So I get home last night and find on my answering machine a request that I boil all my water.
Doing some research I discover that they found E Coli (of an unpleasant kind) in the water supply. The Boil Water order will last until Wed.
They suggest:
Throw away all the Ice in the freezer. (I would assume, turn off your ice-maker, but I don't have one).
Boil water vigorously for 3 minutes before drinking or brushing teeth.
My dish washer leaks, so we have been washing them by hand in hot tap water. I assume we need to change this to hot pre-boiled water.
Is it OK to water the vegetable garden?
Shower?
If I get a cut or scrape do I need to use the pre-boiled/bottled water to rinse it off?
Anyone else had experiences with this?
They say the order will expire Wednesday afternoon.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Usually in most cases of a boil water order the risk is minimal. The water is just not considered potable and as such you wouldn't want to do the drinking or the wound disinfecting.
Watering your garden is fine. Big questionmark for me about the hand-washing.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
That's what handi-wipes are for--the disinfecting kind.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
When we get a boil order here (we have old water lines in the area and whenever there's a break, they automatically issue a boil order until it's fixed), we are told that showering is okay but to avoid it if you have any open sores or wounds anywhere.
We keep baby wipes and alcohol hand washes for boil-order days, as well as several gallons of bottled water for drinking, cooking, dish washing and brushing teeth.
Most of the time it's easier to spend extra time with my parents, who live a couple towns away. They grumble, but I know it's more to make a fuss than it is a true hardship for them, because they love spending time with my kids no matter the reason. The worst part when we do this is coordinating baths and showers for 6 people again.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
First put the water in the pot; put the pot on the stove; then turn on the stove. Any other order is likely to lead to unpleasant consequences.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Laughing at KoM
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Hey. They said boil water. They didn't say anything about a stinking pot. Now my electric stove is covered in an inch of water and when I turn it up to start it boiling, all I get is a shock.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
What area is this in?
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
You can also fill the pot, turn on the stove, and then put the pot on the stove with no problems.
And you really can turn on the stove before filling the pot and putting it on the stove, but we could discuss the ramifications in the Green Energy News thread.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
You could put the pot on the stove, turn on the stove, then bring water over to fill the pot. But if the pot is Teflon all your birds will die. I'm just sayin'.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Or you could turn on the Electric coil stove while you fill a pot with water, and by the time you put the water on, it's nice and hot.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Rabbit--small town of Washington Missouri. They found some Ecoli during their regular testing and seem to be reacting appropriately.
They used the "Reverse 911" to notify all the residents. One Plus to having a land line.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I never drink tap water without boiling it first. I guess I know too much about the business of municipal water treatment here in the U.S. to do that. Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
I always drink tap water without boiling it first. I guess I'm willing to take the (incredibly small risk in the name of saving the time and energy required to boil a lot of water.
Actually, the things I'm most worried about in water can't be removed by boiling, so why bother?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Tstorm, how do you know the risk is incredibly small? Have you ever had a bout of uncomfortable ailments of the digestive system? Are you certain it didn't come from drinking tap water?
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Yes, and reasonably sure it was food-related, not water-related. If it were water-related, I'd expect it to happen more often, because I drink a lot of water.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ah, but that's not how it works. The little bugs in the water treatment plant are usually kept well in check but from time to time get an eentsy bit out of hand. Susceptibility varies, as well as immunity to some local varieties.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Yes, I understand what you're saying and I agree with you. However, there's no way to prove that any individual case came from one source or another (food or water), is there?
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
I've been drinking tap water for over 30 years, and never had a tap-water related digestive issue. I'd say that's a pretty good up side record.
How many people in American get digestive bugs from the tap water, compared to how many people drink tap water. At a guess, I'd say it's substantially lower than .001% chance of any given drink of tap water causing you a problem.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Unless you happen to be one of the ones who get problems from it, in which case it's 100%. Posted by DSH (Member # 741) on :
<--- appreciates his well water even more... in spite of some of its drawbacks
[ July 21, 2009, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: DSH ]
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Interesting that you have something to back that claim up with. I'm sticking with the claim that Taco Bell caused my last set of issues.
So, on a separate but related note, have you ever thought about installing a reverse-osmosis machine? I'm thinking that might save you quite a bit of effort, compared to boiling pots of water every day.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
"Water, cool clear non-toxic water" is back.
Well, its been back since yesterday but I've been to busy to tell you all.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
quote:Originally posted by Darth_Mauve: Rabbit--small town of Washington Missouri
You're from Washington?
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Well, I live in Washington now. (I was Dan_raven from St. Clair before moving and an embarrassing password issue had me using my alt all the time).
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Oh, I gotcha. Didn't know you'd gone through a name change, my man. I'm going to school over in your neck of the woods come August.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Where at?
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)