And we'll both sit down together, love, to hear the nightingale sing

[sovay]

Hello, nightingale! Goodbye, sleep! Shut up, Keats!

Thanks to a broken water main in Weston, none of the tap water in Lexington is drinkable unless boiled. The same if you want to wash your hands—although apparently you can shower in it. I am not sure how this fine distinction is supposed to work, but as I spent my day faring forth on errands and returning to yardwork, I think I'll just shower very quickly and try not to osmose.

Can anyone recommend a good biography of the Duke of Wellington?

Comments

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

What I keep wondering: could people not just run hot water, which has presumably been through a boiler already, and then let it cool? This is obviously contingent on the water having gotten hot enough in the boiler first, but I can't think of a reason it shouldn't work. Most microbes die after a few minutes at 140 F, and instantly at 160.

[sovay]

This is obviously contingent on the water having gotten hot enough in the boiler first, but I can't think of a reason it shouldn't work. Most microbes die after a few minutes at 140 F, and instantly at 160.

I think the "rolling boil for at least 1 minute" is to guarantee that the water stays upward of 160° for those few minutes. I have no idea what temperature water in the average boiler is allowed to reach; I've been assuming it doesn't get anywhere near actual boiling point in order to safeguard residents from accidentally blanching themselves in the shower. It would probably be simple to go downstairs and find out.

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

My perspective may be distorted by my living in an apartment building. I'm pretty sure our boiler does get close to actual boiling, otherwise the top floors would be hard pressed for truly hot water. (I also once lived in a ground-floor apartment where the hot water in the kitchen could easily have been used to poach fish.)