Water

The urban water supply of Metropolitan Boston has failed, as of May 1st. Contractors associated with the infamous Big Dig tunnel project, a standard of corruption and lethally substandard construction, are rumored to be responsible for the supply pipe which failed after just 7 years, thus cutting off drinkable water for 2 million people. The system has, as yet, no back-up supply line. Brilliant, eh? Yes, we are boiling water in Boston, and it isn't for lobsters or clams. It's for giadia and cryptosporidia.

How did we get here from the proud days of the far-sighted Quabbin Reservoir project and elegantly designed granite pumping stations (as illustrated) on pristine back-up reservoirs, scattered around the city? How is it that we have some of the most plentiful watersheds in the world, yet pay nearly twice as much for water as people in Phoenix, AZ!

I am hoping time will tell all. However, the short attention span of the media and the voting public leaves me doubtful that anything will come of it. In the meantime, I suggest you take a leaf from the book of my independent 90-year-old mother, whom I called to make sure she was aware of the need to boil water for drinking. She said, "Doesn't really effect me at all. I've been boiling my water for decades." And, her practice is not naive. She was once the administrative assistant for her hometown's civil engineer, who, of course, was involved with the urban water supply.