Water Turbidity in Vancouver

On Thursday, our children came back excitedly with a 'water advisory' which says tap water should not be used for drinking, brushing teeth, washing fruits and vegetables. In fact all water should be boiled for at least 1 min before it is safe for drinking. So I dutifully boiled 2 pots of water and allowed them to cool before I refill the water containers. I avoid using my filter as it could mean clogging the filter bags really fast. This water turbidity (cloudy water), is due to the recent spate of heavy rains which caused sediments to flow into the Seymour and Capilano reserviours. Not only are there sediments, disinfectants like chlorine has been increased as well. Tempers were sorely tested as many rushed to stock up on bottled water.

This is the largest boil-water advisory in the history of British Columbia and even Canada! On Thursday, many coffee shops would only serve bottled beverages. Starbucks had to turn away many customers who needed the caffeine fix. I heard one of the supermarket assistant talking to her colleague about not having her cuppa that day. Water though plentiful, if not properly cleansed, is still no good. I remember that Thursday morning, I actually had a wonderful cup of Dark Roast at The Well at Dunbar.

Irony indeed. We use water so mindlessly at times that water is a commodity taken for granted. Canada is reputed to possess the world's largest quantity of freshwater. This is Day 3 of the water turbidity problem. I miss drinking my fresh water from the tap.