A City Tracked Me Down. Then I Drank Radioactive Water.

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]So, a couple of weeks ago, I was driving back from a conference in, of course, Upstate New York, and I had one of the more unexpected conversations of my entire career. But, somewhere along the way, I pulled over at a state park because I saw people in a line filling gallon jugs at some random tap water source in the middle of a town.

[00:00:26]An actual line, families, older people, younger people, people who clearly do this every week with their own containers, a full but their trunk full of containers, filling up from a tap that comes out of the ground. Entirely untreated water. So, naturally, I get in line, and I tried it with my hands because I didn't have a container, and then I drove around and found all the other springs scattered across the parks and across the town, and I tried those, too. It felt kind of unsafe, to be honest, without knowing anything about them. So, of course, I started researching what was actually in these springs, and that's when things got alarming. I'm Ali, I'm an environmental scientist and the host of the Aqua Diaries podcast, and this show is about what's actually in your water.

[00:01:22]And today, I want to tell you about what happened at that conference, why it's relevant for the show, what is actually in Saratoga Springs, and what both of these things mean for where this show might go this summer. So, if you're new here, welcome. We investigate water. So, let's get into it. Before I actually tell you about this trip and the conference, I do owe you a bit of an explanation. So, a lot of you have been waiting on the Onondaga Lake cleanup episode. I said it was coming this week, it unfortunately isn't, and I'd rather be honest about that and explain that to you rather than just go quiet. So, Onondaga Lake is near Syracuse, New York and was for most of the 20th century one of the most polluted lakes in the entire United States. Some people say the world. So, decades of industrial discharge, contaminants including mercury, chlorinated compounds, ammonia, waste from one of the like literally largest chemical manufacturing plants in the entire country.

[00:02:23]It made it kind of a case study of how badly a body of water can be treated and still kind of survive. The cleanup that followed was one of the most expensive and complex environmental remediation projects in all of New York State history. The official narrative calls it a success. The Haudenosaunee, who regard this lake as a sacred place, have a completely different view.

[00:02:47]And the more I dig into the cleanup itself, the more I understand why. This was a decades-long project involving some of the largest industrial polluters in all of New York State. Legal agreements, consent orders, and a lot of NDAs. And in some meaningful ways that story is really not over. Monitoring is continuing and there are real questions about the long-term effectiveness of what was done and if it's working and some of those questions don't really have clean answers yet. So, I'm still trying to find sources who were close to this project and didn't sign a non-disclosure agreement. So, I'm still kind of collecting records and building a complete picture of what actually happened and not just, you know, the press release version. I thought it would be ready this week.

[00:03:37]It's not and I'd rather tell you that directly than put out something that feels incomplete or inaccurate because this story is important. So, depending on what I happen to uncover, this may end up being an entire series just about Syracuse alone. So, it's not a delay.

[00:03:55]It's the work and unfortunately that's that's how it is. So, I appreciate your understanding. So, the conference. I was at a conference uh earlier this month. Um it was the NYSOLA conference in Upstate New York, the New York State Federation of Lake Associations. And someone from the City of Rochester's Water Bureau found me personally. Not an email, not a DM, they tracked me down in person.

[00:04:22]When I realized who was approaching me and why they were looking for me, I was actually scared, genuinely nervous.

[00:04:32]I cover these stories about municipal water like I did the City of Rochester episode a little bit differently than news reports and that's the whole point, right? We're trying to bridge the gap between the science and the context-less news articles. So, I wasn't sure if they were coming to yell at me or what. They weren't, surprisingly. They weren't coming to yell at me. They listened to the City of Rochester's drinking water episode and they felt the coverage was rigorous and fair and not just alarmist.

[00:05:03]And they asked if I would come out and go deeper on camera with their team.

[00:05:10]A municipal water bureau. The people responsible for drinking water heard this show, felt it treated their work honestly, and said, "Come ask us the hard questions."

[00:05:25]That does not happen on accident. That happens because of people like you asking the questions, the people who listen and share Aqua Diary and that helps build something meaningful enough for people like this to take seriously.

[00:05:40]I had to go to Rochester this June. The show is going on the road for the very first time.

[00:05:47]And I'm a scientist, not an experienced content creator. A lot of this is very new to me. So, if you have recommendations for traveling vlog cameras, I want to hear about them. Or or clip-on mics. That would also be really helpful.

[00:06:04]There are a million out there, so if any of you are techies, I would love to hear about it. So, please drop them in the comment section. I genuinely want your advice here cuz I want to cover this right. They're spending time with me.

