So this is day 2 for the Water Advisory for Vancouver. I am fortunate that my lab has bottled water and that my residence has filtered water. It is currently unknown how long this advisory will last. I have been hearing reports of people hoarding water (Take a chill pill people). It reminds me of the panic buying that seems to parallel natural disasters that I hear about on the news.
Coming from Southwest Ontario where people died from E. coli poisoning in Walkerton, my family and I stopped drinking tap water many years ago. My parents only buy bottled water — better to be safe than sorry. It will be interesting to see how long this advisory lasts for and what the longer reprecusions are.
As noted in an article in today’s Globe and Mail.
Dr. Perry Kendall, the province’s chief health officer, said one concern is that the water supply could contain viruses, such as the norovirus and the E. coli bacteria, both of which can lead to diarrhea.
“The turbidity is very high and when it washes the topsoil, it can get contaminated with a lot of different things that you don’t want contaminating your water, such as wild animal feces,” Dr. Kendall said.
The advisory could last for weeks until the water supply clears. In 2000, people living in the Ontario town of Walkerton had to boil or buy their water for seven months after their supply was found to be unsafe. At least seven people died and more than 2,300 were sickened by E. coli found in it.
update: After going out to the campus Village for cold stuff and food, I went in 3 different stores, there is no bottled water anywhere. Sign at Shoppers Drug Mart says no water until TUESDAY. What would happen if we had a real emergency?
update: water advisory is over after 12 days. It ends the same day we had a 13 hour power outage on campus.