Soon after a chemical spill flowed into Tinker Creek in Roanoke in late July, decimating aquatic life and threatening drinking water, journalists were on the phone or in the studio with Ted Puzio, owner of Southern Trust Home Services. They wanted his expertise in helping viewers or readers understand the potential threat to their health and what they could do to protect their families. Southern Trust has provided the Roanoke Valley with expert HVAC, electrical, plumbing and water-quality service for at least 20 years.
This particular spill involved an agricultural chemical that leaked from a punctured storage tank. It killed thousands of fish and aquatic insects and concerned nearby residents who draw water from wells. It was ultimately determined there was no immediate threat to human health or water supplies, but Puzio urged caution in the early hours after the spill. While no one was reported injured or sickened by the spill, Ted’s call for caution and ways to address the spill could serve as a template for virtually any similar disaster.
Here is the expert advice he shared with thousands of residents of the Roanoke area. The insight is worth saving should a similar water-quality problem spring up near you in the future.
- Play close attention to the taste of your water. If anything seems out of the ordinary, stop drinking the water immediately, and have your water tested.
- Do not re-boil water. Boiling removes a lot of bacteria and contaminants from your water, but boiling it a second time can be dangerous. When the water is placed back into the pot to boil a second time it is a good possibility you can contaminate it even more with toxins that may be present in the pot. When boiling water, do not boil more than you will use at one time.
- Use an under-the-counter water filter. This attaches to your kitchen and bathroom sink and will filter the water that enters that specific faucet.
- Use a faucet filter. Purchase a faucet filter to help filter out the contaminants from your drinking water. This will only filter the water at that faucet, but can be installed quickly by the homeowner.
The experts at Southern Trust can test your water, check your pipes, install filtration systems and put your mind at ease. Call 540-427-7311 today for an appointment.