[00:06:15]They're taking a whole day to show me the whole system, to answer those hard questions on camera because they care as well. So, I'm really excited to go and I wanted I want to do it right. So, if you have advice, send it my way, please. So, I'll be sitting down with a Bureau of Water team to go deeper on the questions that you've been asking. And it doesn't just have to be about Rochester. If you have general questions about water that you'd like to ask a municipal employee, a lot of these concepts still apply. So, please do pop them in the comment section. I'll be asking about lead pipes and what residents with older homes actually need to understand their real risk. We'll also be talking about microplastics in more detail. So, if you missed the episode, there was a University of Rochester study that found concentrations spiking dramatically throughout their distribution system.

[00:07:09]And I want to know if that changes anything operationally for them or if anybody's looking into this further.

[00:07:14]Also, we'll be talking about the HAB monitoring protocol at the treatment plant and what happens when a harmful algal bloom shows up.

[00:07:21]The internal loading question that is a personal curiosity of mine. Do we have lakes that are releasing phosphorus and feeding algae blooms on their own from the bottom of the lake sediments?

[00:07:32]Because the last time somebody looked at that in Hemlock and Canadice Lakes was the the DEC in 2001.

[00:07:38]And the LT2 compliance decision, which is supposed to land this summer. And if you remember, that is the EPA rule that says that treated drinking water reservoirs that are out in the open need to be covered. And I also plan to ask two other questions that I think every resident out here in Rochester in Upstate New York alone needs the answer to, which is one, if you lived in an older home, what would you actually do to make sure your water was safe if anything?

[00:08:09]What do you wish people understood about water that nobody talks about?

[00:08:15]And if you have questions again for a water treatment professional at all or or specifically Rochester, especially, please put them in the comments while I'm still developing the interview scripts. This is your chance to direct this show and what gets shared with people.

[00:08:32]So, this is what balanced science communication is supposed to look like.

[00:08:36]Not coverage that ignores problems, not coverage that manufactures some level of panic, but coverage that actually follows the science, asks the uncomfortable questions, and gives credit where it's due.

[00:08:50]Rochester has genuinely exceptional source water and a treatment plant that performs at a literal elite level. And it also has 15,000 lead service lines still in the ground and two open reservoirs that have been out of federal EPA compliance for nearly 20 years.

[00:09:11]All of those things are true at the same time, and residents deserve to understand what that means for them.

[00:09:18]If you missed the Rochester episode, the link is in the show notes. And if you're one of the people who refer to what happened at Highland Park as tap water with pulp, I saw that.

[00:09:32]A man died, guys.

[00:09:36]But do we cover this stuff because it matters? So, after this conference wrapped up and I got to talk to these folks at the water bureau, I passed a sign for Saratoga Springs.

[00:09:48]So, I'd heard about the springs in Saratoga Springs before.

[00:09:52]I knew Saratoga had some kind of mineral water history, but I'd never actually stopped there before. So, if you're not familiar, Saratoga Springs has more than 20 natural mineral springs scattered across a state park and in the downtown area. Each one produces water with a completely different mineral profile.

[00:10:13]Some are high in iron, some taste almost salty, and some are naturally carbonated. Bubbling up from the ground with literally zero human intervention.

[00:10:23]One of the strongest, which is called Harth Hawthorne Hawthorne number three, has a mineral concentration that approaches seawater. These springs have actually been famous for centuries.

[00:10:34]George Washington tried to buy the land around one of them in 1783.

[00:10:39]By the 1800s, doctors were prescribing visits to Saratoga as a cure for kidney disease, rheumatism, diabetes, cancer, malaria, hangovers, and my personal favorite, the weakness of women. None of it scientifically proven, but it's all pretty fascinating history. The spring that everybody lines up for, that I went to even though I went to many others, is called State Seal Spring. It's fresh, non-carbonated, cold, and reportedly tested regularly by the State Parks Department.

[00:11:12]I get it. It's genuinely excellent water. I I tried it.

[00:11:17]But, as I walked through the park and started to read the signs on some of these other springs, like the mineral ones, the carbonated ones, the ones that taste like something ancient is in them, I started finding things that concerned me a little.

[00:11:33]There are peer-reviewed studies of some of the Saratoga Springs mineral waters that have found concentrations of radium isotopes. So, RA-224, -26, and -28s in the mineral spring water.

[00:11:49]Naturally occurring, coming up from ancient rock formations deep underground. So, just for reference here, RA-226, which made up about 80% of the total radioactivity measured, is a known human carcinogen with a half-life of 1,600 years.

[00:12:09]I drink that one.

[00:12:10]And I didn't know that.

