SC - Getting rid of onion odor

[Laura C. Minnick]

Well, Phlip, I congratulate you on your excellent constitution, however it
is simply not true that the water at Pennsic is safe and palatable for
everyone. I happen to be a walking case in point. I've twice had intestinal
parasites I've gained directly through the use of Pennsic water.  On one
occaision I came home with a three month case of diahrea my doctor was
unable to cure or diagnose----several months of imodium and antibiotics
finally got me back on track. The difference between your experience and
mine, I believe, lies in several directions.

First and foremost, we are not dealing with water from one well. In general,
the farthet towards the lake you go, the older the well. The water in the
area is rusty (even in places miles away from Cooper's Lake) from iron
deposits (Iron city, ie Pittsburg is not that far away). At our present
camping location the water is from a  well that is only functional during
Pennsic and thus the first water is awful and I'd consider it too dangerous
to use. We are directly down hill from a farm, and anyone who has had to
treat intestinal disorder will tell you immediately that this is a bad
situation to be in as far as water safety is concerned. There are, however,
three wells I know of, and probably a few more that supply water to Pennsic
campers. The water in each is different. Our well produced water that is
rusty, smells bad, and if left to sit develops an oily gasoline-like sheen
and metallic skin. We filter ours with a filter that takes out
microorganisms. It works well, but the water there sure does eat up filters
quickly.

The next factor in success with the local water is your own normal water
supply at home. For instance, Folks I know who live near Scranton, PA have
no problem with intestinal disorders when drinking the local Pennsic water.
Scranton happen to be a place where the water supply is routinely found to
contain lots of nasty beasties, among them Giardia Cysts, so my personal
opinion is that the residents there have developed a tolerance for
intestinal parasites.

Lastly, many folks simply do not drink very much water at Pennsic at all,
instead prefering to live by drinking sports drinks, soda, bottled juices,
etc.  When I live on bottled water, I do fine. When I live on filtered
water, I do well health-wise, but aesthetically speaking the filtered water
still turns brown over time and stinks, with a strong smell. Once I merely
rinsed my toothbrush   in unfiltered Pennsic water, and that was enough to
come home with an intestinal bug.

My guess is that nmost experiences fall between the two of us, but as my
home water (right next to a water-plant, whose source is the same as my own)
is terrific, I do not have any built-up immunity to bad water, and thus I
suffer everytime. Could be contamination, or it could be a reaction to the
heavy metals in the water. Whatever it is, I always filter or buy bottled
water, cause I don't like being sick.

Cheers,

Aoife

Phlip penned:

Don't know why you folks are panicking about the water at Pennsic, and the
port-a-castle two step. I've been going to Pennsic since 22, and have never
had any digestion problems which could be attributed to the water
I'm also a Chirurgeon, since Pennsic XXV, and I can tell you right now I'd
know if there had been any epidemics of diarhea- it's one of those things,
that if nothing else, would get mentioned in our start-of-shift meetings,
just as those black flies were mentioned which hit and bit as hard as a bee,
but weren't actually causing allergic reactions in those allergic to bee
venom.

Now, granted I'm known to drink a lot of beer, but I drink water, Pennsic
water, all through my daily shifts at Pennsic. If the water was bad, it
would hit me, trust me.
I do agree, however, that given a choice I drink bottled water or water I
bring from home, simply because it tastes better.
Please, folks, don't start trying to panic everyone over Pennsic water. I
still remember all the hoopla started on this and other Lists about last
year's great Pennsic Drought- which for those who weren't there, didn't
occur either.


Phlip