<p>OK, I found it:
Update at 9:35 a.m. ET. Water Is Safe:
“Our water is safe.”
Officials in Toledo asked residents to run their water for 15 minutes before drinking it.</p>
<p>It seems like it would take longer than that for your hot water heater to be emptied. I think I’d run the shower until the hot water ran out to ensure it was completely refilled. </p>
<p>They are saying that if you used the water at all over the weekend - to wash hands, take a shower, etc. you should be fine. I don’t quite buy that. I told my kids to run the bathtub faucet on hot to empty out the hot water tank and to flush out the other faucets just to be safe. We emptied out the ice maker over the weekend and will now turn it back on, clean the filter, dump another bunch of ice and then trust the next ice made after that. Will stay with bottled for another day - we have plenty anyway! </p>
<p>
That’s exactly what they told us to do - until it didn’t smell like licorice anymore. </p>
<p>What if you can’t smell?
My daughter can’t smell and while she has mostly devised work arounds, it is a concern, because thats one of the ways we sense danger. Or at least spoiled food/ fire/ natural gas leaks etc.</p>
<p>The whole country needs updated infrastructure.
We certainly are not good about dealing with things we can’t see.</p>
<p><a href=“The U.S. could supply all of California with water if we fixed our leaky pipes | Grist”>http://grist.org/news/the-country-could-supply-all-of-california-with-water-if-we-fixed-our-leaky-pipes/</a></p>
<p>It’s scary how so much of the infrastructure in this country is held together essentially on a wing and a prayer. I certainly wouldn’t be the first person chugging down the water. </p>
<p>Is there any reason to be concerned about contaminants adhering to household supply lines, ice makers, refrigerator water dispensers, etc.? Is it sufficient to just run treated water through them for 15 minutes?</p>
<p>Yes, I rarely can smell much and have to have loved ones serve as “my nose.” It has worked mostly, but is bad when my allergies flare due to a scent I can’t smell and when I burn things because I can’t smell.</p>
<p>Silpat, they recommended cleaning or replacing filters. We are running a load of ice with the "new and improved water, will dump that, then replace the filter , run new ice - and maybe even dump a little of that. </p>
<p>I am wondering how they were able to resolve the problem so quickly. If it was so easy to resolve, why didn’t they take the actions before it became a problem, like few weeks ago?</p>
<p>Oldfort, maybe they did a few consecutive tests and nothing showed up, and the ban was lifted. The water ban was a result of 2 tests that showed the level of toxin exceeding the established maximum allowable, as far as I can tell from the articles I read. We do not know what is happening with the algae bloom, maybe it is slowing down, and no more spikes are expected. When dealing with nature and living organisms, things can be quite unpredictable. Maybe the water district used additional measures to combat the algae, maybe not. It could be a simple cost-benefit issue. Now they might add to their sops that certain situations require more prevention. </p>
<p>When it comes to nature, it develops over time and it also resolves over time. I am just suspicious when problem can be resolved so quickly.</p>
<p>It is probably due to testing SOPs. </p>
<p>I had read the bloom was early this year- expected later this month or September. There is a lag time from a problem starting and discovery. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes- no panic in other states over this happening elsewhere as I understand it. The reaction time didn’t seem out of line to me.</p>
<p>Yes, I read the same thing. </p>
<p>There are additional chemicals they can use but as noted above, it is a cost benefit issue. They said the level had been creeping up slowly but then suddenly spiked above the acceptable level. </p>
<p>This is one of the things people want to know - why was there no warning that the levels were creeping up and what suddenly resolved it??? It’s been very dry here with Very little rain - we seem to be in a pocket of dryness. They said on the news tonight that possible rain tomorrow would be a good thing. </p>
<p>Toledo, wondering how your family faired?? Did your son’s health improve??? </p>
<p>I have a neighbor who happened to post some gorgeous looking corn pics on FB growing in her yard last week. Today , that same corn is a wilted mess. She ant help but wonder what made it suddenly fail - she had watered it late last week a couple of times. Could be a coincidence- makes you wonder. </p>
<p>I think you can probably blame Michigan. They’ve had a lot of rain upstate and that water all travels down to Lake Erie. The fertilizer run off and storm drain run off into the lakes and Detroit River all head right down there. When it has rained in the metro Detroit area, it had all out poured so there has been a lot of runoff, I think. </p>
<p>My son says he is much better. Thanks for asking, asbasket. Unfortunately, his biggest triathlon race of the year is this coming weekend in Milwaukee. (That’s part of the reason he drinks so much water) </p>
<p>In talking with people around town, I’m hearing about several skin rashes, but thankfully, not a lot of intestinal issues, like my son experienced.</p>
<p>Hope your water is back to normal soon.
<a href=“http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/03/3467068/toledo-ohio-water-crisis/”>http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/03/3467068/toledo-ohio-water-crisis/</a></p>