One has to CLEAN those dispenser coolers for the jugs ...

http://www.drinkmorewater.com/techno...n-water-cooler

I worked at a place once that never did (but I didn't know that until after I got sick and asked). I only had one drink from that cooler and was sick within 2 hrs with a massive headache! (and I rarely if ever get headaches so I listen to myself when I do). If your dispenser is in sunlight for part of the day, the algae will grow in it.

I put bottled water in the cats dispenser upNorth (which I clean out with bleach each season) and algae grows in it anyway. I think it is coming from the bottled water.

Take a clean dish and put some of your water in it on a window sill and see if algae grows in it. That would tell you not to use that water even if new.

The algae blooms vary from year to year...some heavy and some light. They are stimulated by phosphate run off from agriculture and lawns and gardening. If you delve deeply into the online sites about this subject you will find brain damage and other horrible things besides skin reactions. The blooms upNorth where we are start in late July and August, when the northern cold/cool water warms up.

Some of the local UPers upNorth, rinse off with a very dilute bleach solution after going swimming in the lake.

Boiling does not help... it actually bursts the algae and forces a larger dump of the toxin, than would be present if the cells remained intact.

whoa! ok. I just filled up a dish and put it on the window sill. I am the one who boils this stuff for tea all day, so that could account for how much worse I am. Could it be this simple? How miraculous that would be for my hurting life.

I am very interested in this for my yard as well. As I said in one of the posts above; we live in one of the lowest houses on the neighborhood. There is actually a drain at the back of my yard that was built by the town in the 70's to have somewhere for the water to go. The kids and I don't wear shoes for 5-6 months of the year outside.
SO, I'm thinking about the possibility of pesticide ridden bacteria that could be thriving in my backyard. Possibly? And because we are the wild non shoe wearing people on the street, it might make sense that others aren't sick? I am caught in a whirlwind of thoughts. Could you imagine if this crisis is solved on Neurotalk?

I am not sure what "pesticide ridden bacteria" could be.
Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill insects and some plant diseases. Pesticides themselves are mostly poisons to animals. But pesticides are not alive.

But molds, and algae yes. These simple organisms may infect people and cause illness. Molds actually can live in people. The algae tend to dump toxins into the bodies of mammals, and these toxins are byproducts of their metabolisms.

I have seen algae mats upNorth where water is shallow. You might have those. They are dark green and sometimes look even black. They cover the bottom of the pool as a rule, but when thinner they float around and may wash up with waves.

I think you might reconsider so much barefoot activity and opt for water shoes, crocs etc.

Pesticides kill insects. And bacteria are everywhere. Algae are neither.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae
Algae can be considered to be primative plants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria
Bacteria are considered to be primative animals.
If pathogenic they can live inside people and cause infections.

cyanobacteria: These are bacteria with photosynthetic ability. Often considered the first forms of life on the evolving earth in the beginning of this planet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria
It is these toxins the cyanobacteria produce that are toxic to animals and people.

I think I read somewhere that the pesticides cause certain toxic bacterias to thrive. That's what I meant. I have to find that article again.

Nope, it was that lawn fertilizer that so many people use, and it wasn't bacteria. I guess its fungus and algae. Maybe mold?

I am confusing that with the info on pesticides that create antibiotic resistant types of microbes.

We stay far away from all that stuff for our yard, but being at a low point, I am sure that we absorb a lot of what the neighbors use into our soil and possibly due to that we might have more mold spores, and maybe dangerous microbes around.

Well pesticides are designed to kill insects, that eat crops or plants, And breed resistance in these insects. Antibiotics are for bacteria.

Here is an explanation of what pesticides are:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide

Antibiotics are used in living animals and humans to kill pathogens inside the body. They are highly specific and if overused in animal husbandry or in people they lend to the target bacteria mutating and becoming resistant to them.

Yes, but pesticides and antibiotics are contributing to stronger mutated forms of bacteria.

I was confusing the lawn fertilizers that grow different types of microbes and calling it all bacteria when I was thinking "microbes".My brain is jumbled with information from an awesome class I just took on the microbiome. Very exciting stuff!



"Microbes"- NIH
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/micr...s/default.aspx

Microbes are tiny organisms—too tiny to see without a microscope, yet they are abundant on Earth. They live everywhere—in air, soil, rock, and water. Some live happily in searing heat, while others thrive in freezing cold. Some microbes need oxygen to live, but others do not. These microscopic organisms are found in plants and animals as well as in the human body.

Some microbes cause disease in humans, plants, and animals. Others are essential for a healthy life, and we could not exist without them. Indeed, the relationship between microbes and humans is delicate and complex.

Most microbes belong to one of four major groups: bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protozoa. A common word for microbes that cause disease is "germs." Some people refer to disease-causing microbes as "bugs." "I've got the flu bug," for example, is a phrase you may hear during the wintertime to describe an influenza virus infection.

Since the 19th century, we have known microbes cause infectious diseases. Near the end of the 20th century, researchers began to learn that microbes also contribute to many chronic diseases and conditions. Mounting scientific evidence strongly links microbes to some forms of cancer, coronary artery disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and chronic lung diseases.