THE BATTALION
MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1979
page r
jpoor watering habits can kill plants;
ater’s sodium may help kill folks
By DOUG GRAHAM
Battalion Staff
E an-College Station water may
h a plant or human’s thirst, but
ng it may have grave long-term
(let s, says a Texas A&M University
Hessor.
Jr. Harold Wolf, an
Mpronmental engineer, has been
published in various journals, ad-
locating a look at the effects of high
indium content in water supplies.
illiL reason is that a high sodium
content in water may hurt individu-
thoroughly and less often.
“You’ve got to water the plant real
well, and supply good drainage.
Maybe even fill the pot two or three
times to leach it out. The problem is
that they (plant owners) don’t water
their plants enough. They keep the
top wet, but it never soaks all the way
through.”
He said that the thorough water
ing will not be too much for the
plants as long as sufficient drainage is
supplied.
If the owner does not leach the
the same average American.
He found that many soft drinks,
diet drinks especially, contain a lot of
sodium.
He cited EPA reports that from 21
to 27 million Americans need to be
concerned with sodium intake.
Wolf also suggests that high
sodium content in water may con
tribute to hypertension because con
stant salt intake impairs the ability to
taste it. High sodium content in
drinking water can lead to the unwit
ting overconsumption of salt, he
Pen)':
a “tin
ocess.
have!
have
Hvith hypertension, he said. It can
also hurt plants. But the problem is
not clear-cut, and there is debate on
the eriousness of the local water’s
:hro i|igli sodium content.
tfie issue is not about basic water
purity; area water supplies are cer-
ical sp rtifikl by the Texas Department of
Health Resources. That means they
are free of toxic substances, undue
ampunts of bacteria, or any diseases.
The problem is that the water con
tains dissolved salt — specifically,
deten lodmrn ions — and people disagree
over sodium’s effect on human
health.
: The debate is an important one. If
tha local water is indeed unhealthy,
sts more than the 63 cents a
[usand gallons charged by Bryan,
idden damage could make the
al cost of local water higher. Be-
iseofthis, the effect of B-CS water
onlmachines, plants, and humans
at " should be examined.
■y wont jyf a n these, the water’s effect on
rvisofi 'machines is generally agreed upon.
! 1 Since area water is considered soft
(water containing high amounts of
huso? pfjiagnesium and calcium are consid-
s or h hard) less soap is needed in
Wshing, and water softeners are un-
ava® ihecessary in homes. Dr. Jack Runk-
he> le^, director of the Texas Water Re-
h u " iources Institute at Texas A&M, said
d J'l there is no problem of excessive cor
rosion in the area.
■The one problem is that after the
water dries, it leaves a white film.
BBut with plants the problem is dif-
fejent. Many students complain that
K local water kills their plants. To
vent that, they collect rainwater
■buy bottled water in local stores.
jNealy Maddox, certified nurse-
and owner of Bob’s Green
umb Nursery, said salt build-up
s plants. As water evaporates, it
ves a residue of salt behind until
e plant is finally killed. She said
t many area plants die because of
But it isn’t the water that kills
mts, she says, but “not knowing
iat to do.
We use city water to water our
n plants,” she said. “Certain
ings are sensitive to the salt, or the
lorine or fluorine.”
She named certain varieties of
[rns that do not do well in the area
cause of their sensitivity, but em-
asized that watering plants prop-
ly solves the problem. “People
ve poor watering habits. Here you
ed very correct habits.”
The correct way to water plants
pends on leaching the soil of salt,
[ichard Bienski, owner of B&R
reenhouse, agreed. He said in-
ad of watering a little bit each day,
leople should water more
dbeil
I
soil, then the salt residue will even
tually kill the plant, he said.
Bienski said gypsum can also be
added to balance the soil ph. Maddox
said care must be taken in selecting
good fertilizers that won’t contribute
salts to the soil.
“On plants in pots without drain
age, you might need distilled water,
too,” she said.
Though the effect of water on
plants can be determined with some
experimentation, what drinking
B-CS water does to humans is less
clear.
Wolf, at Texas A&M, said the
sodium concentration in the local
water is too high to be healthy. Ex
cess sodium intake increases the pos
sibility of heart attacks, he said.
He cited evidence gathered dur
ing a drought in which Dallas im
ported highly mineralized water
while Fort Worth did not. The find
ings were interesting: during the
period of water importation, heart
and circulatory system-caused
deaths increased much more quickly
in Dallas than it did in Fort Worth.
Also significant was that after the
importing of water ceased, Dallas’s
death rate dropped.
Wolf also analyzed per capita con
sumption of liquids by Americans.
He found that 128.3 gallons milk,
soft drinks, beer, and other drinks
were consumed each year. Only 56
gallons of water were consumed by
said.
Sodium harms the body because it
contributes to high blood pressure,
said Dr. Elvin Smith, head of the
department of physiology in Texas
A&M’s College of Medicine. He said
sodium gets in the blood, and will
retain excess moisture through os
motic pressure. The increase of fluid
volume drives up blood pressure,
which leads to heart strain and loss of
coronary efficiency.
After that can come heart attacks
and death.
But Smith is not sure B-CS water
is harmful. “My opinion is that the
normally functioning kidney of a
healthy person will keep sodium
levels the same as anyone anywhere.
“However, we don’t know what
the long term effects of high level
ingestion of sodium are. ”
He did say that the water is bad for
those whose kidneys are not
functioning properly. “It is almost
impossible to put a hypertensive pa
tient on a low sodium diet in B-CS
because the water contains more
than the allowable amount in a rigid
diet.’’
Texas Department of Health Re
sources said the most recent figures
for Bryan’s water supply give 183
milligrams per liter of sodium and 47
milligrams of chlorine.
Dallas’ present water supply, by
comparison, has a content of II to 25
milligrams per liter, Wolf said.
This high level of sodium seems to
have contributed to solid sales of dis
tilled and other types of bottled
water in local stores. The biggest
supplier in the area is Oasis Water
Company, which operates out of
Waco.
A company spokesman said the
company sells four different lines:
distilled, baby formula (which is dis
tilled no differently), drinking, and
spring water. The spring water is
shipped from Hot Springs, Ark.
She said the distilled water has 0.5
milligrams per liter, while the drink
ing water has 9.7 milligrams.
Skaggs Albertsons alone sold
1,200 gallons of distilled water last
month, said E.J. Baca, assistant gro
cery manager. He said 150 gallons of
drinking, 24 gallons of baby formula,
and 48 gallons of spring water were
also sold.
An employee of Brenham
Wholesale Grocery Company Inc.,
one of the larger area suppliers of
small stores, says it has supplied 900
gallons of distilled and 450 gallons of
drinking water last month.
That comes to a total of more than
2,700 gallons of bottled water sold,
excluding major stores like Piggly
Wiggly, Safeway, and Kroger, all of
which also sell distilled water.
The water is sold both for drinking
and for house plants. The total cost of
the water is high: about 55 cents a
gallon.
But bottled water’s price isn’t pro
hibitive. According to Runkles, only
two quarts out of an approximate 165
gallons of water used each day end
up in stomachs.
For those to whom price is no ob
ject, there is the continental Per
rier’s, water sophisticatedly priced at
$4.06 per gallon.
But for those who aren’t con
cerned, Smith said there seems to be
no problem as long as their kidneys
operate properly.
But he did caution: “What I don’t
know is if drinking this water all your
life can cause a decrease in kidney
efficiency.
“I certainly think we need some
study on this.”
JflHIEAlP CILAJlJf
FOR A CLASSY CUT. CALL
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846-4771
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United Press International The programs are aimed at cut- economically via
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