a recipe for the culinarily challenged

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

How to make BOILED WATER

ingredients:
Tap Water-- possibly tainted with bacteria is *fine*

tools you will need:
-a pot or kettle
-a stove, hot-pot, electric burner, or electric kettle

1. add water to pot or kettle
2. apply heat using stove, hot-pot, electric-burner, or electric kettle (in case of extreme ridiculousness or drunkenness on a warm summer's evening, a weber grill can be substituted if used out-doors)

3. wait for water to boil; allow water to boil for 60 seconds; shut off heat

Tools you will NOT need:
-hundreds of dollars to give to the bottled-water companies
-plastic bottles
-an automobile to carry bottles of water

Comments

[notpiecebypiece.livejournal.com]

oh christ

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry for letting my snarky voice have the keyboard. :(

It's just that walking into Davis to see so many people carrying all the bottled water they could possibly carry on their shoulders and on hand-trucks, etc. etc. ...and reading comments here about what places were out of what... it really just broke my heart.

I thought I might toss out a little reminder that there are options-- that don't involve buying water.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

in case you're concerned*, we do have davis_snark ;)

[jovianconsensus.livejournal.com]

Got to say I was thinking the same thing.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Some of the information I've seen involves boiling for 600 seconds rather than 60...

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

MWRA says 1 minute. Which, by-the-by could give you a little perspective on how clean our "possibly not clean" water is, if 1 minute is expected to be long enough. If you're hiking you might do up to 30 minutes if you don't know if, say, someone might have been watering cattle, or dumping animal carcasses upstream of where you're drinking. For bird-poop in an untreated, but semi-protected reservoir, one minute appears to be considered sufficient.

[girlgonemad.livejournal.com]

http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/boilordr.htm

in case anyone needs citation ;)

" Tips for drinking water use during a boil order
There are two simple and effective methods you can use to treat drinking wate for microbiological contaminants (bacteria).

1. Boiling: Bring the water to a rolling boil for at least 1 minute. Laboratory data show this is adequate to make the water safe for drinking.
2. Disinfecting: Disinfectant tablets obtained from a wilderness store or pharmacy may be used. In an emergency, liquid chlorine bleach such as Clorox© or Purex© can be used at a dose of 8 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach to each gallon of water. (Careful measurement with a clean dropper or other accurate measuring device is required when using liquid chlorine bleach.) Let stant for at least 30 minutes before use. Read the label to see that the bleach has 5-6% chlorine. "

I wonder if everyone who ran out for drinking water bothered to read the other precautions on the list.

There are also instructions about how to deal with your dishes and hand washing:

"Washing Dishes
It is best to use disposable tableware during the time the water needs disinfection. If that is not possible, the following steps should be taken:

1. Wash dishes normally but be sure to rinse them in a solution of 1/8 teaspoon of bleach, as mentioned above, in a gallon of warm water (submersion in a dishpan for a minimum of 5 minutes is advised). The dishes should be allowed to air dry. Gloves should be worn when handling bleach to minimize any skin irritation.
2. Because of the many variables involved with dishes washed in a dishwasher, it is recommended that you use the additional rinse step, as described above, after washing."

" Hand Washing
Use only boiled or disinfected water for hand washing."

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

I think 120 seconds is plenty...

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

the fish has it right...

#

[ron_newman]

What I did: biked to Harvard Square (where I was going to a show anyway), filled 9 plastic bottles with Cambridge tap water at the Harvard Science Center (open 24 hours), carried them home in my backpack. The water fountains are in the basement, next to the rest rooms.

This solution obviously doesn't scale to everyone in Davis Square, but some folks may find it of use.

Boiling water is fine, but then you have to refrigerate it before it's really drinkable. So you may still need some plastic bottles or jugs.

[spatch]

CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

DAMN THIS NEW FANGLED WATER, MELTING ALL MY ICE

[etana.livejournal.com]

I accidentally do this thing where I put just-boiled water in a plastic jug w/lid and then close the lid to shake it up (in this case washing a container I just bought, sometimes it's to make broth) and then the lid pops off and boiling water goes all over the ceiling.

Sometimes I am then covered in broth.

Stupid hot water.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

oh god!

well, at least you are cleansed and ready to go in the pot then :D

[etana.livejournal.com]

I totally am. I'm *so* ready for my carrots, celery and onion.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Can I sue the gas company, stove manufacturer, the MWRA, and God for when I burn my face off trying to drink boiling water?

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Nope-sue your parents; hot and cold are pretty basic. Most of us master them by the age of, oh, two or three.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Sadly, however, some people never master irony and snark and that just makes the Baby Jesus weep.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

are these the same people that supposedly were also taught to look both ways before crossing the street?

i've got a long list of parents here.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

you forgot about leaving the room while bringing it to a boil. we all know what happens to watched pots.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

The only time I ever boiled a pot, it's true I wasn't watching it: I turned the gas on under a pot of water for my morning tea, then fell back asleep for three hours.

I guess it was more of a melted-pot than a boiled pot, but still it was rather impressive.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Wait a second...

Do you have instructions for the microwave? I tried substituting it for the stove, but only got a fireworks display.

Help!!!

[jadelennox]

+1

[rawrin.livejournal.com]

It might be worth mentioning that the heat/flame should be set to HIGH.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

Seriously, we survived Gloucester Aquapocalypse without buying any bottled water, and that was seriously like 2-3 weeks or some ridiculousness. It just takes a little time, but I promise, you, too, can survive!

OK wait, I will admit I bought one gallon, but that was because my dog, cat, chickens, and baby needed water faster than I could boil and cool it when we first found out. After that we were good.

[usernamenumber.livejournal.com]

You left out the most important step:

4. Garnish with tea

:)

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Note that an electric kettle with an automatic shut off may not boil the water for a full minute.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

+1

Sheesh. We still have running water in our house, can flush toilets, take showers and water our plants. For Chrissake, boiling isn't hard! Boil ahead to cool for drinking. NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! Geez. It's not like you have to build a fire to boil water.

And, there are water fountains at the Cambridge playgrounds. I wonder if the one on the bike path at Cameron Ave. is fed by Cambridge or Somerville...

I at least hope all that plastic is getting recycled.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

as far as i know, the drinking fountains are not turned on yet... at least, none of the ones i've been to lately.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

They are turned on at the ones I frequent, that being Albion St. (Somerville) and Cambridge Common. WAter features aren't turned on yet, but water fountains were working. I can't remember about the tire swing park, the one behind Greek Corner on Cedar St. (Cambridge)

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

that's interesting.... the cedar street playground (behind greek corner) wasn't on, at least a week or two ago. the "push car" playground on Mass Ave towards Arlington was also not on yesterday.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Seriously.
And drinking unboiled water won't be the end of the world. It's not fatal, and unless you're very young, very old, or have a compromised immune system, the worst that will happen is you'll get Montezuma's Revenge.

It's just that there is no guarantee that the water is up to the government standards after the leak. It may be okay. It may not.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

And, y'know, while we've all got access to clean water on our minds, it may be a good time to consider how fortunate we are that this is an extraordinary event, and to think about everyone for whom the situation we're in would be a huge improvement.

One place to look: Millennium Water Alliance members (http://www.mwawater.org/our-members/).

[girlgonemad.livejournal.com]

more water for thought : http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/itw-home-water-0429.html

( a little ironically the prove you're a human words for this post were " what struthers" )