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Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

washingtonpost.com

11–20 of 58 posts

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#11

Florida has a higher age 65+ Vaccination rate than California or New York: https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-trac... We're rehashing all of the same arguments from 2020. The Southern States peak earlier in the year for respiratory viruses due to latitude: https://youtu.be/013L9J7WhuU So what's happening in the South now is a preview of what will happen in the Northern States, perhaps even worse…

I live in Canada and health authorities are making the same error. July cases lower than March/April so they relaxed. But summer is supposed to be low.

All stats in August 2021 are worse than August 2020 despite vaccinations. Not an optimistic setup for winter.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#12

Florida has a higher age 65+ Vaccination rate than California or New York: https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-trac... We're rehashing all of the same arguments from 2020. The Southern States peak earlier in the year for respiratory viruses due to latitude: https://youtu.be/013L9J7WhuU So what's happening in the South now is a preview of what will happen in the Northern States, perhaps even worse…

That may be true of respitory illnesses generally but it’s the opposite of what happened with covid: https://covidactnow.org/share/44853/?redirectTo=%2Fus%2Filli...

In every other surge the south lagged in cases. This time they lead (and the difference in how much is startling).

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#13

Can’t you bring in liquid oxygen from other areas of the country by truck?

Better yet, couldn’t you use electricity to break up some water molecules, so sulfide oxidation happens in situ? As an extra bonus, hydrogen fuel.

Why would you do so when you have for free in the air? Then you would need the same amount of energy and the same process to make it liquid, since it's very impractical and dangerous to store and move high pressure oxigen

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#14
post #2

They don't use chlorine?

They use chlorine.

The liquid oxygen is used to produce ozone, which, in addition to solving their taste and odor issues, is a potent disinfectant. However, ozone doesn't leave a detectable disinfectant residual in the water like chlorine does. Testing for that residual allows you to show that at any given tap in your distribution system, the water remains disinfected.

By using ozone for primary disinfection, you can greatly reduce the amount of chlorine you add to the water before you send it out into the distribution system, so you end up with fewer undesirable disinfection byproducts. Orlando's problem seems to be that they don't have the capacity to adequately disinfect the water with chlorine alone.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#15

Florida has a higher age 65+ Vaccination rate than California or New York: https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-trac... We're rehashing all of the same arguments from 2020. The Southern States peak earlier in the year for respiratory viruses due to latitude: https://youtu.be/013L9J7WhuU So what's happening in the South now is a preview of what will happen in the Northern States, perhaps even worse…

How are these vaccinated counted? Is this the federal government or the state? I heard the state is delaying giving out infections and deaths by weeks making look like it's not that bad. If the state is counting the vaccinations I wouldn't be surprised if those numbers are also inaccurate.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#16

Florida has a higher age 65+ Vaccination rate than California or New York: https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-trac... We're rehashing all of the same arguments from 2020. The Southern States peak earlier in the year for respiratory viruses due to latitude: https://youtu.be/013L9J7WhuU So what's happening in the South now is a preview of what will happen in the Northern States, perhaps even worse…

This isn’t true at all

CA and NY will likely peak in the next week or two and their curves look nothing like the southern states.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#17

Can’t you bring in liquid oxygen from other areas of the country by truck?

Better yet, couldn’t you use electricity to break up some water molecules, so sulfide oxidation happens in situ? As an extra bonus, hydrogen fuel.

you can't just add electricity to the water. the treatment plant already exists and probably needs to be running & producing potable water 24/7 with little room for fiddling around. besides, you can provide oxidation by running the water through an aerator, if you have one.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#18
Another article that buries the real reason there is a shortage.

>In August, Florida hospitals were struggling to get their hands on oxygen supplies in part because there were few truck drivers available who were qualified to transport it.

So it seems there is more than enough O2, it's just that they don't have enough Truck Drivers that are licensed to transport it. Either way it's still a problem but it's not related to the production of Liquid Oxygen.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#19
> hydrogen sulfide from water pumped in from the Lower Floridan Aquifer.

Those who have not experienced Florida water do not recognize just how big a deal that is. The water is "potable", sure, but it's viciously stinky. Some people can't adapt to it at all. I've known people who lost livestock they imported, because it couldn't adapt to the water.

Re: Orlando urges residents to conserve water because of surge in hospitalizations

#20
post #10

It sounds like if people do not cut back, then they will do the reasonable thing and prioritize sending oxygen to the hospitals, accepting that this means people's tap water will start smelling sulfurous [EDIT: and maybe need boiling before drinking] > To reduce demand for liquid oxygen, OUC is asking water customers to immediately limit irrigating their lawns and landscapes. If OUC’s liquid oxygen supplies continue…

not precisely-- while the ozone they produce from liquid oxygen does serve the purpose of making the water more palatable, it serves a higher purpose as their primary disinfectant. the faq in the link you provided states that OUD doesn't have the capacity to sufficiently disinfect water using chlorine alone

if people do not cut back, Orlando will have to issue a boil-water notice

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