I only found out about the water-boil advisory when Heather (who has now moved to Harrisburg) and her housemate Liz reported that they had no water pressure. By that point, I had already had a few cups of contaminated city water, and figured that I would be no worse for the wear. That was on Tuesday.
Wednesday, we heard that water pressure would be restored in affected areas, but that we should continue to boil all water for 1-3 minutes. This meant that at home, the dishes mounded up in the sink -- more than they usually mound up in the sink, anyway. At the cafe, we refrained from serving iced drinks, limited our menu to tea and coffee.
Thursday, we were expecting the advisory to be lifted, to no avail. Bottled water sales spiked, and visitors from outside the city, when reminded that we were not serving ice, did a double-take, then nodded in sympathy.
Today, the city's website held this disheartening notice: "Mayor Thompson said today there is optimism in the City Bureau of Water that the water boil alert, currently in effect, could be lifted by Sunday." I boiled another pot of water and resigned myself to the stink emanating from the dirt sink in the apartment.
Then, the city posted this notice:
"City Mayor Linda D. Thompson has just announced that the 'Boil Water' alert, active in the City most of the week, has been officially lifted by the City Bureau of Water.
'The water tested clear today, for the second day in a row,' Mayor Thompson said this afternoon, 'so we're in good shape to lift the alert and just in time to celebrate the holiday weekend!'"
Never before have I celebrated Easter by welcoming the resurrection of potable tap water.
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