Is it safe to drink your tap water

[Miss Marty]

Can your water treatment supplier provide quality drinking water during the pandemic
Does your State and local water treatment facility have a pandemic plan in place

According to health officials, COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person-to-person and there is no indication that transmission regarding the novel coronavirus can occur via drinking water supplies.

As part of water agencies’ readiness plans, provisions should be in place to ensure appropriate water treatment supplies and resources available to sustain water delivery for an extended period of time. (even under extreme circumstances) But what happens if and when they are unable to get needed chemicals and supplies to treat the water? *Have you been stocking up on cases of bottle water from your local grocery store?

 

[DrQ]

I have a ceramic gravity filter which can make pond water drinkable. It takes up about a cubic foot in the closet. I bought it for Y2K

 

[Brett]

Can your water treatment supplier provide quality drinking water during the pandemic
Does your State and local water treatment facility have a pandemic plan in place

According to health officials, COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person-to-person and there is no indication that transmission regarding the novel coronavirus can occur via drinking water supplies.

As part of water agencies’ readiness plans, provisions should be in place to ensure appropriate water treatment supplies and resources available to sustain water delivery for an extended period of time. (even under extreme circumstances) But what happens if and when they are unable to get needed chemicals and supplies to treat the water? *Have you been stocking up on cases of bottle water from your local grocery store?

yes, tap water appears to be safe (in US)

https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/drinking-tap-water-safe

 

[DrQ]

yes, tap water appears to be safe (in US)

https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/drinking-tap-water-safe

For the most part, that is correct, but during times of emergency a water system can be compromised. This can also happen if there is a break in the line and the utility issues a "boil order". The ceramic water filter can take this water and make it potable.

While virus particles are smaller than the pore size of the filter element, they usually have to hitch a ride on larger particles and they usually have to be transmitted from a living host so it is unlikely that they can remain viable after days in the water system.

If the water system fails, chemicals, bacteria and protozoa are going to be what takes you down.

 

[WVBaker]

At least one reason to have a well.

 

[Passepartout]

Municipal water is constantly tested. If it is compromised, 'boil order' is called and you'd need to follow the guide. But for the most part, Muni water is perfectly safe. That said, if one is on a private well, the testing and treatment/filtering is your own responsibility.

Jim

 

[AnnaS]

I think so and hope so.

 

[geist1223]

While Community Water may be constantly tested the City may not always react quickly. Two years ago our water was compromised because of the growth of algae in Detroit Lake. It took City Management several days to issue a warning that the water was dangerous. Then it took them a couple more days to announce it was actually more dangerous to our Pets. And only after several of us researched the problem and told the City about the danger to Pets. We and our Pets were on bottled water for several weeks.

 

[WVBaker]

Muni water is perfectly safe. That said, if one is on a private well, the testing and treatment/filtering is your own responsibility.

Jim

Now let me think... who would I trust more to test my water?

 

[geekette]

Municipal water is constantly tested. If it is compromised, 'boil order' is called and you'd need to follow the guide. But for the most part, Muni water is perfectly safe. That said, if one is on a private well, the testing and treatment/filtering is your own responsibility.

Jim

Yes, I am on a well. It's not a big deal to have periodic testing. But I might not hear about a boil order. You have to be hooked into local media for that. I am much happier with my own water, except when the power goes out.

 

["Roger"]

My well experience.

About twenty years ago, one of my neighbor's children was suddenly extremely ill. He was rushed to a children's hospital with his kidney having shut down from 0157:H7 ecoli. He was about two days from having to have a kidney transplant when his kidneys kicked back in. Across the street, someone in her twenties who otherwise had been healthy was having frequent bouts of illness. Water tested bad. Mass testing in the neighborhood revealed about seventy percent of the wells testing positive for ecoli but not necessarily 0157:H7. A local farm was forced to remove an ancient sewerage pit and that resulted in some improvement. A few years later, sewers were also put in replacing septic systems. (I should mention that a lot of nearby housing developments were approved for septic systems after perk tests said that the soil was okay. Some of these perk tests were performed by relatives of the housing developer and raised eyebrows as to how could the lots have passed.) As far as the child, the local realtors claimed that there was no proof that the 0157:H7 came from the water and suggested that the child must have ate a bad hamburger. He didn't eat hamburgers.

