Testing and cleaning North Carolina’s water supply post-Florence could prove tricky. A microbiologist explains why
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/testing-and-cleaning-north-carolina-s-water-supply-post-florence-could-prove-tricky
Microbes in floodwaters from Hurricane Florence have likely contaminated drinking water.
Hurricane Florence dropped record-breaking amounts of rain as it hovered over the Carolinas last week. The resulting floodwaters killed dozens of people and created a lingering crisis for drinking water supplies. Across North Carolina, lagoons full of livestock waste, enclosures full of dead chickens and hogs, raw sewage from wastewater treatment plants, and coal ash ponds are all overflowing. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a statement on Monday that at least 23 drinking water systems in the state had temporarily halted their operations and that 21 others were operating with boil water advisories.