Ballard water contamination¶
The Ballard water contamination is a separate FBI case, first seen in Walkers 02, in which the public fountains and tap water of Ballard, Utah contain live sperm and arsenic, a mystery the task force warns locals about but never solves. (Walkers 02)
| Type | Phenomenon / side case |
| Aliases | live sperm in the water; fountain pervert case; tainted town water |
| Location | Ballard, Utah |
| Cause | Never established |
| First appearance | Walkers 02 |
Overview¶
On their first visit to the FBI Salt Lake City field office, Dante's Kurt rolls Investigate a Mystery (9) on the previous team's corkboard and learns that it concerns a different local case: "a spate of unacceptable levels of semen showing up in public water fountains." He notes it "in case it's related." Agent Carl Gardner says "We got a drinking fountain pervert to catch," and when Rita's Andrew asks whether the building's own fountains are safe, he calls for another drinking-fountain test kit. (Walkers 02)
At the ranch, Robert Bigelow already knows. His team measures everything, including the water, and has seen the sperm under a microscope: "They got tails and they swim around." Kurt reasons that live sperm means the culprit may be close. Bigelow's own guess is "perverts," and he adds that the water also contains a lot of arsenic, so his team uses reverse osmosis. (Walkers 02)
Theories¶
At the table, Dante jokes that if the cause is in his well water "gnomes is real," and Andre suggests CHUDs; Zack's Huell guesses a ghost, and a Post-it reading "perverts" goes up on the corkboard. (Walkers 02) In Walkers 03 the bartender Maggie reasons that the quantity points to bulk-purchased animal semen, probably horse, which would leave a paper trail, while Rita's Andrew suggests that it might be "on the fixtures" rather than in the supply. (Walkers 03)
Warnings¶
The party spreads a "don't drink the water" warning to everyone it meets: Walt "Coyote" Murphy, who answers "This is like a pervert thing"; the clerk at the Ballard general store; and others in town. Dante's Kurt says "We're from the government. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or from a well." (Walkers 02) In Walkers 03, Huell and Kurt warn the sheriff off the tap water, and a drunk Huell tells Maggie that "there's cum in it." Dante half-confirms it as a matter "the bureau's looking into," and the Biz coins "Half-Gallon Howard" when Maggie jokes about men with ten-thousand-gallon output. (Walkers 03)
Unresolved¶
The cause is never explained, and no later episode connects it to the skinwalkers.