Without getting too detailed, it means the folks living in the affected areas should observe the following precautions until the boil water advisories get lifted (or canceled):

• Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water.
   
• Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic icemaker until authorities give the all clear notification and you have purged your home’s water lines and the water line leading to the icemaker.
   
• Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean (boiled) tap water or bottled water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water. Note: The more ‘gunk’ a surface has on it, the quicker the bleach level in your wash water will diminish.
   
• Water used for bathing typically does not need to get boiled prior to use however during showering and bathing one should take care not to ingest water. Children should have supervision to discourage accidental ingesting of bath/shower water and persons with cuts, severe rashes or other afflictions of the skin should consult their physician prior to bathing, as unwanted bacteria in the water could possibly enter their body through those areas.
   
• If tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears before using the water. After the all clear notification goes out you should run water from all available taps, faucets and spigots for a few minutes to purge your home’s water system of older, possibly contaminated water.

What Triggers Boil Water Advisories?

Municipal water systems have a slight amount of pressure in them that forces water out through any available openings in the systems. Usually those openings consist of faucets, drinking fountains, spigots, etc. Water systems do not exist in a stress-free vacuum, though, so over time small cracks, leaks and fissures may form in pipes… and as long as the system remains pressurized no outside matter can typically infiltrate the systems.

But, when a water main breaks or some other event causes a pressure drop to occur in the system, the lack of pressure in the system could allow foreign matter such as bacteria, parasites and/or unwanted debris to slip into the system through those cracks and/or fissures in pipes.

When that happens, water companies will issue boil water advisories through local media outlets. Once water pressure gets restored and tests come back negative for system contamination, water companies will cancel the boil water advisories.

State law required officials to notify customers in the affected area even though they believed no real threat existed to the water supply or its users.

Until the word goes out that the boil water advisory has ended, officials suggest boiling all tap water that will get used for drinking, cooking, washing of food or utensils, making ice, brushing teeth, or used to wash wounds in the event that someone requires first aid. The water should come to a rolling boil for at least 1 full minute.

If boiling water not possibility, residents should use bottled water in place of tap water.

What happens now?

Workers from Sarasota County will collect samples from various points in the water system to check for contamination and once all samples come back with a clean bill of health the ‘all clear’ notice will go out to all customers affected by the water main break.

Most customers will receive a phone call from an automated service one the boil water advisory gets canceled. If anyone has questions about the advisory, or fears they may not have received the call, all interested parties may contact Sarasota County using the following phone number: 941-861-5000.

When water pressure in a water system drops, a possibility exists that unwanted contaminants could enter the water supply which may not, at that exact time, have sufficient chlorine residual available to wipe out any invading bacteria.

Boil water advisory specifics…

Officials suggest that affected water system customers boil water one minute before drinking or using to prepare food. Dispose of ice cubes recently made with tap water and/or that have come in contact with cubes made with tap water recently. Also, turn off and do not use ice cubes coming from automatic ice makers until the ‘all clear’ message gets announced and all lines have been flushed with water cleared as OK to use.

Additionally, one should have the ability to bathe in the water during this advisory, but make sure to avoid accidentally drinking any of the water. Special care should get taken to maonitor children during showers and bathing to make certain they, too, do not drink the water until the advisory ends.

What if water appears cloudy or dirty?

Do not use the water until lines run clear.

Local media outlets will announce the end of the boil water advisory and for additional information, concerned parties may contact the Lyon County Rural Water District #4 Offices at 620-342-6775.

So, the next time you hear of a (current) boil water advisory or health department offering local residents free or discounted water testing services, please send us the details via our Contact Us Form and we will gladly add them to this site.

Boil water advisories

• Town of Oak Bluffs (Martha’s Vineyard area)
• City of Paris, KY
• Parts of Bossier Parish (Loisiana)
• Fairmont, WV
• Clark County, Indiana
• Mossyrock, WA

Free water testing

• Taos County, New Mexico. July 2 from 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at Coronado Hall at the Taos Convention Center

If you know of other boil water advisories or free/discounted water testing offers, please remember to send us the details via our Contact Us Form so we can add them to this site.