Still boiling water

We live in the city limits of Charleston, WV.  It’s mostly a civilized place but like many cities, it is falling apart, slowly.  We were out of town this past weekend to visit my family in Tionesta, PA (where it is still cold).  We got home around 4:30 on Sunday to see the water company digging up the road near our house.  There was a water main break out front.  Actually, there was another water main break out front.  Not too long ago, we had a break that allowed me to get some history.  I was talking with the crew and they said the main in front of my house was installed in 1939.  Yikes!  No wonder it finally gave it up.  That pipe is ancient in dog-years!  If you drive down the road in front of my place, you will see patch after patch in the road (which was re-paved 2 years ago?) where water main leaks have been fixed.  I don’t fault the crews who fix the leaks.  In fact, I would put the guys who do the work even with Spiderman and Hulk Hogan (in his younger years).  But, like many cities across our country, our old infastructure is failing at an alarming rate.

So, we got home on Sunday and the crew was delivering “boil water advisories” door-to-door, up and down the street.  I guess there is a danger of contaminants like e-coli, the swine flu and the clap getting into the water from the rupture.  We were basically instructed not to use the water for anything except flushing the toilets.  Now I can go a day without a shower but much longer and my “manly scent” starts to be overpowering.  I get cats and dogs following me around the neighborhood.  Vultures circle overhead searching for the “food” that recently gave up the ghost.  Luckily, Emily’s parents live close by and were unaffected by the break so we have been able to shower at their house.  

We have boiled a bunch of water for cooking and so on but it is a real pain in the hind-parts.  My father-in-law joked, “how do you like living in the country?”  I responded, “I bet they freakin’ have water in the country!”  It’s pretty funny how paralyzed a person can be when city services go bad!  Of course, I grew up in the country so I know a loss of electricity can mean the well pump won’t run, but still!  

Anyhow, we’ll continue to boil water and de-funkify at the in-laws until the water is deemed clean.  I will do my best to keep the vultures at bay!

Anyone else ever have similar stuff go on at home?  Does your water ever go out?  How did you cope?

13 thoughts on “Still boiling water

  1. We had a lot of trouble with our water when they were building the new locks and dam right down from our place. I guess maybe they would knock into a pipe while they were digging or something. We would go into the bathroom and the water in the toilet would be yellow – eeuuuwwww. So we would have to do the same thing, go somewhere to shower, boil water, etc. It was NOT fun. Thankfully, they’re finished now.

  2. Way back when I was in high school there was an ice storm during the winter. Tons of powerlines and trees fell down everywhere. We didn’t have power for 10 days. For entertainment we listened to the cracking of falling trees. Fortunate for us we had a wood stove. My mom was very creative in find us a meal that would cook on the fire. We had water at least but it was cold. One of the last days we had without power I went to school early just so I could take a warm shower. I was dating Nathan at the time and he was kind enough to pick me up so that I could watch the Kentucky game. It would have really been rough if I missed that game!

  3. You poor thing. I DO live in the country, and when we loose power – no water. Our solution was to buy a generator. If it would help, I’d bring it to you ASAP.
    We lost power during the flooding/storms awhile back – late Winter/early Spring. This was PRE-generator. We were out of power for 10 days!! We had to stay here because of the animals. NEVER again!! We’ll go to a hotel, and commute back and forth.

    Gizmo’s last blog post..Calypso video

  4. Back in ’05 I was like 7mo preggers, the ole pump on our well finally gave up the ghost. Eric, being the DIY man that he is decided he had to do it himself. We were without water for nearly two weeks. About a week after the work was finished, water inspection complete etc…. a major storm came through and lightening struck at our place. Can you guess what was hit? Yup, the new pump was fried. Yeah….good times. I feel for you and the fam, it sucks being without water. Hope you get the all clear soon! 🙂

    farm mom’s last blog post..This and That

  5. We have a well and everytime power’s out, we have no water. Luckyly we have a few 5-gal water jugs(for camping) that we could use to get water from work or friend’s house.
    Hope you get your “normal” city service back up soon.

    YDavis’s last blog post..How to Make Fruit Water

  6. yes, we deal with it too–in the country if you have a well you lose water beause the pump is electric. We’re used to it. We buy jugs of drinking water, use what’s in the hw heater and be v-e-r-y careful about how and why we use water.

    What’s fun is to have it happen at your workplace, with the public complaining.

    Granny Sue’s last blog post..For Bird Lovers and Story Lovers

  7. Oh, I grew up in South America where the water would come into our house so dirty it would clog the pipes! We had some serious filter for our drinking water, but we just used the bad water for everything else. Interesting that we use potable water in this country for bathing and flushing our poo down the toilet.

    Chiot’s Run’s last blog post..Around the Gardens

  8. “de-funkify”, good word!

    I can’t really remember having water troubles, but we do lose power on occasion.We have a generator for those occasions. Makes me realize that I am SO not a pioneer.

    As far as bathing, we do have a pool, so that would do in a pinch.

    Capri Kel’s last blog post..Way Back When-sday-A Dedicated Hobby

  9. We got our “all clear” last night so we are back in the water business! I remember the water going out for several days at a time at my parents’ house when I was a kid. We were on well water and lived “out” so the electric often went out….for days at a time. It seemed like part of the fun of living out in the country. In the city I never expected it but it certainly happens. It is funny how we use clean water though…to water plants and flush toilets. It makes me wonder when I see our water bill and notice how many gallons we use every month. It’s an interesting commentary on life I suppose!

  10. Glad you got your water back! We’re on well water, and are in the process of installing an emergency backup generator. We get occasional power fluctuations during storms, but thankfully no long-term outages (bless our co-op!). The only major things that tend to “go out”, during storms, is our satellite and wireless broadband connection. The horror!

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