Drinking Water Safety in Rainstorm Days

Yesterday afternoon, strong thunder and lightning, thunderstorms and strong winds and other severe convective weather occurred in some areas of Jiangsu Province, causing houses to collapse and other disasters, killing many people. At 6 o’clock this morning, the Central Meteorological Station continued to issue a yellow rainstorm warning:

It is estimated that there will be heavy rain or rainstorm in southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, northern Zhejiang, central and southern Hubei, northwestern Hunan, Chongqing, central and northern Guizhou, southern Sichuan and other places, with thunderstorms and strong winds of magnitude 8 ~ 9 in some areas.

In short, people in the south had better not go out this weekend. In addition, remember to check your tap water.

What? Is rainstorm related to tap water? !

Of course there is. When it rains heavily, rainwater can easily enter the water supply pipeline, causing drinking water pollution, thus causing diarrhea, typhoid and other diseases.

In the rainstorm season, what should we worry about when there is tap water in our home?

The tap water has turned [yellow]

Rainstorm weather may have a great impact on tap water sources. For example, a large area of landslides occurred around the reservoir. Floods poured into the reservoir with soil, and the water at the water intake was certainly not immune.

Although the waterworks will treat the water source, you should know that when the waterworks treat the water, after flocculation, filtration, disinfection, sedimentation and other processes, they will finally enter the sedimentation tank to settle for several hours.

However, if the demand for water supply exceeds the treatment capacity in a short period of time, the sedimentation process cannot be completely carried out and all the water will flow out.

At this time, your tap water is [yellow].

However, fortunately, if there is only a lack of the last precipitation process, the tap water just looks yellow and the water quality itself is no problem. You can just let the water stand and precipitate, then boil it and drink it.

Tap water has [tastes]

If you smell peculiar smell in tap water after the rainstorm, such as mud smell, fishy smell and rust smell, then your tap water may be polluted twice.

You may ask, hasn’t the waterworks been disinfected? Yes, that’s right, but the waterworks are only responsible for [factory water] and [pipeline water], while [household water] (water from the pipeline to your home), the waterworks are not responsible for supervision.

For example, many residential areas set up water tanks on the roof, and then deliver the water in the water tanks to various households. Then, if the water tank is not closed enough, even some old-fashioned residential areas still use semi-open cement pools and are not cleaned regularly, then in rainstorm days, the water tank is easily polluted by rainwater.

In case of this kind of situation, it is recommended that you contact the residential property after the rainstorm and thoroughly clean and disinfect the roof water tank once.

The water turned [milky white]

On the contrary, this situation is safe.

Many people think that the water has turned white because a lot of bleaching powder has been added to the water. In fact, it is only because there are small air bubbles in the water.

The water from the water plant is pressurized, which inevitably presses some air into the water to make it look less transparent. However, as long as it is left for a period of time or boiled, the water will return to clarity.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about the whitening of the water, but the above-mentioned yellowing or peculiar smell. Especially in the season of frequent rainstorms, if you find that there is something strange in the tap water at home, you must boil the water and reuse it. Do not use raw water to wash vegetables and fruits.

However, if someone in the family has diarrhea, remember to see a doctor in time.

Tip: 8 Rules for Post-Typhoon Protection

STEP 1 Pay Attention to Food Hygiene

Do not eat food soaked in sewage, do not eat raw food, do not eat drowned animals, do not eat rotten food.

2. Pay Attention to Drinking Water Sanitation

Do not drink raw water. Temporary drinking well water, river water, lake water and pond water must be boiled and disinfected. If conditions permit, it is best to drink water from water delivery trucks or mineral water.

3. Attention to environmental sanitation

Remove silt, garbage and accumulated water in time and disinfect with bleaching powder.

4. Pay attention to disinfection of articles

Articles cleaned up at home should be disinfected. They can be boiled, exposed to chlorine-containing disinfectants or exposed to the sun. Those that cannot be disinfected should be thrown away.

5. Anti-mosquito, anti-fly and anti-rat

Remove rubbish and stagnant water in front of and behind the house, and use mosquito nets or other mosquito repellent; You can use squirrel cages and squirrel clips to kill rats. You must pay attention to safety and prevent poisoning when using rat poison.

STEP 6 Pay Attention to Personal Protection

When cleaning, wear strong, thick-soled shoes, long-sleeved trousers and gloves and masks to avoid being scratched by debris. Once scratched by nails and metals, you should go to the hospital to treat the wound in time. If necessary, you should get tetanus vaccine.

7. Pay attention to the safety of going out.

When going out, do not go to hillsides, canyons and other places with slopes, so as not to encounter landslides or mudslides. If you originally live in these places, pay attention to listening to the notice and evacuate in time. Stay away from outdoor scaffolding, telegraph poles, trees, billboards, iron towers and so on, so as not to loosen, fall and cause damage to the structure.

8. If you feel unwell, seek medical treatment in time.

In case of fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms, go to the hospital in time. If other people have similar symptoms, inform the medical staff in time, which is helpful for early detection of infectious diseases and lest the disease spread.