NM Drinking Water (Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Silver City: home, neighborhoods, to buy)

[james57]

Currently I am considering possible retirement locations in southern NM. Drinking water quality and supply seem to be an important consideration. It seems that this is generally a problem in NM. Just wondered if anyone can recommend cities with good quality and supply of drinking water. Right now I am considering Alamogordo, Ruidoso, and Silver City areas. But have no idea which would be better with regard to water. Or do others have even better supplies.?

Jim

[chilegal]

I live right outside Alamogordo, and have a well. I have a small filter on the water coming in for drinking and I like the water. If you do not like the water you can put a RO on it as some of the neighbors have done. Jim, when are you coming out to check out the area?? I think you mentioned about living outside the city limits before so you may want to think about well water also. Many that I know do get bottled water for drinking.
Jane

[Zoidberg]

The biggest problem people notice with private water supplies is iron in the water, which turns your laundry yellow (nice!).

Of course, lead/arsenic/uranium are always fun perks with the local water. Nothing a little filtering can't fix. There's no overall state trend; some areas are pretty pure, others aren't.

[PaddyMac]

Originally Posted by chilegal

If you do not like the water you can put a RO on it as some of the neighbors have done. Jane

Can you explain RO please?

And what if your well runs dry or gets contaminated. What do people do then?

Do the big cities like Abq have city water? What about Tijeras (or the East Mountains in general). I hear the water is very hard in Tijeras, but not sure if it's piped in. Thanks.

[chilegal]

Originally Posted by PaddyMac

Can you explain RO please?

And what if your well runs dry or gets contaminated. What do people do then?

Do the big cities like Abq have city water? What about Tijeras (or the East Mountains in general). I hear the water is very hard in Tijeras, but not sure if it's piped in. Thanks.

Reverse osmosis is best explained at this web site. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT REVERSE OSMOSIS, WATER PURIFICATION AND FILTRATION

Our well is 480' deep and is in a big channel coming out from the Mts, I am not worried about it going dry. Why worry about something you can't do anything about. The well digger can tell you if you have a good channel of water. And its tested, or you can have your water tested yourself. Ours is fine. No rust - had that in Wisconsin..
I am sure Abq has city water, but where its from I don't know.
Jane

[PaddyMac]

RO = Reverse osmosis

and thanks for the link

I'm not used to the idea of having to dig for water! For all we complain about LA, the DWP water is actually very good (mix of Sierra and Colorado river).

[Zoidberg]

Albuquerque gets its water from the aquifer, the Rio Grande, and (soon) the San Juan-Chama river diversion project.

Hard water is a fact of life pretty much everywhere in this time zone. Most filtration systems tend to get clogged up with the calcium before too long.

[james57]

for comments on drinking water. Currently here in Illinois I do have a water softener and also a filter for drinking water. Sounds like I would need the same out there. My concern would be reliability of supply. Guess if the well goes dry, one needs to dig deeper?

I am looking at possibly the general Alamogordo area including La Luz and Tularosa. Home prices seem reasonable for my circumstances.

Jane my plan is to possibly visit this coming winter, maybe in January. Since my intent is mainly for a winter home in the area, I need to see what its like then. I will follow your advice and watch weather reports to judge the best time to make that quick two day drive in between winter storms or whatever. Then would spend a few weeks in the southern NM area to judge if that is what I want for a winter home. During that time would also look at various neighborhoods etc for possible home purchase. At this point in time, Silver City and Ruidoso areas look too expensive for me. My first choice was always the Alamogordo area anyway. Liked it when I went thru on vacation back in the 90's.

Jim

[chilegal]

Jim,
We will be looking forward to meeting you when you come out.
Hope you didn't get hit to bad last night with the storm that went through your area in IL.
Jane

[designer]

reverse osmosis is the most cost effective way to deal with it. I spend
about $75 to $100 per year to buy my water at a filtration place
here in southern new mexico. Possibly up in the mountains like Ruidoso
you might not have to worry about it but I'm not sure. I'm sure you could
set up a good filtration unit at your home as well but I don't know what
it might cost. I personally would not drink the tap water in the town
that I live in. I have talked to a few who have and they are still alive
so who knows?

Good Luck