You are currently browsing the daily archive for September 19, 2008.
I came home this evening to find the Boil Water Advisory has been lifted. Looks like we’re back to normal for the weekend. It promises to be a fair and sunny one. Enjoy!
Sara
On the morning of September 17 a Mandatory Boil Water Advisory was issued for 9,400 homes and businesses in: Nazareth, Upper Nazareth, Palmer, Pen Argyl, Plainfield Township, Saylorsburg, Stockertown, Tatamy, Wind Gap, Bushkill Township, and Forks Township. (Easton was initially listed but was subsequently rescinded.)
The announcement stated there was an equipment malfunction at a water treatment plant, resulting in lower disinfectant levels. That caused “an increased chance that water may contain disease-causing organisms.”
Both Pennsylvania American Water Company and our municipalities did a good job informing the public. We received automated phone calls from the water company and our schools. There were a variety of media alerts, borough sirens, and patrol car announcements. Of course, there hasn’t been much word since, but I guess time goes slower when you’re living it. According to what I can learn from Internet searches, the Mandatory Boil Water Advisory remains in effect as of 4:41 am, September 19.
The experience reminds me anew how fragile we are. We’ve become so used to the ready availability of electricity, open roads, good schools, and clean, safe water. When something bad happens, as it will, we’re thrown out of our comfort zone. We rally, of course, and we cope. We’re Americans. We carry the genes of folks who endured far more than the temporary inconvenience of boiling drinking water for a few days. But somehow, for a short while, we feel a little less secure.
Most likely, BitV will be going farther afield for our breakfast outing this weekend. Somewhere outside the range of the American Water Company. Still, I feel confident the equipment malfunction will soon be fixed. Life will return to some degree of normalcy. It generally does.
Sara
