We Have Been Under A Boil Water Alert for 3 Weeks

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot showers, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
 

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OneEyedDiva said:
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot baths, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
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Oh, I am sorry you have to deal with this Diva, and I hope the situation is resolved soon. As for your question, I would not shower nor do laundry with water containing E-coli.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Is the water being filtered and treated?

I would use it after boiling and or treated with chlorine bleach. Check the label on the Clorox bottle.

https://www.clorox.com/how-to/disin...ses/how-to-help-prevent-the-spread-of-e-coli/

I would use bottled water for cooking and dinking.
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I'm not sure what you mean by your question (??) Do you mean the water that's coming from the taps in my town? At this point it's just easier to have my son bring the water plus use the bottled water. The water company advised people who are not using dishwashers to rinse their dishes in water that has been diluted using 1 tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I'm not sure what you mean by your question (??) Do you mean the water that's coming from the taps in my town? At this point it's just easier to have my son bring the water plus use the bottled water. The water company advised people who are not using dishwashers to rinse their dishes in water that has been diluted using 1 tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water.
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Yes. It seems like the water authority would be super treating the water in the reservoir before releasing it to the public.

I would think that the boil water order is just an extra precaution.

The bottom line is only you know what you are comfortable with.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Yes. It seems like the water authority would be super treating the water in the reservoir before releasing it to the public.

I would think that the boil water order is just an extra precaution.

The bottom line is only you know what you are comfortable with.
Click to expand...
I'll PM you.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot showers, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
Click to expand...
MS, I would not shower in it and the second you allow regular cool water to mix in, all bets are off as far as the safety of the water goes. This can get very old in a hurry.

I truly feel for you on this, especially after experiencing something like this on the Island of Okinawa back in the early 1970's. The Island had one main reservoir, and one night a disgruntled Okinawan employee drank too much and opened the floodgates to drain the reservoir. By the next morning when it was discovered, most of the water was gone.

We were put on "water rationing" where it was turned on for two hours every other day to various sections of the Island. It turns out that a hefty portion of the water delivery piping was made of iron pipe which over time had a lot of pin holes in it from corrosion. Without existing pressure, sewerage water seeped into the existing pipes and polluted everything. All us were reduced to filling a large barrel on the days when we had water and using Clorox to kill the pollutants before drinking it, making ice cubes, or cooking. I lived in the BOQ and did not have a stove, so Clorox was my only choice. I discovered that ice cubes made with water that has Clorox in it will turn Orange Juice brown.

No one had a regular shower for that entire summer, and summers on Okinawa are hot and very humid.

When that water was turned on, you made it a point to be there to collect enough to top off your barrel, and most importantly. you made sure that you turned the water back off. One day, my elderly maid forgot to turn the spigot completely off, and sure enough, the water came back on and flooded my room. She was so worried that I would fire her, but who could possibly do that to a lovely woman in her mid 80's. I certainly could not and it took some real effort to get her to understand that I could have done the same thing. Many, many hugs were involved in this effort to calm her.

So this is my polluted water story and I know it doesn't help you out one bit, but I do know the aggravation you are dealing with and you have my sympathy. Please play it very safe MS.
 
Pecos said:
MS, I would not shower in it and the second you allow regular cool water to mix in, all bets are off as far as the safety of the water goes. This can get very old in a hurry.

I truly feel for you on this, especially after experiencing something like this on the Island of Okinawa back in the early 1970's. The Island had one main reservoir, and one night a disgruntled Okinawan employee drank too much and opened the floodgates to drain the reservoir. By the next morning when it was discovered, most of the water was gone.

We were put on "water rationing" where it was turned on for two hours every other day to various sections of the Island. It turns out that a hefty portion of the water delivery piping was made of iron pipe which over time had a lot of pin holes in it from corrosion. Without existing pressure, sewerage water seeped into the existing pipes and polluted everything. All us were reduced to filling a large barrel on the days when we had water and using Clorox to kill the pollutants before drinking it, making ice cubes, or cooking. I lived in the BOQ and did not have a stove, so Clorox was my only choice. I discovered that ice cubes made with water that has Clorox in it will turn Orange Juice brown.

No one had a regular shower for that entire summer, and summers on Okinawa are hot and very humid.

When that water was turned on, you made it a point to be there to collect enough to top off your barrel, and most importantly. you made sure that you turned the water back off. One day, my elderly maid forgot to turn the spigot completely off, and sure enough, the water came back on and flooded my room. She was so worried that I would fire her, but who could possibly do that to a lovely woman in her mid 80's. I certainly could not and it took some real effort to get her to understand that I could have done the same thing. Many, many hugs were involved in this effort to calm her.

So this is my polluted water story and I know it doesn't help you out one bit, but I do know the aggravation you are dealing with and you have my sympathy. Please play it very safe MS.
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Thank you for your empathy but Wow! Our situation doesn't touch what you experienced MDB!! As annoying as it is, I'm very thankful that we are not experiencing anywhere near what the people in Louisiana are experiencing or even the people in N.J. and N.Y. who had terrible flooding. I sure hope this doesn't go on for months!!
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
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Yes, that should be safe, so long as you don't drink in the shower! Don't use it to brush your teeth either.

