How bad is the water in Boston today?
May 2, 2010 5:37 PM Subscribe
How bad is the water in Boston today?
As you may have heard, there was a 'catastrophic' water main break west of Boston, and about 2 million people are being advised to boil water before drinking it. There's also advice with varying degrees of scariness about washing dishes with the tap water, or showering with your eyes closed.
How bad is it really? I read some official comparing it to "untreated pond water." I drink several pints of pond water every summer while I swim, and it's never done me any noticeable harm. I recognize that the water is not up to 21st Century water quality standards, and that the authorities are probably wise to advise caution. But how bad is it really? What are the bacteria counts? How bad is it, compared to water in Boston in 1910? Or compared to the London Broad Street Pump?
As you may have heard, there was a 'catastrophic' water main break west of Boston, and about 2 million people are being advised to boil water before drinking it. There's also advice with varying degrees of scariness about washing dishes with the tap water, or showering with your eyes closed.
How bad is it really? I read some official comparing it to "untreated pond water." I drink several pints of pond water every summer while I swim, and it's never done me any noticeable harm. I recognize that the water is not up to 21st Century water quality standards, and that the authorities are probably wise to advise caution. But how bad is it really? What are the bacteria counts? How bad is it, compared to water in Boston in 1910? Or compared to the London Broad Street Pump?
I haven't seen them release any scientific numbers or specific indications of *what* we're supposed to be worried about with the water. Last I knew they were doing coliform testing of all the water supplies, but hadn't yet released any results.
Anecdotally, I brushed my teeth with it this morning, have been washing my hands with it all day, and have generally just not been careful with it. I have not yet experienced any adverse GI effects or otherwise died. We'll see tomorrow.
posted by olinerd at 6:08 PM on May 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anecdotally, I brushed my teeth with it this morning, have been washing my hands with it all day, and have generally just not been careful with it. I have not yet experienced any adverse GI effects or otherwise died. We'll see tomorrow.
posted by olinerd at 6:08 PM on May 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm in Cambridge, and we're not impacted. Talked with a friend today who lives on Comm Ave in Boston, and she said that after she took a shower, there was a layer of "stuff" on the bottom of the tub.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 6:13 PM on May 2, 2010
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 6:13 PM on May 2, 2010
I am in Medford, MA and the line here is to boil the water for a least a minute. My feeling is that it is precautionary rather than anything: I have not noticed anything obviously grungy in the water so far, but we are sticking with bottled water for drinking. So far, I have not heard of anyone keeling over from drinking the water, but better safe than sorry....
posted by baggers at 6:30 PM on May 2, 2010
posted by baggers at 6:30 PM on May 2, 2010
It's not "comparable" to untreated pond water. It is untreated pond water. There is no treated backup system -- when the main line from the Quabbin reservoir burst, they maintained water pressure by activating draws from the Chestnut Hill reservoir, Spot Pond, etc. These are recreational bodies of water and while it keeps the water pressure up (yay fire hydrants, not literally dying of thirst, etc.) there are no treatment facilities in between these sources and us.
posted by range at 6:34 PM on May 2, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by range at 6:34 PM on May 2, 2010 [4 favorites]
We're in Brookline. I noticed a slight, not all-together unpleasant "outdoors-y" scent (for lack of a better word) when I showered today - no residue afterward I could see. Otherwise, we've been careful (with 2 youngsters here) to boil, but I haven't noticed any difference with what's coming out of the tap - I have a feeling the risk is small, but spread over the large number of people affected they're being cautious.
posted by jalexei at 6:40 PM on May 2, 2010
posted by jalexei at 6:40 PM on May 2, 2010
AnecdoteFilter: my 15 yo drank the water last night in Newton and had an upset stomach today. Water looks/smells ok, which is why (in addition to being 15) he forgot. Could have been related or a million other things - seems fine now.
posted by mozhet at 7:24 PM on May 2, 2010
posted by mozhet at 7:24 PM on May 2, 2010
I drink several pints of pond water every summer while I swim.
There are two million people in the area affected by the water main break. If we all drank this untreated water from ponds that geese have been swimming (and pooping) in, it would add up to many more than the several pints you drink each summer.
Chances are that some significant percentage of these two million people have digestive systems that are more sensitive than yours.
If 1% of the people drinking this water got ill from it, you'd have 20,000 ill people showing up at emergency rooms, getting news coverage, and generally being unhappy and freaking everyone out.
If 1/100th of 1% died from digestive ailments, you'd have 200 dead people in Massachusetts.
So, it's perfectly reasonable for the MWRA to be telling people to boil their water. They're not jut making this up.
