We just had a boil order. I’m curious as to why they’re necessary, how do people get sick, and why they’re issued
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In the context of potable water distribution: small leaks in pipes are fairly common and sometimes unavoidable. These usually aren’t an issue as long as pressure is maintained in the distribution infrastructure, since nothing will flow back into the pipes
However if a large main breaks or some other failure happens that causes a loss of pressure, it is possible for water any anything it’s carrying to flow back into pipes from outside.
This has the potential for microbial contamination, so an alert will be posted until the government can collect a few samples and test them to make sure that hasn’t happened to a detectable extent
When toxins or harmful organisms reach a high enough level in the drinking water that your body cannot naturally deal with them a boil issue might help. Boil orders are issued when a toxin or organism (that can be killed AND broken down by heat) are found in drinking water. Sometimes, toxins and organisms cannot be killed and broken down by heat and boiling would not help but when they can be, an issue to boil water is given because the harmful bacteria or toxins can be destroyed by boiling. If the toxin or organism cannot be broken down by heat than something else would need to be done either with additional filters or chemicals.
Every toxin is different and has its own threshold for how many parts of that toxin are in one million parts per water (parts per million or ppm) are safe for humans.
The water that goes to your house stays cleans because the water system is pressurized. If there are cracks or holes in the pipes, water can escape, but particles and other contaminants can’t get it.
If there is a drop in water pressure, like when a water main breaks or the city is doing work on the water infrastructure, then there is a possibility that the contaminants that are normally kept out can get in the pipe and into the water. These contaminants can make people very sick, so the city will order people to boil their water to kill off any contaminants that get into the water.
The city will take multiple samples of the water and test for germs/bacteria. In our city, they take samples every six hours, and clear the boil order if 24 hours have passed with no contaminants found.
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