Boiling Point

This week's heavy rains have overloaded Vancouver's water treatment plants, leading to an unprecedented Boil Water Advisory from the GVRD. The immediate reaction of this page is gratitude that CUPE BC shut down the free-market pirate nutbars who wanted to privatize water treatment in Vancouver a few years ago. The subsequent reaction is curiosity as to whether or not any of our Conservative overlords know that this situation might have just a little bit to do with global warming and climate change.

As many regular visitors are aware, this page relishes in the telling of others what to do. In the wake of this public hazard/inconvenience, here are my tips to avoid e coli, cryptosporidium, and all the other nasties which have yet to be flushed from the mains:

-Try to limit your hoarding of bottled water. There's a reason why it's a BOIL water advisory and not a bottled water advisory. Thousands of British Columbians are still without power, and can't boil their own water, so they need the bottled water more than you.

-Bottled water is treated water is a plastic bottle. Party ice is treated water frozen in a plastic bag. A visit to the nearby convenience store this morning saw the shelves emptied of bottled water, but the cooler was still full of the solid water.

-Football fans: beware of cheap draft beer specials on Grey Cup Sunday. If it's watered down, it's watered down with parasites. Hung over is one thing, infected is another.

-It's raining: the stuff falling from the sky is safer than the stuff coming out of the taps, and it's free. Instead of succumbing to the pseudo-panic in the bottled water aisle, pick up a barrel and an extra kettle.

This page realizes that this situation could go on for weeks, and that many people are too lazy to look after themselves and prefer to buy their way out of trouble. I predict that sometime before Xmas, someone in the Lower Mainland gets to see the value in fluid ounces of a Playstation 3.