Don’t Drink the Water
Meg links to this media (and, you know, regular citizen) advisory (PDF) about the current state of drinking water. Heavy rains have turned the water in my toilet a, uh, brownish hue.
Discolouration of drinking water is a very good indicator of high levels of turbidity. If using boiled water use a kettle and ensure that you allow it to cool before decanting to another container or moving it to the refrigerator.
TAP WATER IS ACCEPTABLE FOR USES OTHER THAN DRINKING, BRUSHING TEETH OR WASHING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
I wanted to quote some apropos song lyrics at the end of this post, but three songs came to me simultaneously: Don’t Drink the Water, Poison in the Well and Black-Eyed Man.
UPDATE: I had a meeting in a Yaletown Starbucks this morning. They weren’t serving any hot drinks, much to the dismay of the local yuppies. The poor bastards behind the counter had to repeat the same explanation over and over again, and engage in long conversations about boiling points and microbes with armchair virologists. Across the street at Cito Espresso (which reportedly has far superior coffee), they were brewing up a storm. Perhaps they fear reckless litigation less than Starbucks?
Like vanmega, I’m finding the mad hoarding of bottled water a bit amusing. I’m just boiling some water and, for good (and likely unnecessary) measure, pouring it through our Brita. I’m no mountain man, but I spent my childhood drinking out of North Shore creeks, and lived to tell the tale. Methinks this is much a pluie about nothing.
Evan Robinson 
