300K without water....

[subprep]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...up-to-300000-state-of-emergency-declared?lite

A chemical spill into a West Virginia river has led to a tap water ban for up to 300,000 people, shut down bars and restaurants and led to a run on bottled water in some stores as people looked to stock up.

The federal government joined West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in declaring a disaster as the West Virginia National Guard arranged to dispense bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the counties hit by the chemical spill into the Elk River.

The advisory was expanded at night to nine counties and includes West Virginia American Water customers in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane counties.

 

[BadgeBunny]

Oh. My.

"no time line for the cleanup" That's even scarier ...

 

[subprep]

yeah, sh*ts about to get real in W Va. I wonder how many people will think about being prepared after this?

 

[NightShade]

Definitely not good. If they are shutting down the water system then my guess is the chemical has already made it in to the public water supply. If that is the case they have to clean the plant and try and flush EVERYTHING out of the lines, towers pumps etc. that could take weeks to complete. And that could be nearly impossible as well if it is something that can't just be flushed but will require a solvent or chemical to break it up/neutralize it.

 

[Spata]

Fema is ready. This is region 3 isn't it?

 

[subprep]

Fema is ready. This is region 3 isn't it?

yep, care to elaborate?

 

[becker_atc]

Good distance from my grandparents up there. They also have localized rural water.

 

[white92coupe]

Not to hijack the thread, but this has got me thinking more about water purification for lots of different scenarios.

Anyways, I've been looking into Katadyn Vario, Katadyn Hiker Pro, and MSR pumps. Which would you choose, and why?

These would be used for hunting/fishing/camping trips mostly.

 

[dennishoddy]

The chemical will evaporate naturally.
Interesting enough that it can't be removed from the water supply artificially. It must dissipate by natural means.

 

[NightShade]

The chemical will evaporate naturally.
Interesting enough that it can't be removed from the water supply artificially. It must dissipate by natural means.

From my understanding the chemical that was spilled is 4-methylcyclohexane methanol

Since it is patented as an air freshener it will evaporate but likely not at a fast rate (colorless oil)and in a closed system like a water line there is no chance for evaporation until it is dislodged. It is only slightly water soluble so to me that says it will be hard to get flushed out of the system the levels are supposed to be dropping but they have no idea how long it will take to be considered safe for human use and if pockets remain in the water lines this could cause problems for years. They will have to open fire hydrants and try to get all the sediment in the lines out which will take a long time to complete and use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to complete, not to mention years of testing at multiple sites for the just in case.