Just shows how very fragile the "grid" can be!
Even in a port town like Tampa that is surrounded by rivers and springs.
Here we have a situation where the only factor was that there was a power outtage for a short amount of time.
This caused the pressure to be lowered at the water plant and therefore, throughout the piping system. When the pressure is down, contaminates from outside the pipes can leak back in through the seams.
(That means that there are leaky pipes to begin with... that are always leaking.)
Just imaging if the water plant made a mistake with its chemicals in the santizing of the water? Too much or too little chlorine or alum can be very harmful.
And the City of Tampa was asking people to boil their water. What would have happened if TECO could not get electricity to the homes to boil the water?
I have a good friend who is a Mormon (Latter-day Saint)... and he has been talking to me for years about having my own water storage. Even if it is just five or six gallons of water in jugs or even a 40 gallon drum of water... that would hold one for two or three days. I know that this sounds stupid... but who knows?
Buying jugs of water at Publix or Walmart? Yea, that works... but what very, very few people understand is that your local Publix can be cleaned out in....
Two days.
That is correct. If everyone in that demographic neighborhood converged on your local Publix, Kroger or Walmart... they only have enough food and liquids to last that area for... two days.
As a point, just imaging if the authorities could not get drinkable or flowable water to the island of Manhattan in NYC??? With that mass concentration of people, on an island...it would be kaos.
Dysentery sets in very quickly.
I am in good shape because I have a neighbor who has a swimming pool. I went out and purchased a gravity-fed filter online that will handle 3,000 gallons of water. So, all I gotta do is take a "5 gallon pickle bucket" and get my water.
Over the last six to seven decades, we have become totally dependant on the municipalities to provide us with drinkable and flowable (for toilets) water. We wake up every morning with fresh, running water. It's a no brainer.
Just a couple of hours of no power in Tampa and that concept was null and void. Growing up in Tampa as a kid... this happened back in the 60's... and it was really strange.
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