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Whitehall residents: Gold in drinking water


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Two Whitehall residents say they're finding gold flakes in their tap water and that it's raising concerns about what else might be in the water.

Whitehall is about 25 miles southeast of Butte in Jefferson County. The town gets its drinking water from two wells -- one off Division Street and another a half block east of Whitehall Street. Both wells are right in the middle of town.

NBC Montana was in Whitehall today and saw firsthand gold flakes coming from the faucet.

http://www.nbcmontan...-water/26334156

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well the town will become richer than it is now

how about hiring a maid for the toilet tank

Edited by ThesillyfunnyguyIDK
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I reckon if gold was coming from my water tap I wouldn't be telling anyone.

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Makes a change from fluoride...

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You just know they are stood at the sink with a sieve 24/7 now with the tap running lol

It seems that if the water is coming from a natural well source that there are gold deposits down there which have come loose and have found their way into the water supply. Could think of worse things to come out of the taps in our house lol

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If I were a resident I could rig somehting to catch the heavier gold particles from my drinking water. I would say that the water is probably safe. The well might have eroded a bit and hit a gold vein.

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Maybe the "Lost Dutchman Mine" is actually in Montana and somehow got flooded with the water source for this town. :yes:

Edited by paperdyer
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It can't be happening to just them, but they had to blow it for everyone else.

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I'd be gold panning my tap if that would happen to me.

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In other news, the population of Whitehall in Montana just increased by 1 million! :)

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If it's real gold then according to wikipedia, no big deal.

Toxicity

Pure metallic (elemental) gold is non-toxic and non-irritating when ingested[120] and is sometimes used as a food decoration in the form of gold leaf. Metallic gold is also a component of the alcoholic drinks Goldschläger, Gold Strike, and Goldwasser. Metallic gold is approved as a food additive in the EU (E175 in the Codex Alimentarius). Although the gold ion is toxic, the acceptance of metallic gold as a food additive is due to its relative chemical inertness, and resistance to being corroded or transformed into soluble salts (gold compounds) by any known chemical process which would be encountered in the human body.

Soluble compounds (gold salts) such as gold chloride are toxic to the liver and kidneys. Common cyanide salts of gold such as potassium gold cyanide, used in gold electroplating, are toxic by virtue of both their cyanide and gold content. There are rare cases of lethal gold poisoning from potassium gold cyanide.[121][122] Gold toxicity can be ameliorated with chelation therapy with an agent such as dimercaprol.

Gold metal was voted Allergen of the Year in 2001 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Gold contact allergies affect mostly women.[123] Despite this, gold is a relatively non-potent contact allergen, in comparison with metals like nickel.[124]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Toxicity

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Maybe it's the city's way of refunding for excessively high water charges.

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I wonder how gold flakes could be being pushed around by tap water, so that it goes uphill into people's homes and through their water pipes. Since gold is so heavy, I'd expect that the whole town would have the lower laying pipes full of gold.

OR.... This could just be bits of brass left in the lines from construction/remodel work.

Was the gold actually tested?

EDIT: Multiple articles say that the locals did several chemical tests to see if this was gold, and they were convinced that it is gold. It seems perhaps they used acid in one of these experiments.

I still am reserving judgement till a Lab test comes back positive. Then.... I'd be ripping up the water lines, since they are lower and probably filled with cold particles.

Edited by DieChecker
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I wonder how gold flakes could be being pushed around by tap water, so that it goes uphill into people's homes and through their water pipes. Since gold is so heavy, I'd expect that the whole town would have the lower laying pipes full of gold.

OR.... This could just be bits of brass left in the lines from construction/remodel work.

Was the gold actually tested?

EDIT: Multiple articles say that the locals did several chemical tests to see if this was gold, and they were convinced that it is gold. It seems perhaps they used acid in one of these experiments.

I still am reserving judgement till a Lab test comes back positive. Then.... I'd be ripping up the water lines, since they are lower and probably filled with cold particles.

I've personally seen brass flakes come though a tub faucet, and I must admit that I considered the possibility that it was gold until I took a better look at both the flakes and the faucet. The brass threadings in the faucet was showing signs of obvious wear, and was the source of the brass flakes. So, yeah, that's possible.

I suppose in their case it could be actual gold given the location and circumstances but, like said, who knows until testing I guess.

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Gold dosnt float! Its 10-20 times heavier than anything else that may come from a stream

Most if not all private water supplies have a large header tank somewhere, usually buried 5m or higher from the property's that it supplies or is pumed uphill mechanically from a stream or a spring, so any naturally occurring gold would sink directly to the bottom of the header tank,

If its a public water supply then there is no way gold can enter the supply, most come from reservoirs in which gold would have sunk to the bottom of, and if by a slim chance some had made it out of the reservoir there are many sediment tanks and filters before water reaches your tap

If they are getting (naturally occuring) gold coming from there taps then there should also be silt and sand in vast quantities aswell and can only be from a private supply!

This is a strange one

Edited by 6.6.6
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I would be collecting that gold like you wouldn't believe. I wish that would happen in my town! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

With the price of gold these days, I'd be panning my dish drain.

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Water spirits have been at it again.

Gold is apparantly quite edible.

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