Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 79 posts

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#11

Post by sidewndr46 »

pmyteh wrote: post #3
sidewndr46 wrote: post #2

From the article: > The city and state were both distributing bottled drinking water and non-potable water for toilets Is there a risk to using untreated water from the river & reservoir to flush your toilets? Why would the city need to distribute toilet water?

There's currently no/low water pressure, so supply of even non-drinkable water is difficult.

My experience with residential toilets is the tank refills often enough with low pressure anyways. I guess they are in really bad shape if they can't even fill peoples toilet tanks.

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#12

Post by LinuxBender »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #9
LinuxBender wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over time, yes. Not so much a risk to humans but a risk to plumbing. As an example I have water risers on my fields that are fed by a lake. The horses also drink from this. Their water trough gets full of algae and moss. All the fittings I use have to be large enough to not get plugged up by the growth. I've tried using filters in the past but they plug up almost instantly.

A spin down filter solves for this. Manual ones are $50-$65, nice automated self cleaning ones are $175-$250. Great for well water imho to take the load off of disposable sediment filters further down the system. Depending on the make, you can typically swap out the stainless steel screens to change how aggressive your filtering is.

I might give this a shot. I've used them on wells and they are great for sediment. I wasn't sure if it would work the same with the moss but if it works that would save me from using the tank pellets.

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#13

Post by [deleted] »

toss1 wrote: post #10

They've got no water in one of the largest cities, but those state officials are definitely on top of making sure that those uppity females have no access to reproductive healthcare, and that city is mostly not white people -- they've got their priorities to take care of! Meanwhile, it looks like some federal intervention, e.g., Army Corp of Engineers is likely needed. More seriously, this is what we get when politic…

[deleted]

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#14

Post by mikestew »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #2

From the article: > The city and state were both distributing bottled drinking water and non-potable water for toilets Is there a risk to using untreated water from the river & reservoir to flush your toilets? Why would the city need to distribute toilet water?

It’s not a risk of contamination, it is that the treatment plant pumps can’t keep the water pressure up right now. Otherwise, river water is hopefully cleaner than what you’re trying to flush. Though in Jackson, MS, I wouldn’t take that as a given.

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#15

Post by [deleted] »

LinuxBender wrote: post #12
toomuchtodo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A spin down filter solves for this. Manual ones are $50-$65, nice automated self cleaning ones are $175-$250. Great for well water imho to take the load off of disposable sediment filters further down the system. Depending on the make, you can typically swap out the stainless steel screens to change how aggressive your filtering is.

I might give this a shot. I've used them on wells and they are great for sediment. I wasn't sure if it would work the same with the moss but if it works that would save me from using the tank pellets.

[deleted]

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#16

Post by ParksNet »

Even regular tap water in many US cities is contaminated with PFAS and other pollutants.

When water does reach a house, only about 5-20% is used for cooking or drinking - the rest for watering plants, showers, toilet flushing, washing.

Is it better to just outfit each home with an under-sink reverse osmosis machine and pipe in raw reservoir water?

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#17

Post by bequanna »

toss1 wrote: post #10

They've got no water in one of the largest cities, but those state officials are definitely on top of making sure that those uppity females have no access to reproductive healthcare, and that city is mostly not white people -- they've got their priorities to take care of! Meanwhile, it looks like some federal intervention, e.g., Army Corp of Engineers is likely needed. More seriously, this is what we get when politic…

I think you’re confusing the responsibilities of states and local municipalities.

It may surprise you to learn that Jackson is actually led by a quite liberal mayor: https://www.jacksonms.gov/departments/office-of-the-mayor/

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#18

Post by jgrowl »

stodor89 wrote: post #7

2022, USA, 100k+ town with no drinking water. Indefinitely. We've truly peaked as a civilization.

Every civilization starts building a tower.

Those at the bottom bring supplies to the top and maintain it.

Those at the top are tasked with seeing what is coming and making Wise decisions.

Those at the top forget about the needs of the bottom and instead focus only on vertical expansion.

Eventually the summit grows taller than what the base can sustain.

Then the workers at the bottom abandon the base.

The tower left unmaintained, collapses.

Re: Jackson, Mississippi, to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely

#19

Post by [deleted] »

ParksNet wrote: post #16

Even regular tap water in many US cities is contaminated with PFAS and other pollutants. When water does reach a house, only about 5-20% is used for cooking or drinking - the rest for watering plants, showers, toilet flushing, washing. Is it better to just outfit each home with an under-sink reverse osmosis machine and pipe in raw reservoir water?

[deleted]
Post reply on HN