Water,Water Everywhere... by CoreyBlack

Photography • (none) • posted on Jul 07, 2011

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Description

At 1,350 miles, Florida has the longest uninterrupted coastline in the continental United States. Hence, it's surrounded by water. Lots of water. The giant bodies of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, to be precise. And, seeing as how it's all salt water, you can't drink a drop of it. Well, I suppose you could try... The ground water in Florida isn't much better. It contains a high degree of sulfur, is a particularly unappetizing shade of dirty looking golden brown, and strongly redolent of rotten eggs soaked in hair dye remover. Though not technically toxic (you can allegedly drink it with no ill effects), the water is strangely corrosive and EATS plumbing: faucets, pipes, connectors, sink traps, shower nozzles ETC, all rust away to nothing in an alarmingly short period of time. Owing to the high sulfur content, locals refer to it as "suffer water", because to drink it is to suffer. (I'm referring to smaller towns here, I imagine the larger metropolises have fully filtered and fluoridated city water.) Most choose not to suffer, and buy bottled water instead. Since buying small individual bottles of water would be prohibitively expensive, people buy reusable plastic gallon jugs and fill them up en mass at fresh water vending machines located outside of grocery stores, gas stations and shopping malls. For 35 cents a gallon, you can fill as many jugs as will fit in your car trunk. In the two years I lived in Florida in the late '90's, I got used to the weekly pilgrimages to "get more water", and to seeing plastic jugs in closets, refrigerators and rolling around empty in the floorboards of friend's cars. In Chicago, having to do something like this would be a chore, especially in the dead of winter. In Florida, in January, walking to the car in shorts and sandals, it was just another day in paradise. This is a picture of my Dad, filling up outside an Albertson's grocery store on US 41/Tamiami Trail in South Venice, Florida on June 17, 2011.

Comments (12)

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Chipka

10:58PM | Thu, 07 July 2011

Hey, they have machines for that stuff in Florida. Trippy! But after living in Dortmund, for a few months, I've come to realize that they have all sorts of machines outside of Chicago. All we have are electronic fare collection turnstiles for the CTA! I like the way your dad's shirt matches the water dispenser, and the calm expression on his face, as if to say, "Oh, okay...go on and take the picture, but hurry up, I gotta put the cap on this thing when it's full, other wise the machine'll start beeping." I love all of the little details in this shot, and the narrative is great. The title reminds me of the guy in Spacehunter quoting the same poem, and Molly Ringwald's character not recognizing it. He told her that it's from a poem and if she spent any time in School then she'd know it. She responded with: "Hey, I don't need to fancy school learnin' to know that that stuff's poison!" And I have no idea why I just thought of that, but then I have no idea why any of my thoughts occur to me. Did you notice, he's getting water, and wearing a fish on his hat? WOW! Symbolism and stuff! Florida is such a surreal place. THIS is--maybe--one of the most revealing shots of it I've seen...and there's not a Phillip-Michael Thomas or Don Johnson outfit anywhere to be seen. Yeah...the real Florida emerges. This is a great shot Great text and the last line made me think of Laurie Anderson saying: "Paradise...it's exactly like where you are right now only much, much...better. And before I start quoting Cylons from Battlestar Galactica or something, I'm really going to shut up now.

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CoreyBlack

11:19PM | Thu, 07 July 2011

Yeah, I just took a closer look at this shot and remembered that I kind of inadvertently ambushed him. He was preoccupied with his change and I think he'd just realized I was making his picture when I clicked the shutter.

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blinkings

11:28PM | Thu, 07 July 2011

Lol he's thinking 'I hope that son of mine doesn't put this on the internet'!!!!! Our normal water is great here, but many people still do buy it.

whaleman

11:52PM | Thu, 07 July 2011

Unless you see tanker trucks coming around to fill this box up you can be sure this is the same water you described, just run over a cheap charcoal filter to remove the odors and tastes. Everything else is likely still there. Our water purification in Edmonton meets very high standards and has repeatedly shown lower counts of anything nasty than can be found in bottled water. Yet, strangely, many here are also buying drinking water. The situation has been created by very effective misinformation and advertising.

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bmac62

12:48AM | Fri, 08 July 2011

Cool narrative to go with your dad's photo intro on RR:) We have friends in Arizona who buy all their water from the same machine...well, it looks the same;-)

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auntietk

12:53AM | Fri, 08 July 2011

Wow. Around here, the stuff just falls out of the sky! LOL! I remember the first time I was in Southern California. I turned on the cold water tap and let it run, waiting for it to get cold. You know what? It doesn't get cold. Their water pipes are buried only a few inches under the ground, since it doesn't freeze there. Not only that, but there's CRUD in the water. If you fill up a gallon jug from the tap and put it in the fridge (so it gets cold enough to drink) there will be at least half an inch of white flaky minerals in the bottom of the jug. Great shot of your dad doing something he considers to be quite ordinary. I love pictures like this. "Locally Exotic!"

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beachzz

1:10AM | Fri, 08 July 2011

I have 3 water systems at my house--a well that has major iron content and turns your clothes orange, a spring with the best water and community water that sometimes tastes of way too much chlorine. I drink it all, though of course the spring water is my favorites. I see these same water dispensers at the local supermarket and they're well (ohhh--a pun!! lol) used! Nice to see your dad!1

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durleybeachbum

2:12AM | Fri, 08 July 2011

As Wayne says, bottled water often has higher counts of nasties than tap water in places where, like in the UK, we shower in drinking water. Meanwhile some fashionistas here have to have the ROGHT BRAND of bottled stuff..sad and environmentally destructive. I love your Dad's expression, I often feel like he looks.

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