Moms. Some people in my church had water drive to be distributed to the homeless. I heard that 80 homeless die because dehydration. Some say the tap water/ fountain water do not contain minerals needed by body so it just keep them dehydrated.
However, one arqued that it has it. If it is zero minerals, then it is distilled waters which are expensive, minerals can be accessed through food. Too many minerals from water will cause kidney problem. Well, then why the homeless die dehydrated?
I am curious here. Which one is true? I have googled but maybe my keywords are not correct, I don't find satisfactory answers. Thanks.
.
There is nothing harmful about drinking fountain water. Thing is where are drinking fountains? In general they are inside of businesses that may not allow access. I have a feeling that would drive the statistic more than minerals.
Tap water is perfectly adequate to drink and has minerals in it. Homeless people don't always have access to drinking fountains. I don't know about your city, but in our city it is hard to find any drinking fountains any more. Even with access to drinking fountains, extreme heat can dehydrate people who have little or no access to air conditioning. Then, if they are drinking alcohol at all (a problem with a % of homeless people) this dehydrates a person even more.
honestly this is a silly argument. all water is not created equal, but all humans need water and providing it is a great service to the homeless. don't stress about whether or not it has minerals. your town's tap water is different from my town's tap water and my well is different from both. bottled water varies wildly too.
too many minerals is far less of a problem than no access to water.
just distribute the water and stay out of the goofy debates.
khairete
S.
If I'm in need of water, about to die of dehydration, and homeless, I'll find any source. I'll go use the spigot on the side of a building or someone's house. I'll run in someone's sprinkler.
And the water that comes out of the tap has plenty of minerals.
I think that if someone on the street is dying because of dehydration, there are other factors involved (elderly, mentally unsound, under the influence of drugs/alcohol).
Any water you drink hydrates you. To make things more clear, just ask a doctor.
Now, of course, you can be more quickly hydrated if given electrolytes or sodium with water, but not being given these things will not cause the water to be useless.
Its 104 here. I can't even imagine how hot it is there. Unless the homeless have the water fountain 5 feet away from them, they are going to be dehydrated. Plus - heat stroke. If I were going to be homeless, I wouldn't do it in the desert!
Well, you are in AZ with me. I believe the homeless dying here is because of heat exhaustion and possibly dehydration too. As you know, it will be 113 this weekend and it doesn't really "cool off" at night. So the homeless need to have more water than the rest of us because of the extreme heat and they are usually not inside much. I believe any water source would be good for them. Just my opinion. Good luck.
If they are drinking tap water, or any water, they are hydrated.
If they are drinking booze, they can dehydrate fairly quickly.
Also - with extreme heat - you are going to sweat a whole lot and you will lose potassium and other minerals which can lead to electrolyte imbalance which lead to heart troubles.
Gatorade, sports drinks and drinks like pedialyte, coconut water, and bananas will help replace lost potassium.
Staying cool is important - it helps keep the sweating down.
So some people will buy a subway ticket (the cars are air conditioned) for some homeless so they can ride the train all day to stay cool.
Remember the stadium in New Orleans? People died of heat exhaustion/heat stroke/dehydration.
They need water. Period.
Water is essential to survival. Any water.
I agree that your church is misinformed.
I remember a neighbor that used to leave two O.-gallon jugs out at the end of her driveway for a local homeless man. Plain old tap water.
One nice thing about handing water bottles out to the homeless, is that they can continue to refill the water bottles and always have water with them.
Tap water is just fine..... bottled water is usually just tap water, filtered in more ways, and then they often add minerals to "enhance" the flavor......
drinking to much water at ONE TIME will cause kidney problems.
People should not drink distilled water. They should drink bottled drinking water or spring water. Most water from a tap or house or even a well is fine.
That makes absolutely no sense. If homeless people are getting dehydrated, it is not from drinking tap water.
The people in your church are misinformed. Maybe they can use that money from the drive for some food, or something more useful. Homeless people don't need bottled water.
Jo and Sue make a good point. Maybe they need bottled water because there are no water fountains and business don't want them inside. In any case, it has nothing to do with the lack of minerals.
Elena:
There are many things that people can go without in life - water is not one of them. Dehydration from illness is a common cause of death in children under 5 years of age, accounting for 2 million deaths per year.
Did you know that our bodies are about two thirds water? When someone gets dehydrated, the amount of water in his or her body has dropped below the level needed for normal body function.
Why do they die? I don't know. Most don't recognize the signs of dehydration until it's too late.
This link will tell you more about dehydration: http://www.yogaawayoflife.net/dehydration.htm
Bottom line? people die EVERY DAY. From all sorts of things. This is life - you can't get out of it alive. Can some deaths be avoided? Yes.
Around here? I don't know of many water fountains anymore. We have them in our schools but that's about it. If you want to help people by donating bottled water - then donate. The people that receive them may or may not use them. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make 'em drink.
