When the Water Stopped: Bostonians Get a Crash Course in Our Water Commons

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:



When the Water Stopped
Two Million Bostonians Get a Crash Course in Our Water Commons.

By Chuck Collins


Bostonians got an amazing glimpse of our water commons this week — as an entire infrastructure of largely invisible “commons” institutions revealed itself.

On Saturday afternoon, I was driving home to Boston from a meeting on the North Shore of Massachusetts. My cell phone rang with a bilingual message indicating that a major water main had broken west of Boston and that we should boil all water for a minute. As I approached the city, electronic billboards flashed signs “Boil Water, Emergency Advisory.”

As I pulled drove into my neighborhood, police in cruisers were broadcasting messages through neighborhood streets about the water situation. Television and radio newscasters explained that over two million people in our metropolitan area were without clean water because of a single broken pipe. Eight million gallons of water an hour were spilling into the Charles River. Back-up reservoirs we being tapped, but the water was not as clean.

Bostonians learned that our regional water agency, the Metropolitan Water Resource Authority, was taking quick action to replace the broken pipe, which was only seven years old. The public officials that took the airwaves were calm and informative, clearly explaining the situation and counseling citizens on how to respond.

Everywhere I went, the conversation was about water. It was an informal clean water appreciation day in Boston. Parents talked to their children about where water came from. Sunday religious services gave thanks for clean water and offered prayers for those around the world without access to clean water. On Monday, teachers turned the water crisis into a teachable moment, explaining to students the sources of our water (the Quabbin Reservoir) and how to ensure water safety. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/content.php?id=2731

[slackmaster]

1. People should prepare for disasters no matter where they live

Here in earthquake country, those of us who recognize the potential for having our lives suddenly turned into a camping trip keep supplies of drinking water, food, and other essentials on hand at all times.

[Dappleganger]

3. One cannot emphasize enough

the fact that government is not going to save your ass in an emergency. We all need to be prepared to go it alone until they get aid efforts established.

We live in a hurricane state so always try to be prepared (learning from Hurricane Andrew and the 3-fer from the summer of 2004).

[OneGrassRoot]

2. I just love that site.....

Just expressing that here. :)

Thanks for the article and reminder to read there more often.

:hi:

[Dappleganger]

4. sorry, wrong thread

[kestrel91316]

5. Damned socialist water. This NEVER could have happened if they just privatized the

water supply so some thieving corporation that probably never pays a dime in taxes could make ever-increasing profits off of it.

:sarcasm: