HARAZ N. GHANBARI / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nearly a half million people have been without clean running water for over two days where I live. I don’t live in a third world county or in a war zone. I live in Toledo, Ohio, in the midwest of the United States.
We have been told the water supply is unsafe to consume, heat up, wash with, or even put on living plants. There is a toxin in the water supply called microcystin. It comes from the overgrown algae bloom in Lake Erie. This is where the city get its water.
There are several things we have not been told.
-What is the most recent tested level of microcystin?
-What is the accepted safe level?
-How often is the water tested for it?
-How long does it take to process the test?
-Is the City of Toledo still processing these tests?
-What are any of the results?
-Is it getting better, worse or staying the same?
-What are the conditions needed to have safe water again?
Why isn’t the government of the people, by the people, for the people sharing any of this information with the people? I don’t even care about fault right now. I’d like to know approximately when I can put my clothes in the washing machine or run my dishwasher or take a hot shower.
One true positive by-the-people action to be seen are the many who are pulling together to help each other out in this situation while the powers that be don’t release any information.
