Elderly In Florida Town Swear By Radioactive ?Fountain Of Youth?

Eternal life or no, drinking this water daily is bound to have some interesting results. Via National Geographic:

Thanks to the myth of Ponce de Leon?s trip, Florida?known for its large population of retirees?is now awash in ?fountains of youth.? Only one, however, is known to be radioactive.

In Punta Gorda, a town on Charlotte Harbor, a blocky, green-tiled fountain abuts an empty lot near the harbor. A spigot juts out near the top to release water from the artesian well below.

On the side facing away from the street, a public health notice warns that the water ?exceeds the maximum contaminant level for radioactivity.? The water from the well is also heavy in sulfates, which give it a smell of rotten eggs. This hasn?t stopped the locals from drinking from it regularly. ?I drank out of that well every day,? said Gussie Baker, a resident of Punta Gorda for all of her 78 years.

Punta Gordians proudly declared the existence of a rejuvenative fountain as far back as 1894. At the height of its popularity, in the mid-20th century, the handle on the tap had to be replaced every six months. Visitors usually come with lots of plastic bottles, or big plastic jugs that hold maybe five or ten gallons.

Punta Gorda?s water clocked in at 9.2 picoCuries of radium-226 isotope per liter when it was tested in 1983. This exceeded the recommended radium limit, set at 5 picoCuries per liter. As a result, in 1986, the city council mulled plugging the well, moving the fountain, and hooking it up to city water. But locals fought back.

?They?ve tried several times over the years to close it down, to seal it up, to move it or hook it to the city water, and the public has always defeated that,? said Wilson Harper, a 71-year-old former water utilities supervisor.

Radium isn?t the only thing that turns up in the water. The water from the aquifer is high in magnesium, which helps the body regulate heart muscles and control high blood pressure.

The compound magnesium sulfate also makes an appearance in the water. It?s better known as Epsom salt, which has been used in baths to ease aches and pains for years.

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Source: http://www.secretsofthefed.com/elderly-in-florida-town-swear-by-radioactive-fountain-of-youth/

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