I knew it I knew it. In a town I used to live in, and as result used it’s water supply, the water works is right by the cemetery, like within 50 yards. Excuse me I need to go throw up now. Maybe make documentary about it and call it night of the drinking dead.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Welcome to the SDMB, lowkey.
A link to the column you’re commenting on is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060324.html
I don’t know how it works in your town, but in the two towns where I’ve depended on municipal water systems, water was piped to the water treatment plants from the actual source of water. In both cases, the water source was several miles away from the plant.
Thanks, noted, and good to know.
Exactly. I work for an environmental engineering firm; we design water and wastewater treatment facilities.
In the northeast, water supplies are typically from either reservoirs or from wells. In both cases there are strict guidelines that regulate land-use activities that may occur within zones around the water supplies.
In the case of reservoirs, the watersheds are protected. (A watershed may be thought of as a ridge of sorts; rain water or snowmelt on one side of the ridge goes toward the reservoir, while water on the other side does not.) In some towns (mine for example), there are multiple reservoirs that are connected to each other in order to maintain both capacity and water quality.
In the case of wells, there are concentric circles or “zones” around the well that regulate land use activities. Hydrogeologists create models of groundwater under pumping conditions that may anticipate the subsurface patterns of water, and additional protection may be required there as well. Again, there may be multiple wells in the town.
The water treatment plant itself may be next to the water source, although it need not be. In the case of wells, there are pumping stations located at the well sites. If the ground water is of acceptable quality (per state and federal guidelines), this water may be pumped directly into the town water supply system, or with some small amount of treatment. However, if there are questions as to the quality, then more treatment is required. I am not aware of any water supplies in the New England region that are allowed to take water from reservoirs without water treatment.
Beating the drum of my profession here, but water treatment guidelines are very stringent and water quality is usually exceptional. An accident causing contamination is always possible in a public water system; broken water mains, chemical spills near a water supply, operator error at the plant, but these are rare. In addition (at least in the New England area), the water suppliers are mandated to let their users know if they are in violation of any regulations. For all the jokes about government employees, water departments take water quality quite seriously. I think that LBHL need not worry about water quality if it comes from a public water supply in the United States.
And now for something completely different:
Cecil’s column mentioned adipocere. A friend of mine linked me to this story several years ago that mentioned that condition, and I found it to be fascinating.
In the cold light of day, I realize that I used the word quality in the regulatory sense of the word; this may be at odds with a consumer’s use of that word to refer to taste, color or smell. There can occasionally be problems with water aesthetics due to algae, water line flushing, etc. However, I was using the word “quality” to mollify the OP’s concern over water safety.
lol I apriciate it. It’s been years since I lived there though so if it wasn’t safe it would have shown up now. Although one did try to minamize their water drinking that particular town if you know what I mean.
Nah it was just more a general rejection of the potential ghoalishness of it.
You know, this question was the solution to a mystery I read several years back. I wonder if the original questyion was inspired by that book. Since it was a mystery, after all, I’ll spoiler it:
[spoiler]If I’d Killed Him When I Met Him by Sharyn McCrumb.
McCrumb also authored the wonderful Bimbos of the Death Sun and its sequel Zombies of the Gene Pool, two mysteries poking fun at sf/fantasy fans.[/spoiler]
I suppose it all depends on what the corpses ate when they were alive? I mean, I wouldn’t worry too much if they had healthy diets of nice organic (pesticide-free) food. But, I’d be really concerned (about the water supply) if they’d been a bunch of burger-munchers etc 