(For further reading: giardia, rectal prolapse.)
posted by alms at 7:59 PM on May 2, 2010 [4 favorites]
There are two million people in the area affected by the water main break. If we all drank this untreated water from ponds that geese have been swimming (and pooping) in, it would add up to many more than the several pints you drink each summer.
Chances are that some significant percentage of these two million people have digestive systems that are more sensitive than yours.
If 1% of the people drinking this water got ill from it, you'd have 20,000 ill people showing up at emergency rooms, getting news coverage, and generally being unhappy and freaking everyone out.
If 1/100th of 1% died from digestive ailments, you'd have 200 dead people in Massachusetts.
So, it's perfectly reasonable for the MWRA to be telling people to boil their water. They're not jut making this up.
(For further reading: giardia, rectal prolapse.)
posted by alms at 7:59 PM on May 2, 2010 [4 favorites]
They updated an article today with a little more info:
"State officials urged residents to take seriously an order to boil all water used for drinking and cooking, even as they acknowledged that the likelihood of becoming sick from the water is small. Pipes into affected homes and businesses are now delivering mostly-clean water through a backup system, but about 3 to 5 percent is “pond water’’ from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.
The water is being heavily chlorinated to kill bacteria, but the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority said people shouldn’t drink it because no test results are back yet on bacteria levels."
posted by olinerd at 4:07 AM on May 3, 2010
"State officials urged residents to take seriously an order to boil all water used for drinking and cooking, even as they acknowledged that the likelihood of becoming sick from the water is small. Pipes into affected homes and businesses are now delivering mostly-clean water through a backup system, but about 3 to 5 percent is “pond water’’ from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.
The water is being heavily chlorinated to kill bacteria, but the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority said people shouldn’t drink it because no test results are back yet on bacteria levels."
posted by olinerd at 4:07 AM on May 3, 2010
In regards to giardia, symptoms of giardiasis normally begin 1 to 2 weeks (average 7 days) after becoming infected. So the worst may be yet to come, so to speak.
Anyway, as of yesterday afternoon only 3-5% of the water being piped was from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and the 95% 'clean' water was being extra-chlorinated, so I'm sure the possibility of gastro-intestinal distress is actually pretty low.
posted by FreezBoy at 5:55 AM on May 3, 2010
Anyway, as of yesterday afternoon only 3-5% of the water being piped was from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and the 95% 'clean' water was being extra-chlorinated, so I'm sure the possibility of gastro-intestinal distress is actually pretty low.
posted by FreezBoy at 5:55 AM on May 3, 2010
A link to an interview with Bob Zimmerman:
posted by en forme de poire at 7:06 AM on May 3, 2010
Nobody can guarantee that it’s 100 percent safe. On the other hand, the likelihood that somebody is going to get sick from it is very low.(I was staying in Somerville this weekend and definitely didn't get the memo until I got back home, having blithely brushed my teeth and washed my hands with the mystery tap water. Argh.)
...
If they say boil the water, boil the water. And when they say that it’s safe to use that water again, that will probably come with some caveats, like run your water for several minutes to flush out the pipes. And then we should be back to normal.
Bob Zimmerman, executive director, Charles River Watershed Association
posted by en forme de poire at 7:06 AM on May 3, 2010
Scuttlebutt this morning was that the towns that were in any danger of not having drinkable water were Brookline and Arlington, but that because they didn't know for sure they had to warn everybody.
I just used it as an excuse to have an extravagant Diet Coke after lunch. Woohoo, caffeine!
posted by ldthomps at 11:02 AM on May 3, 2010
I just used it as an excuse to have an extravagant Diet Coke after lunch. Woohoo, caffeine!
posted by ldthomps at 11:02 AM on May 3, 2010
It's probable that the Milwaukee cryptosporidium outbreak was on their minds. 400,000 sick, 54 dead. We were boiling our water for weeks.
posted by desjardins at 11:28 AM on May 3, 2010
posted by desjardins at 11:28 AM on May 3, 2010
Best answer: From today's Globe: Tests confirm it — water was OK to drink all weekend
Just 4 of 820 samples taken from throughout the affected area contained any potentially harmful bacteria, according to results provided to the Globe. That small number of positive samples “is not atypical for a normal day in this time of year,’’ David Gilmartin, a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority spokesman, said in an e-mail.posted by Plutor at 5:50 AM on May 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I dropped by to follow up, and found Plutor had already posted the link I was going to add. So Plutor wins best answer. But I do understand the need to be careful before these tests were available. Just sorry for all the people who were scared to shower or wash dishes.
posted by Jasper Fnorde at 7:43 AM on May 5, 2010
posted by Jasper Fnorde at 7:43 AM on May 5, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gjc at 6:07 PM on May 2, 2010