[00:12:12]I don't recommend you just go and drink random water, but here we are.

[00:12:16]One of the springs contains detectable levels of radon gas, as well.

[00:12:21]It's listed right there on the informational sign, just casually, as if it's completely normal to put something like that next to something people drink.

[00:12:30]So, these are not fringe findings, either. These This is the actual science that's out there when you look these up.

[00:12:35]So, here's another thing that bothers me. The State Seal Spring, the popular one, the one with the line, that is tested regularly, but the mineral springs tourists try it when they visit, like me. Locals fill jugs and bring it home sometimes. And the assumption, because these springs are ancient and famous and sit inside of a state park, is that someone routines routinely checks them all the time.

[00:12:59]And I guess they sort of have for some of them, but not recently, not consistently, and not across all the springs that people are trying. I stood there in that park having just come home from a conversation with the Rochester Water Bureau that reached out because this show does rigorous work. And I thought, this is This is exactly the kind of thing that we should be investigating.

[00:13:24]I don't fully know what I drank that day, that doesn't sit well with me.

[00:13:30]I don't recommend you you drink things you know nothing about. I don't know what why somebody like me did that, but the point is the public doesn't know either.

[00:13:38]Leading from that, this show hit 1,000 subscribers this week. And I want to say that out loud and thank you because that matters. When I started Aqua Diary, I was just an environmental scientist who wanted to talk about water in a way that was honest, rigorous, and actually useful to the people drinking it because of the amount of questions that I've gotten over the years in my professional career, and my friends, and my family.

[00:14:05]And 1,000 of you decided that this was worth your time. You've listened, you shared it, and you made a show into something that a city would track down at a conference and want to be a part of. And because of you, YouTube has started paying me. And I want to be transparent, it's not a lot, but it is something. You know, it's not covering my equipment costs, or my travel costs, or these potential lab fees cuz I want to test the Saratoga water.

[00:14:37]But, I want to put every dollar back into this work. And I'm asking you to help fill the gap if you can.

[00:14:43]And I say that because to do this Saratoga investigation properly, to collect samples, which I do trust myself to do, I've done it before in my own work, but then from multiple springs, and then to send them to an independent lab and get them analyzed for radium isotopes, radon, heavy metals, and and anything else, [clears throat] I need funding beyond what this show currently generates. So, I'm not asking you for literal money to fund this show.

[00:15:10]You being here is enough, and I appreciate you so much, but I am asking for help if you can to fund a public safety question the state has not fully answered. I will publish every result, whatever that shows, whether it's reassuring, alarming, or somewhere in between.

[00:15:28]But if you want to support initiatives like this for me to go out and actually sample things, then sharing this episode helps. I get, I think, like a dollar per every 1,000 views, but it's something. Or you can leave a super thanks on YouTube. You can be a member.

[00:15:45]But yeah, sharing this episode also helps. It builds the audience that makes investigations like this possible. All of this is possible because of people like you, and I couldn't be more thankful.

[00:15:57]So, for members, um we do live Q&A's every month. I will be doing one this weekend as well. I actually have a poll up right now on my uh community tab for YouTube, and I hope you vote and let me know what time works best for you. I'll be answering any and all questions that you want. This is something I'll eventually reserve for members only, but this one and I'll have them occasionally. They'll always just be open to everybody. So, I hope you attend. I hope you ask questions. I hope to hear more from you live. I read literally every comment that you guys leave. I want to hear from you directly.

[00:16:32]I want to know what you want to know.

[00:16:33]I'm doing this for people like you. So, your comments help. So, like, what do you want the show to cover? What What are you interested in?

[00:16:41]What stories should we be investigating?

[00:16:44]And what questions do you have about your own water? So, to summarize, one conference, two conversations that are going to shape the show for the rest of the year.

[00:16:55]Onondaga is coming. I will do a part two. I will also do a micron episode.

[00:17:00]Rochester is coming, and Saratoga Springs. So, if you're new to the show, this is what I do here. I'm an environmental scientist. I want to answer all the questions that we have about our source waters, our drinking water, our waste water, our ground water. All of it. Anything fresh water goes here. So, if there's a topic you want me to cover, if there's a story you want me to investigate, that's what I'm here for.

[00:17:23]We follow the science wherever it goes.

[00:17:24]We don't release things before they're ready.

[00:17:27]And we believe the people drinking the water deserve to know what's in it.

[00:17:32]So, hit follow or subscribe so you know what's coming. And thank you for 1,000 subscribers.

[00:17:40]Let's find out what's in the water together. And I appreciate you being here more than you know.