Drinking water source for island stay
 

I’m looking for a little help on ideas. Typically I fill Two 5 gallon water jugs at I believe it is called Levy park in Alton. In reading through the town of Alton website it appears the water isn’t being turned on at the park due to Coronavirus. So I’m now left trying to figure out an alternate solution. I could buy a bunch of gallon jugs at a grocery store if need be, but would love if there are any other sources you are aware of that could be used? Thanks for any help!

There’s a lake full right in front of you!:D Seriously, it’s a little work but if you boil lake water for at least 10 minutes and let it cool it’s safe for drinking.

Not a “this weekend” solution but if you’re a regular islander there are reverse osmosis filtration systems as well as filtration systems with UV light for sanitizing lake water. We’ve had a UV system that goes to a point of use faucet on the side of the kitchen sink for about 15 years, it beats lugging water jugs like we did before the filter.

For 25-cents per gallon, the Hannaford in Gilford next to Lowe's, has a vending machine designed for filling five gallon, camper type water containers.

Was told by someone at service counter the 25-cent vend also applies a reverse osmosis filtration to this Laconia city water. The water looks and tastes excellent. Apparently, the Gilford Hannaford is hooked up to Laconia water as it is located close to the town border.

Yep just another example of total and complete incompetency on the town's part. Shutting down a water spigot does exactly what now? Oh right NOTHING!!! - it's just become fashionable these days to shut anything down for the optics of doing "something" even if it is wrong, useless but most of all makes everyone's life a pain. That's OK town officials via zoom virtually can pat each other on the back and say to one another "we're doing something" and with stern serious facial expressions say they take this very seriously.

A+ for the virtue signaling effort conducted by the town of Alton.

usage
 

I boil the water, run it through a filter, with some organics and drink it hot. We call it coffee.
I take ice cubes and pour an imported disinfectant over the ice with an imported disinfectant I buy from a NH state distributor. "Scotch on the rocks", but your kids won't like it.

Otherwise, we drink lake water, on the south side of Welch Is., unfiltered.

You can buy 3 gallon counter top jugs with a spigot, easy to use, if your island doesn't have quality water.

When I was a Boy Scout, you could buy water purification tablets at the drug store, one per canteen. Just iodine pills if I remember correctly. Didjanow? If you're slow and careful, you can boil water in a paper bag over a campfire?
Bottled water is way overrated, often 10% arsenic. Check the labels before you buy.

I have had the lake water tested a number of times over the years and it’s always perfect! It has a better PH than bottled Poland Springs water!

Drink up!

Dan

You really want to drink this?
 

You may not want to drink the water from some parts of the lake. I've been testing the water quality for UNH for over 10 years and have seen some pretty nasty stuff in the water. One of the tests filters 500 ml through low-micron filter paper. At times, I've had to pump the vacuum over twice as long to get the water through the sludge. The filtered water is then measured for color and while it varies, colorless it isn't. Here's a picture of the filter papers from a variety of testing spots in the north-east part of the lake. In the broads area, it won't be as bad.

That testing include bacteria levels? All other things aside I don't think I would be partaking with running that water through a UV filter. You're not that far from the state park beach which has been shut down before for high levels of bacteria.

Not withstanding what you do see - it's what you don't.

We filter it
 

On the southeast side/end of Rattlesnake, we drink the lake water after filtering, and it is the best tasting water in the world (objective test of everyone who's ever had it...). We have a whole house filter system with 4"x20" sediment and then 5micron carbon, then a UV system. For under the sink in the kitchen, we also have a reverse osmosys system for extra filtering, but that is an extra step and maybe a bit of overkill.

Sediment filter does get full fairly quickly. With daily use, we end up changing it about every 30 days.

Of course bacteria levels are checked! What would be the sense of testing the water without testing for bacteria levels? :rolleye1::rolleye1:

I do have a full filtration system which includes UV sterilization. When I have water checked however, it is done before any filtering or UV sterilizing, basically straight from the lake. I also test it right from the faucet after sterilizing. It has always tested good and drinkable with a perfect PH. Unlike many, I don’t draw my water on the edge of my breakwater rocks where algae and bacteria tend to grow. I am in approximately 10’ of undisturbed water.

Ellacoya is 1 1/2 miles away and with 200’ of water Depth between. The prevailing NW winds also Probably blow whatever disgusting things humans place in the water over there...

Dan

Reverse osmosis has brine as a waste product. Too much dumped in one spot is not good for the environment. Dumping it a little at a time, especially after diluting it, may not be a problem.

The most common tablets are "Portable Aqua." I may have the chemical's name wrong but I believe the bottle says 'hydrochloride.' It's the same as chloralhydrate - 'knockout drops,' so be careful about using it with a cocktail. You should not use these for more than a few days. I forget what the side-effects are but they are listed on the bottle. Probably include diarahea.

There are various filters available at stores like EMS/Eastern Mountain Sports (a NH based company) of from the web from companies like Campmor, Sierra Supply and the Mormon supply companies in Utah.

There is a spigot in the cemetery on Paugus Bay. There is a public right of way from the lake to the street which allows access to the grocery store. I'm under the impression the tap is provided by the city of Laconia. Any update or correction would be appreciated.

Good luck!

When we set up the cottage, we ran a line into the lake out to a 12 - 15 foot depth. We set the intake 2 - 3 feet off the bottom, away from boat traffic. Water goes through a coarse filter (replaced monthly), a fine filter (replaced couple times a season) and a UV sterilizer before going into the tank. Lake water is very high quality --most of the time. The UV sterilizer ensure no bugs get through regardless. That said, just like at home, we drink distilled water and use lake water for everything else.

One thing for which lake water is unrivaled is in the brewing of beer. My <i>Winnipesaukee Whoopie Juice</i> is the stuff of legend, as is <i>Loon Lager</i> (less than .05% loon droppings, by weight). The brewing process guarantees the elimination of all flora and fauna and after a few, you don't even think about water quality.