Its back to normal now-2 weeks ahead of schedule (except for Saugus)-again, huge kudos to all who got this worked out.

As to the alternate drinking source-you are correct-it was to maintain pressure in the lines, moreso than provide a clean source of water-hence the boil orders. They didnt filter, only chlorinated, from what I understand. People were advised to run their taps for about 15 minutes to flush the pipes, then they would be fine.

Nice post, Oldsoldier. I live in Western MA so we weren't impacted at all, but on NECN I did see a lot of people standing in line for water and the cops in Belmont checking IDs to make sure, I don't know, the people in Newton didn't steal their Poland Springs. Agree that the WMRA has done a solid job.

The only thing I might quibble with is your assumption that the let-the-boiling-water-cool warning had to do with fear that all these dumbies would burn their tongues drinking boiling water. I believe what it had to do with was a pretty standard procedure for making sure that all the pathogens in the h2o are dead. By boiling for a minute and taking it off the heat, and letting it cool, you are using all the reserve heat to keep on killing. It's true, nobody with the state really explained why you should let it cool but I don't think it was driven by an assumption that most people are stupid.

By the way, boiling for 1 minute and letting it cool, obviously saves a lot of energy compared to boiling it for five or ten (as some advice suggests).

The event in Mass is a great example of the sort of thing I want to be prepared for! I probably wouldn't be ready for an end of the world scenario, but I want to be able to live out a hurricane or damaged water supply reasonably comfortably.

I think the latest wisdom is that it is good enough to establish a good rolling boil. At that point everything that is going to be killed is as dead as it is going to get.

I believe you're correct, Horus. Since pathogens will be killed at temperatures below the boiling point, given a bit of time, telling people to get the water to a boil, then to wait for it to cool, allows enough time for the heat to do its job even if you don't hold the water at a boil for any length of time.

I know that the words of wisdom when I spent more time outdoors was 1 minute of boil for every 1,000 feet, or 10 minutes. Here is the US, and at normal elevations (CO being an exception), a rolling boil for a minute or so would suffice. On a stove in a home, the time isnt really an issue, as you dont have a limited fuel supply (barring any other services being cut off, that is), so, if it boils for 2 minutes, or 10 minutes, will not really matter, other than boiling off the water. Hiking/camping, yes, I would adhere more closely to the 1 minute per 1000 ft rule.

Horus-I think that the message was intended to avoid lawsuits-hence, making a blatantly obvious message on the TV to avoid drinking the boiling water. I honestly think that was their intent. Maybe not that we are all idiots (I wont get into politics here), but more likely just to avoid the likely lawsuits that would follow.

Once you have boiling water you might as well add pasta, make tea, drop in an egg, pour some of it into the foil container of freeze-dried food ...

Several historians noted that the Chinese crews working on the railroads were preferred by bosses in part because they got sick less often and held up better to the hard conditions. It was noted that European workers would often drank directly from streams and ditches. Whereas the Chinese tended to take their water in the form of tea.

I spent a wonderful month in China in 1993 with eleven other Americans, in some fairly out of the way places (our "job" was cave exploration). We routinely drank boiled water. In at least one instance, I am fairly sure the water came either directly from an irrigation ditch or a very shallow well.

Twelve gringos, one month, all water was boiled. Not a single case of upset stomachs, diarrhea, or Montezuma's revenge. Tended to make me a fan of boiling water