Well here I am in lovely Waltham, Massachusetts, one of the 38 or so communities affected by this Boston area water problem.
Having grown up on a farm where we were dependent upon a shallow well for all the water requirements of 8 people, I find it hard to call this an “emergency” or a "crisis.” We’re all basically just having part of the experience of a trip to South America. The water is not necessarily bad, but we are advised not to take chances.
I am waiting to hear an announcement that the people who installed this only-6-years-old and now busted water main are the same ones who installed the ceiling of the big dig tunnels (one of the them fell down, btw).
Anyway, if you’re curious, the deal is we have to boil water for a full minute before we drink it. So I now have a twice daily ritual of filling a pot full of water and bringing it to a boil. You have to stay on top of things, and allow time for it to cool off, or you have to drink hot water. OK in tea but by itself, ick.
Then there are the other issues in the other ways you use water.
Brushing teeth, actually is not so hard, I am used to traveling and using bottled water for tooth brushing purposes.
The biggest issue is actually in cleaning dishes. The say not to use the water to wash dishes, so what they heck? I am ignoring this advice and running my dishwasher. I doubt that latin american countries wash dishes in bottled water. I tried using my dishwasher's heat-dry cycle but didn't get hot enough so believe it or not i am baking my dishes at 300 degrees. Apparently you can also use 1/8 tbs of bleach per gallon to sterilize the rinse water, but . . . ick.
My plastic juicer, that I will have to immerse in boiling water boil as well.
Just to be a little safer, I plan to drink only bottled water. The current water is supposedly ok but it is coming from sources closer to the city and god only knows what might be in it besides the germs. The stores are all sold out but hopefully they will be restocked in a day or two, fortunately I just bought a case of poland springs small bottles so I can hold out for that long. And now I see folks that are "tweeting" sightings of bottled water stock in stores.
Ah the joys of modern living.
But again, this is not a crisis. A crisis is being all soaped up in the shower on date night just when the well runs dry. Been there done that. –jl
