It's in the Water is a 1997 independent film. Written and directed by Kelli Herd, the film touches on themes of homosexuality, AIDS, coming out and small-town prejudice. The film stars Keri Jo Chapman, Teresa Garrett, Derrick Sanders, Timothy Vahle, Nancy Chartier and John Hallum. Plot Alex is a married Junior Leaguer with a penchant for interesting shoes. Her Junior League chapter's annual project is to volunteer at Hope House, an AIDS hospice that recently opened in her home town of Azalea Springs, Texas. Alex and her League friends, including her friend Sloan, tour Hope House. Alex runs into her best friend Spencer, whose lover Bruce is a resident, and Grace, a friend from high school who had recently moved back to Azalea Springs to work at Hope House as a nurse. That night at the town's annual Azalea Ball, a drunken Spencer tells a society matron that his homosexuality was caused by drinking the local water. An equally drunken Sloan overhears and spreads the story. A panic ensues, with the local newspaper printing the story and commissioning testing of the water supply. Mark, the son of the publisher, objects to his father, but because Mark is himself struggling with his homosexuality and attending meetings of an ex-gay group at the local church, he's limited in what he can do to mitigate the story and the resultant damage. The leader of the ex-gay group, Brother Daniel, announces plans to protest for the closing of Hope House. Alex and Grace renew their friendship and Grace comes out as a lesbian to her. Grace returned to Azalea Springs because her husband found out about an affair she was having with another woman and is now in prison for assaulting Grace. At an ex-gay meeting, Mark meets Tomas, a painter. Mark hires Tomas to re-paint his dining room. The Junior League decides not to continue volunteering at Hope House. Alex, who's resigned from the League, goes to work full-time at the hospice over her husband Robert's objections. Alex develops some curiosity about her possible lesbianism and rents a number of classic lesbian-themed films: Desert Hearts; Lianna; Personal Best; Heavenly Creatures; Bar Girls; Claire of the Moon; The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love; an unnamed, presumably pornographic video; and, mixed in among them, The Godfather Part III, which serves as mainstream cover for the other selections and elicits a bemused look