Water West Virginia

Last Thursday [2014 –Jan- 09]  in West Virginia, a chemical spill was identified that flowed into  a river a mile or so up stream from the intake point that was the water source for 9 counties. Other towns down stream from this also harvest water from this river. This chemical [4-methylcyclohexane methanol ] which is a hydrocarbon, can cause eye & skin irritation, headaches and breathing difficulties, among other not so fun reactions.

The best solution for most people is to have water storage PRIOR to any contamination incident.

It is difficult at best to process this type of contaminated water. The 4-methylcyclohexane methanol has a boiling point cooler than water. This makes it hard to process the water by distillation in a field situation. As with most hydrocarbons you can clean it up with activated carbon which is basically ground up charcoal which you can make at home.

We will discuss water treatment later.

Many if not most eateries who could not afford to truck in the volumes of clean water needed simply closed for the duration. To say that the economy in that region was adversely affected would be somewhat of an understatement.

On the Monday following the chemical spill I was listening to the news on the radio. Part of the report was that people were ‘abandoning their homes” and going to out laying communities ‘in search of food”.  This ties into a conversation that I had with S.W. about the declining ability of people to cook for themselves.

Late in the week the water department reported that the levels of the contaminate had fallen to ‘safe’ levels and the affected residents were told to run all of their taps to finish flushing out the water system and that after words the water would be safe to drink. BUT out of an abundance of caution, pregnant women should boil their water before consuming. This seems to be a ‘feel good’ bit of advice as discussed earlier.

The take away from this is [A] to have water storage in your home and office for consumption, [B] learn the actually facts of whatever you are faced with. [C] learn how to cook and do other stuff for yourself – which does not mean that you have to personally do everything yourself – so that you can tell when you are being lied to.

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