I love my state...I really do...

But right now, I just want a SHOWER, and my state seems to be conspiring against me. Because...for years, this chemical has been sitting beside the river, and no one has ever thought to test how to get it out of the water supply if it leaked? Whhyyyy can't we be up-to-date on testing and monitoring this stuff? We still have Methyl isocyanate stored in our valley! That leaks any amount and we're all dead.

I will say I'm glad I was actually prepared for winter and had some backup water for all my critters and drinking myself. FEMA is giving out 5 gallons of water to each person. And I'm looking at my tanks wondering if I really want to see if the ROID unit will work for this. >.>

The fact that I'm sitting in an office with a bunch of other people that couldn't take showers, with nothing more than hand sanitizer to use in the bathroom is so completely gross.

For anyone not up-to-date on my rambling/rant:
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/F...239434751.html

I know there are a lot of herpers out your way and was wondering if anyone I "knew" was affected.

You can't shower, but a pack of baby wipes will keep you clean for a few days. Hand sanitizer only in the bathrooms...

Considering that the officials are still giving a lot of "I don't know" responses to questions I'd be taking my own steps to get water. Not that I don't trust my government, but... well, that's another thread.

Save the five gallons from FEMA for your own drinking. Put out pots, pans, etc. to catch the rain we're getting tomorrow - got a rain barrel? You can run the rainwater through a camp filter and then boil it (I would do both because I'm just super-cautious), and it should be fine for the herps.

Is there anyone on a well in your area? If just the river got hit the wells outside the immediate vicinity should be unaffected. Tributaries and any upstream sources should be ok as well. Again, you'd have to filter the water yourself.

As for the ROID, have you called the manufacturer about whether it will filter out that chemical?

We're going to our hunting camp for the weekend and bringing back one of our 500 gallon backup tanks for the livestock. We've got three separate wells up there and there is a water station to fill up for like 5 bucks. It sucks so bad though.

Our main local herp supplier is going to use RODI for his stock I think. The problem is...no one knows anything. There's been no testing. It might be completely harmless...or it could render everyone infertile. (which wouldn't bother me one bit!) I'm directly across the spill and you get an instant headache when you go outside. Flushing the toilet brings the smell into the house. If you forget and wash your hands, it kind of feels like you've stuck them in alcohol with open sores, but it varies by location.

My rain barrel is full of ice. It's still a solid block. So, I'm going to bring my portable propane heater and help it along. The flu is going to be crazy once this gets sorted out.

if you can smell it outside I would avoid rainwater collection; the rain may collect traces of the fumes in the air. As far as RODI goes; I don't know if I would fully trust it to remove everything.
Plus the authorities are trying to downplay it to prevent panic... if they are passing out water then it is time to worry; who knows how long that crap will stay in the system after things have been declared "safe". Sad part is this is growing global issue.

Situations like this is why humans will fail as a species; we (not all of us) love to destroy and pollute. we will eventually poison our environment and go extinct. At least life will eventually rebound regardless of what we do, after we are gone; even if it takes a million years or more, life will find a way and we will not be around to eff it up.

Originally Posted by j_dunlavy

if you can smell it outside I would avoid rainwater collection; the rain may collect traces of the fumes in the air.

This, ugh! And your animals are outside and they have to breath it.

The air is measuring at an acceptable dilution, so they say rain water is fine. We're sitting at 1.7 parts per million for the water. It was 2.0 ppm. That change was over over the last 30 hours. It has to go down to .1 for it to quit smelling.

Day 4 ends...The natives are restless but an end is in sight.

After 6 days, my area was given the OKAY to flush out my house and start using the water. It still smells horribly and burns your eyes. Schools have been out for a week and half of the businesses are still closed because they have to get approved by the Health Department to reopen.

Well...this is what was my pipes.


I can say that I had enough water on hand to manage my collection of critters without needing to use FEMA or donated water. I had enough food for me and the animals that didn't need water.

So, I think I did good. I do know some things will be getting changed. I have prepared for electrical loss, but not long-term water loss.

I use ATO and RO units to a water supply "tank," and that's attached to a drip line in most of my high humidity enclosures. I shut off the the entire thing when we got the warning and now I have to flush the lines. This weekend is going to suck.

Glad to hear things are starting to return to normal for you. I hope you are able to get your lines flushed and everything goes off without a problem.

I keep extra water on hand, just in case of an earthquake, but since this event I think staying well stocked beyond what is anticipated is a must... for everybody.

Hmm I'm glad to hear that.. I hate mine