What's it like living in Phoenix Arizona (how much, buying)

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

My dogs drink tap. They drink the water on the street if I don't stop them they can live with hard water.

I used to do the 5gallon bottles but we got a fridge with a filter and never looked back.

You're right it's hard and smells like pool water, and usually I don't like it could be worse stories, but I've had the flip side of hard water in the south and that's gross on a different level.

When I see the white film it leaves on pet bowls and other dishes, I can't imagine what it is doing to our insides. Pets can get kidney stones, too. I don't get a chlorine smell at all, just the horrible residue.


Edit: Crazy timing! A coworker just told me about her dog having kidney stones. Extremely painful, and will be an expensive vet visit if they don't pass. Vet said she sees it all the time from the water here.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I am amazed that most of the population doesn't have kidney stones!

That would be because hard water is not linked to Kidney Stones and they think soft water might actually be worse.

Controversy 2. The bad (hard) tap water in my town is causing my stones.

It seems intuitive that drinking “hard” tap water, which contains more dissolved minerals (such as calcium and magnesium), might increase stone risk. However, most studies on the subject show that the type of tap water (hard versus soft) either doesn’t seem to make a difference or that soft water, and not hard water, is actually associated with increased stone risk (Schwartz et al, Urology, 2002).

Based on available research, the quality and source of your tap water likely makes little or no impact on stone risk. Putting in a water softener system may actually increase your risk! We like drinking filtered water, but only because it improves the taste.

Kidney stone myths - KidneyStoners.org

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

When I see the white film it leaves on pet bowls and other dishes, I can't imagine what it is doing to our insides. Pets can get kidney stones, too. I don't get a chlorine smell at all, just the horrible residue.


Edit: Crazy timing! A coworker just told me about her dog having kidney stones. Extremely painful, and will be an expensive vet visit if they don't pass. Vet said she sees it all the time from the water here.

Is the vet an expert on hard water issues? That sounds pretty suspect. They're usually tied to high sodium diets and dehydration amongst other variables and not tied to water quality.

As you know its hot and dry here, and maybe the dogs need to be eating better food.

[Tall Traveler]

Just my opinion but I believe OP would have much negative to say on anywhere else she went. Phoenix is far from perfect...so is everywhere else.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Is the vet an expert on hard water issues? That sounds pretty suspect. They're usually tied to high sodium diets and dehydration amongst other variables and not tied to water quality.

As you know its hot and dry here, and maybe the dogs need to be eating better food.

Agreed, pretty simple to find some research online that says hard water is not really related to kidney stones. If that were the case surely I'd have a lot of issues by now as I've been drinking hard tap water my entire life.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

A couple of your suggestions are not feasible to someone renting an apartment (install solar and buy a water softener). It's not that easy for everyone. The water here IS horrible and not everyone can just go out and buy a softener to fix that (or to fix a poorly insulated apartment).


Making friends can be difficult everywhere, and here is no different. Not everyone wants to become friends with people they work with, so it can be difficult to meet folks outside of work.


I am planning to check out Roosevelt Row one of these days, but I refuse to call it "RoRo"

LOL not necessary to call it RoRo, no problem there.

Sure, you can't install a whole house water softner in an apartment but there are options if it's really that much of an impact on your life. I honestly couldn't careless when I was in an apartment but we got the Softner when we bought a house (not my decision).

I Have Hard Water in My Apartment - How Can I Get Softer Water? » Shower Water Filters


And yes, you can't have a solar system on an apartment, but that's why I also mentioned the balanced billing options that the utilities give you here. I also had the same problem when living in the Northeast except it was for heat and the $ per KWp were much higher there, so I regularly subjected myself to freezing whereas here I've found I can keep things in check by going with the balanced plan and Time of Day plan. Like most things in life, if you plan you can figure out cheaper ways to do it. If you set the thermostat at 72 and forget it for the entire month of June then you're going to pay a steep price for it. Somewhere in the middle is a balance.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Is the vet an expert on hard water issues? That sounds pretty suspect. They're usually tied to high sodium diets and dehydration amongst other variables and not tied to water quality.

As you know its hot and dry here, and maybe the dogs need to be eating better food.

It's not my vet, just what a coworker told me.


A big contributor to stones is often calcium, which our "lovely" water is loaded with, so I try not to give mine tap, especially when my 19 year old cat was still with me, regardless. Because, who knows? Research says they don't completely know what causes stones, so why risk it. If I don't want to drink it, why should they?


Back to the topic of living here, the water IS terrible, period.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by locolife

LOL not necessary to call it RoRo, no problem there.

Sure, you can't install a whole house water softner in an apartment but there are options if it's really that much of an impact on your life. I honestly couldn't careless when I was in an apartment but we got the Softner when we bought a house (not my decision).

I Have Hard Water in My Apartment - How Can I Get Softer Water? » Shower Water Filters


And yes, you can't have a solar system on an apartment, but that's why I also mentioned the balanced billing options that the utilities give you here. I also had the same problem when living in the Northeast except it was for heat and the $ per KWp were much higher there, so I regularly subjected myself to freezing whereas here I've found I can keep things in check by going with the balanced plan and Time of Day plan. Like most things in life, if you plan you can figure out cheaper ways to do it. If you set the thermostat at 72 and forget it for the entire month of June then you're going to pay a steep price for it. Somewhere in the middle is a balance.

When I see RoRo the old Van Buren HoRo comes to mind

Some apts actually do allow Solar, I lived in one in Chandler when I moved back to the area a few years ago, they let people put them on top of the car ports in the parking lot

[locolife]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

When I see RoRo the old Van Buren HoRo comes to mind

Some apts actually do allow Solar, I lived in one in Chandler when I moved back to the area a few years ago, they let people put them on top of the car ports in the parking lot

You must have lived in Phoenix longer than me, I didn't get here until '02 so Van Buren seemed pretty quiet, although still a street I mostly avoid.

That's cool on the Solar Apartment options, it'd be nice to see it on every building here like you see at ASU's campus buildings in Tempe. Let's gobble up all the free power we can get.

[sargeant79]

Re: #11... Most people don't want to become friends with people who are nothing but negative all the time. J/S...