Is There Any Water At The Banta Shut-In?

[Arne]

Any semi-recent reports from Banta?

Thanks,

Arne

[mule ears]

Bump.  Any news here?

[elhombre]

Ranger chick said that there was enough water in the shut-in that it made it difficult to get through it.  Also heard that they (the rangers) are discouraging people from drinking it.  Didn't really say why, only heard it as a comment while we were giving our spring report.

[mule ears]

...while we were giving our spring report.

I am glad to know I am not the only one who still gives them spring reports even though I think they just throw them in the trash as soon as I leave.  elhombre do you remember the spring reports book they used to have?  You could ask to see it before heading out on a trip and they would update it when you came in and reported.  The last time I saw it was 1998.

... Also heard that they (the rangers) are discouraging people from drinking it.  Didn't really say why...

The last time I drank it I had an emergency bathroom call the next night, probably too many "dissolved solids".  This is from a discussion I had with the park about Solis Spring:

Filtering is only effective on removing particulate matter and cells.
Dissolved material such as sodium, calcium, chloride or sulfate, will not
be removed by a filter.  I do not know which elements are responsible for
the high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) at Solis spring and so can not
predict the likely outcome of consuming the water.  Symptoms could range
from a mild laxative to dehydration to electrolyte imbalance.  If you see
any white powdery precipitant around a spring, the water is too salty for
consumption

[Juan Cuatro Lados]

The water at Banta - if there is any - probably hasn't had any
flow through it in months.  Drank the water all along Tornillo
Cr. before and it was barely palatable even when there was inter-
mittent flow along the way.   There's just a tremendous amount of
dissolved solids/minerals in the water, although I had no ill effects.
Wouldn't depend on it if you could avoid it ......

[TheWildWestGuy]

Tornillo Creek sometimes looks like it is covered in snow because of all the white calcite-salts precipitating out of the water as it evaporates.   The water is at full saturation with calcium carbonate and water filters will not remove it.  The water will have a limey-taste to it even when filtered but is potable.  If you drank it every day it would probably give you kidney stones but for a day or two it's fine.  I have drank it several times with no ill effects but would still recommend avoiding it if possible.   

I think the rangers now use some sort of dry-erase board to write spring reports on but most of their information seems to pertain mainly to well known and often visited springs (Mule Ears, Fresno, Boot).   TWWG