Cooking with it or making tea or coffee is ok, just so the water is boiled. As Pecos says Clorox works too, but does not taste very good. Your hot water tank water might be ok, but its not certain. You might want to turn the temperature up to maximum for a while.

Most of these alerts are in an abundance of caution, your water is probably ok, but better to be safe than sorry.

When I lived in Florida it was in a very small place near the Gulf, we got lots of boil your water alerts. Kind of a PIA, but you are being careful, you should get through it fine.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot showers, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
Click to expand...
so how do you wash your clothes while this is ongoing?
 
OneEyedDiva said:
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot showers, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
Click to expand...
I would certainly do the washing in the water because I hang all of my washing out to dry in the sun. Also, e-coli has to be ingested to cause infection so I would not hesitate to bathe in the water.

However, I would boil pots of tap water and let them cool. This water could be used to wash vegetables, your hands and face and to make ice cubes. All drinking water should be boiled, after which is should be safe to drink hot or cold.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
My town and several others in N.J. have been under boil water alerts. This started after Ida hit. Our water is contaminated with E-coli. I don't want to shower in it nor wash my clothes in it. I've always kept several gallons of tap water here, some for bathing, some for cleaning and some to filter for drinking. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water here (Costco's cases contain 40 bottles). I happened to have almost 3 cases when this started. The cities are also giving out free cases of bottled water but I bought my own when we went to Costco last week. My son who lives in a different town took my jugs and refilled them with tap water for me twice already and he needs to do it again. I washed very small loads of clothes in the water he brought until I can get to a laundromat in a town not affected by this.

Another good thing is that I learned from a very early age how to take a real good "bird bath", as my mother used to call it, but I miss taking a shower. This is ironic because I posted a few weeks ago about only showering twice a week as was suggested in a show I saw, as being unfathomable (although they didn't advocate bird baths in between in addition to showering). I never expected this to go on this long, especially since the company estimated it would take about a week to correct the problem. My son will be less busy this weekend, so I'm going to ask him (and my DIL) if I can shower at their house. I hate to have to do it because my son works long hours plus has familial responsibilities to take care of and my DIL is not that well (she seems to think she needs to spruce things up if I'm going to visit). I have a countertop dishwasher which is safe to do dishes in during this time.

A couple of people told me that hot water tanks heat the water to a safe temperature but I never have taken steaming hot showers, I prefer warm, almost tepid water. Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it?
@Pecos @feywon @officerripley @Shalimar
Click to expand...
I am curious to know why your "countertop dishwasher .... is safe to do dishes in" ?
 
OneEyedDiva said:
..... Would you shower in or do your laundry with water that has E-coli in it? ......
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Alligatorob said:
Yes, that should be safe, so long as you don't drink in the shower! Don't use it to brush your teeth either.
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I'm sure that's good advice. We have a bath with a shower attachment that can be adjusted up or down on the rod. By sliding it down a bit I can shower without the water getting on my face or head. I think in the circumstances OneEyedDiva has described I'd shower but I would require a source to assure me that no other part of my body could transfer E-coli.
 
The water after going through my reverse osmosis system is fine for drinking and cooking. I would have no issue with taking showers and washing/rinsing dishes with the unfiltered water but not drinking it provided the water was not terrible. Anything like e. coli is a matter of degree, and infinitesimal amounts are not going to be harmful. Plus reasonably healthy people's systems that have 85% beneficial bacteria would be quite protective.
 
I hope you get the all clear soon. I'd be worried about showers also because you get water on your face. As far as laundry goes, could you put a little lysol or something in it. Plus a hot dryer would kill germs. Laundry I wouldn't be worried about but the shower and of coarse drinking are concerns. If you have a dishwasher, that should be fine and I'd dry on the hot setting instead on the economy setting which I use.
 
No, I would not shower or do laundry in E.coli contaminated water.

If you shower, you should, immediately afterward, wash your hands with water that is not contaminated and then use hand sanitizer. You should not shower if you have any open sores on your body. You should not let the water go into your mouth (and, I suspect, your nose).

For laundry, you are supposed to use the highest temperature for the washer & dryer. That temperature will not exceed the temperature set on your water heater -- IOW, I doubt if it is boiling hot (212 F at sea level). Thus, I doubt it will kill E.coli.

Just thinking about E.coli contaminated water, in sufficient quantities to cause a boil water alert, grosses me out.

I know my dishwasher has an antibacterial setting that heats the water to 212 F. I have no idea whether it works as advertised.

I do not know if some washers have a similar setting -- I bought a standard top loading machine, and it does not have anything fancy on it.
 
I personally wouldn't, though the posts might be correct.

That is a long time for you to be going through this. :confused: Sorry, and I hope they fix it, very soon!
 
It is inconvenient of course to be without healthy water, but for me it would not be a big drama. I shower each day, but it is not essential and a large bucket of lightly soapy water, that is boiled will keep you clean. Not a problem to wash the clothes in hot water and dry in sun or dryer. If a shampoo is greatly needed, you can buy a can of dry shampoo. For the face use Micellar water by Sephora,and finish with moisture cream. I use that a lot instead of water.

Buy bottled water to drink, 3 weeks is not a long time, only if there are children to look after. Hang in there!
 
Hope this ends soon. You don’t realize how much you take for granted until it’s not there.
 

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