Drinking Water Health Advisories

Can we depend on health advisories to protect us from unsafe drinking water?

Mircobial Contamination: When microbial contamination of the water supply has been determined a boil water advisory or a boil water order will be issued.

A boil water advisory is a public warning stating that the water supply in a specific location may be unsafe for consumption. This means that prior to drinking, cooking, or even brushing your teeth, the water must be brought to a rolling boil for a specified amount of time, generally for at least 1 minute. The more serious boil water orders are issued in the event of a water sample testing positive for contaminants. These orders are issued when there is a confirmed problem with the water that could pose as a health concern to those consuming it.

Often biological contamination comes to the attention of the public health departments that will issue the boil water advisories or orders when it's been noticed by health professionals that there are an inordinate amount of illnesses and water contamination is suspected. In these cases the boil water advisory will come too late to keep some people from getting sick. Often people die before the boil water orders are issued.

Chemical Contamination: Boil water advisories are not issued for chemically contaminated water. Boiling water that is contaminated with chemicals only serves to concentrate the amount of chemical in the water.

If the water supply is contaminated with chemicals, a do not use notice will be issued if the health risk is deemed unacceptable. Since many chemicals cause longer term health risks than do biological contaminants, the length of time that the contamination will exist in the water supply before corrections, will be considered when issuing a do not use notice. In the meantime, water with above the allowable levels of chemical contamination is being served to the public with no warnings being issued.

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