Another benefit of having a pool!

[chem geek]

You can certainly use the pool water for showering/bathing since it's definitely clean enough for that purpose. You could even use it for washing and rinsing dishes. What you shouldn't do is use it as a source of drinking water. It's not just the miscellaneous organics in the water that chlorine doesn't completely get rid of, but also the salt level. Boiling the water won't fix that problem unless you were to distill the water and that's a real pain and uses a lot of energy.

Be sure to turn off the automatic fill so that you don't contaminate the pool.

In an emergency, there's always the hot water heater for fresh water that can be used for drinking. That assumes that one turned off the intake prior to the contamination reaching it.

[Watermom]

Nah, we aren't using pool water to drink, just for a shower. I have plenty of bottled water to drink. Thanks, Richard!

[JimK]

Yikes! I did see that on the news the other day.

I hope they come up with a solution for y'all soon!

Kind of reminds me when hurricane Isabel hit here (just before we had our pool installed....construction was delayed several months).

[Watermom]

Yeah, we are hoping this ends soon. It is getting old fast. We are on day 5 without being able to use water for anything other than flushing toilets. The chemical level is decreasing in the water supply. The latest news conference that I watched last night says that as soon as they get enough consistent low levels from their constant testing, they will begin flushing the system by zones and start bringing people back on. They said they are going to set up a website where you can put in your address and it will tell you if you are in the "green" or "red" zone so you will know when you are cleared to flush your lines and use water. They are also going to use an auto-dialer to call people when they are in the green zone. In addition, specific instructions about what residential customers are to do to flush is to be provided to the media and to consumers. As of now, none of this is yet available; thus we are still on the "no use" order.

Schools remain closed. (I am a teacher.) Last night, I was kind of thinking that we might go back on Tuesday but since it is nearly mid-day and no new information has come, I now suspect that odds are that it won't be over by then. It is a large water system --- the largest in the state -- and all the zones are not going to be cleared out quickly I don't suspect.

At any rate, I had sent Ben a picture yesterday to show him my "shower" set up. His comment to me was, "what a hoot!" I thought some of the rest of you might be curious to see it. May give you a chuckle, too!

(Still glad for my pool, says the girl who just got to have a "shower." Seeing as how most people in the area are on day 5 with only having a spit bath!)

[BigDave]

You ingenuity is, as always, impressive. Good luck with the rest of your pollution siege.

[CarlD]

I heard some people in WV are using catchment systems--old-fashioned rain barrels!

[Watermom]

Finally, after 6 days of not being able to use our water, they are lifting the "do not use" order gradually. They still haven't gotten very far. Today around here, everyone's conversation includes, "are you in the red or the blue?" (They decided to do red and blue instead of red and green because of possible color blindness issues.) The water company has a map on their website where you can put in your address and find out if you are in the red or blue area. It is only a small percentage blue at this point. Mostly red.

We finally made it to blue today and are flushing but there is still an odor to the water and it is yellowish. I have drained the hot water tank and have been opening up the other lines as well for several minutes at a time. Then, waiting awhile and doing it some more. Have to throw out the first few batches of ice from the ice maker and change filters, etc. One large area of the city made it to the "blue" and then a few minutes later, a quick "stop" was called and they were changed back to red. Not sure what happened with that but 4 hours later, they are blue again. (Can you imagine the amount of water hitting the water treatment and sanitation plant today?)

I am going to run the dishwasher later. It has dishes in it that have been there for days. I am not going to unload it first but will run it as is and then run it through a second time. I am not yet going to use water to cook with nor am I going to do any laundry today. I do not want to risk the odor getting into the clothes. I'll wait another day and hopefully it will be gone. (Have to run it through first empty to clear those lines before doing a load with clothes.) I *might* take a real shower in the morning. Maybe. I know of two people who made it to the blue zone last night and who showered this morning and said they were really itchy afterwards. So, we'll see about the shower. Either way, I will still use bottled water for washing my face and brushing teeth for awhile.

But ...... it is probably going to be awhile before I am willing to drink the water. They say it is safe, but I am not ready to chance it, especially with the yellowish tinge and the odor.

They have a ways to go to get everybody into the "blue." School was canceled again today. (We also missed last Friday due to this.) And, again tomorrow, no school. Due to the water contamination issue and also the extreme cold (5 below zero) at the beginning of last week, we have only had 1-1/2 days of school in 2014 so far.

You know, everybody always just turns on the faucet to get a drink, brush your teeth, take a shower, etc., and none of us even give it a second thought. We all just take so many things for granted. I think it is going to be a long time til I don't hesitate every time my hand touches that faucet handle.