WATER WORKS: Sam True of Bradford writes, “I see all of these
little stories about our water. Most well water in our area is
substandard. But this is from years of drilling for oil. Our city
water is drinkable most of the time. But half of the time, all you
smell when you try to drink it is a strong chlorine smell and
taste.”

“But my real question is, after all of the praise of our
drinking water, is how much is our water rates going up? That is
what all of the little stories were about. To soften the blow of
the rates going up, correct?”

The Era reported in December that water rates are going up but,
honestly, our RTSs had nothing to do with raising rates or even
“softening the blow.” Our intent was merely to pass along
information on the  benefits of drinking water as part of a
weight-loss plan.

Speaking of which … We ran out of room the other day and wanted
to add a word of caution to those inducements to drink more
water.

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as drinking too much
water. It’s called water intoxication and, in rare cases, it can
actually lead to death. Nearly all deaths related to water
intoxication in normal individuals have resulted either from water
drinking contests, in which individuals attempt to consume high
amounts of water, or long bouts of intensive exercise during which
electrolytes are not properly replenished yet excessive amount of
fluids are still consumed

Most people drink too little water. Doctors who have analyzed
recommendations based upon water intoxication have noted that water
is so important to health that if people reduce their intake of
water due to fear of water intoxication it could result indirectly
in far more deaths than water intoxication itself.

So keep drinking!

SWIMMING HOLE: Fred Johnson of Hackettstown, N.J., writes, “The
guys in the Main Street/  Hawthorn Road/ Birch Street area would go
swimming in the Kendall Creek. There was always an oil layer on the
top of the water, so we would raid the family rag bin to get rags
to wipe the oil off our bodies before going home. We had an oil
smell on our bodies for the rest of the day until the evening bath.
What fun on a hot summer day!”