc). pricier than from scratch, but could help short term. Also, some frozen veggies are good merely thawed - for example, peas. Don't even have to cook 'em, that way the texture might be more appealing. Is grocery store meat okay? if not, consider frozen meat as well.

bathing, I would try sponge baths - pretend you're camping and have only a very little water. Two washcloths, one damp w/soap and one damp for rinsing, and you can do wonders with very little water (and don't have to buy wipes). Focus on pits/crotch/feet and let the rest get ignored, or at most more brushed off than actually scrubbed. Depending how active you are (and how much deodorant you can tolerate), you can probably stretch to two/three times/week for a short period. I think all our grandparents thought 1x/week was plenty

Consider stockpiling some boiled water for when they do flush the system (plastic storage bins or a tub with decent plug could work). Hopefully by day 3 or 4 there will be plenty of Red-Cross supplied water.

Good luck!!

[YoloGx]

Well it is salmonella, so im not sure an filter would help with that or not. Also they are not sure if there is other bacteria in it. They said we can boil the water until they start to flush it out, then it is no longer safe to boil it. But of course they have no idea when they are going to flush it out.

Tommorow my hubby is going to drive to our hometown and grocery shop. Or my parents will bring everything we need up here.

The sad thing is it ihas been in the water for over 8 days now and we bought a bunch of food last week and now it is not good. SInce the stuff at the grocery stuff was contaimated with the water. In a few im going to look in the freezer and what stuff we bough prior to last week and i guess throw everything else away.

The red cross is supposed to be bringing water here today but not alot to cover everyone in this town. The stores are sold out of sanitizing soap, well the main grocery stores, so i am running to the health food store when they open, im sure people wont think to go there lol.

Does anyone think that taking my activated charcoal helped me from getting really sick. I know last week i would wake up very nasuated, but i thought it was the charcoal and now im wondering if it was the water.

paula

How awful. I hope this situation doesn't drag on. Its good nonetheless that you have resources elsewhere. Maybe go on vacation for a while? Even if its just over the weekends.

I recall that Seagull water filters remove bacteria. Does anyone here know for sure?

Another maybe not so crazy idea: if you get enough sunlight you could set up a tub of water outside in the sun with glass or plastic housing completely around it and let the evaporating water catch onto the sides and drip down into a trough of clean water. I did a science experiment like that as a kid and it actually worked. I made it simple using 2 largish rectangular pieces of glass connected at the top onto a cross beam. The sides at the two ends were triangular. The trough areas could just be guttering with the ends either connected or closed off. Maybe you could even have a way of elevating the whole contraption so the good water drains into a barrel.

Maybe you could boil up a bunch of regular water in the meantime and save it for washing dishes and bathing? You could store it in the bathtub and then use the water to do your dishes and take sponge baths, using just a little at a time. When I lived in the woods I often washed my hair in a bowl of water, and poured clean water over my head to remove the soap. A little apple cider vinegar or lemon in the clean water helps remove the soap quicker and better.

It also sounds like you might want to get checked out for Salmonella yourself. Sure hope you don't have it. On the positive side, a lot of people with celiac (myself included) are more resistant to bacteria and parasites than others.

[Dandelion]

I feel so bad for you. I don't know what other intolerances you have but here's some food suggestions off the top of my head. Do you have a Whole Foods anywhere near you? If so, they have bags of frozen rice that all you have to do is put them in the microwave to heat. You could make rice and beans. How about soups? There are gluten free canned soups out there and if you do happen to be by WF they have a new brand of soup in the frozen case called Kettle Creations. Some are gluten free and they are really good. How about canned chili? I don't know if it's safe for you to have but you could get gluten free pancake mix and make pancakes and bacon. Could you make sandwiches with prepackaged meats (like Hormel) or tuna?

As for bathing - that's a tough one. There are dry shampoos you can get to "wash" your hair. I just saw that drugstore.com has No-Rinse Bathing Wipes. CVS should also have them. The bonus to those is that they claim to kill bacteria and salmonella. You might also want to look into a portable camping shower. You can store water in them and then use it like a hand held in your shower.

Good luck.

[Glutina]

Hi!

Any suggestionbs I might have had were already said...but I still just wanted to give you a:

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUG)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

))))))

What an awful situation!

-Glutina

[mamaw]

Another one of life's royal pains!!!! We never drink water from a tap , well or city water.... We have a reverse osmosis system that takes away everything... It costs about $1200.00 but well worth the price.We would not be without this in this day & age...

For bathing everyone's suggestions were good ones. If you have a home health store around they sell Comfort Bath Essential Cleasning cloths. You just nuke them for 18 seconds & bathe. they also make one for hair. They are used in hospitals & nursing homes for people who cannot get a shower or bath. They are made by Sage Products, Inc.

1-800-323-2220 we keep these for prepardedness reasons.Everyone should have extra food, water, batteries, & essentials for at least three days. I recommend a much longer period.....

hth

mamaw

[BRUMI1968]

If this is city water, I believe they have to reimburse you for money spent on bottled water. If it is a private well, then you're on your own. Check into it if it is public water.

[confused]

Another one of life's royal pains!!!! We never drink water from a tap , well or city water.... We have a reverse osmosis system that takes away everything... It costs about $1200.00 but well worth the price.We would not be without this in this day & age...

For bathing everyone's suggestions were good ones. If you have a home health store around they sell Comfort Bath Essential Cleasning cloths. You just nuke them for 18 seconds & bathe. they also make one for hair. They are used in hospitals & nursing homes for people who cannot get a shower or bath. They are made by Sage Products, Inc.

1-800-323-2220 we keep these for prepardedness reasons.Everyone should have extra food, water, batteries, & essentials for at least three days. I recommend a much longer period.....

hth

mamaw

were did you get your RO water filter from, i have been looking. I do have info for a guy that sells them but he goes by your water report and im afraid to see how much it would be with what is in my water right now. But I am going to call him and see how much. I could really afford 1200 tho.

paula