Since then, the common practice if you wanted to sell your house became you pour a ton of bleach down your well and have it tested. My wife and I decided to pay the price and have a new well dug to the next aquafer level. The cost was about $28,000. Our water is now safe, but we worry that some of the local farmers are now digging down to this level using well diggers that are not as reputable as ours at sealing off the casing. If our current well were to go bad, we are SOL as there would be no alternative at that point. Personally, and a lot of neighbors agree with us, we wish they had put through municipal water when they installed the sewers.

 

[MrockStar]

I cant wait to get back to my cottage because our well there has been tested and the water quality is terrific.

 

[Old Hickory]

If you really want safe drinking that is mostly water then choose beer.

 

[Brett]

My well experience.

About twenty years ago, one of my neighbor's children was suddenly extremely ill. He was rushed to a children's hospital with his kidney having shut down from 0157:H7 ecoli. He was about two days from having to have a kidney transplant when his kidneys kicked back in. Across the street, someone in her twenties who otherwise had been healthy was having frequent bouts of illness. Water tested bad. Mass testing in the neighborhood revealed about seventy percent of the wells testing positive for ecoli but not necessarily 0157:H7. A local farm was forced to remove an ancient sewerage pit and that resulted in some improvement. A few years later, sewers were also put in replacing septic systems. (I should mention that a lot of nearby housing developments were approved for septic systems after perk tests said that the soil was okay. Some of these perk tests were performed by relatives of the housing developer and raised eyebrows as to how could the lots have passed.) As far as the child, the local realtors claimed that there was no proof that the 0157:H7 came from the water and suggested that the child must have ate a bad hamburger. He didn't eat hamburgers.

Since then, the common practice if you wanted to sell your house became you pour a ton of bleach down your well and have it tested. My wife and I decided to pay the price and have a new well dug to the next aquafer level. The cost was about $28,000. Our water is now safe, but we worry that some of the local farmers are now digging down to this level using well diggers that are not as reputable as ours at sealing off the casing. If our current well were to go bad, we are SOL as there would be no alternative at that point. Personally, and a lot of neighbors agree with us, we wish they had put through municipal water when they installed the sewers.

I've never had a house with well water, I suppose that can be a problem depending on the location

 

[Laurie]

According to this article & report, there could be an impact on some municipal water supplies.

"The document, a Covid-19 situation report produced by the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), contains a warning from the state’s office of drinking water (ODW) about difficulties in obtaining CO2, which is essential for the process of water treatment."

Coronavirus-driven CO2 shortage threatens US food and water supply, officials say

Washington state emergency planning document points to difficulties obtaining carbon dioxide gas, essential for water treatment

www.theguardian.com

 

[Kel]

Our tap water is safe as far as we know. But, we have a reverse osmosis system at our kitchen sink that we use for drinking and cooking.

 

[WinniWoman]

Can your water treatment supplier provide quality drinking water during the pandemic
Does your State and local water treatment facility have a pandemic plan in place

According to health officials, COVID-19 is primarily transmitted person-to-person and there is no indication that transmission regarding the novel coronavirus can occur via drinking water supplies.

As part of water agencies’ readiness plans, provisions should be in place to ensure appropriate water treatment supplies and resources available to sustain water delivery for an extended period of time. (even under extreme circumstances) But what happens if and when they are unable to get needed chemicals and supplies to treat the water? *Have you been stocking up on cases of bottle water from your local grocery store?

I miss not having our own well. But anyway, we drink soda and juice a lot and when big bottles are empty we fill them with water and store them in the basement. We have previously purchased some water as well.

Who knows about the municipal water? I mean they have a website that says everything is hunky dory. I once called them inquiring about radon in the water and I got the spin that the water meets all the guidelines. In other words they don't answer the question. I drink a lot of water all day and essentially use the fridge tap, but I will drink also from the faucet too, though the water tastes different.