To think this isn't panic buying?

[AtomicBlondeRose]

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/devon-cryptosporidium-outbreak-school-closed-hundreds-ill-latest-updates/

This is an awful situation in Devon, but why on earth is people buying bottled water in a situation where the water is undrinkable "panic buying" - it seems like perfectly sensible buying to me? Every single person needs the equivalent of multiple bottles of water every day, and I would say those who have the ability to buy it are actually being fairly considerate in leaving stocks of the bottled water being provided by the water companies for those who need it.

Not all stocking up is panic buying! It is sometimes a very rational response to the situation you're in.

I agree. People who say that they won't trust "just boiling" the water are making themselves look very hard of thinking.

Boiling is the most effective method of killing viruses/bacteria/parasites - more effective than the chlorine that is used in normal tap water.

We have known that boiling is an effective way to remove disease causing organisms for a very long time, it's not as if it's brand new information that the water company pulled out of their arse this week.

Also agree with this.

The main issue here is the chronic underinvestment in essential infrastructure by profit-driven water companies. Our rivers are full of shit, and we're expected to just accept it.

My dh has had this bug he caught it on holiday years ago it is horrific . This is a whole town with a .contaminated water supply of course they are going to .buy all the water that's going good for them.

Why aren’t they giving out water purification tablets?
I’ve got a stock of 500 in, just in case - one tablet does 10 litres.

Even plain bleach can be used, although most people are too stupid to know how to do it safely.

It just shows how unprepared the masses are for anything serious happening, like war for example, they will just expect stuff to be magicked up on demand.

Water purification tablets doesn't kill this particular bacteria.

Ah stupid people I.bet you are relieved you are not 1 of them. Are the people who are living in war zones also stupid ?

I think 4 litres is conservative, I drink at least 2.5-3 litres of water a day, plus tea & coffee and anything for cooking, washing etc.

Possibly because tablets are less effective than boiling for some organisms (not sure about this specific parasite) and also more susceptible to user error than boiling (e.g. people using not enough/too much).

I use purification tablets/liquid when wild camping in remote areas because it's less heavy than carrying enough gas to boil all water, but in this scenario (i.e. most of these people are in their homes, with access to cookers/kettles) boiling is probably better.

This.

People living in war zones are highly likely to have been driven out of their homes, and therefore unable to access their supplies or facilities. It's not the same scenario in the least.

Perhaps people don't trust that a parasite is responsible.

Perhaps they suspect a chemical accident (such as happened in cornwall). People there were assured the water was safe to drink.

Trust has broken down. These are the consequences. It's not hard to see why people don't trust the water companies to tell the truth. Unless you're hard of thinking.

I was replying to a pp who was talking about stupid people and the masses etc etc. I wasn't talking about war zones realy of course its a different scenario.

It's not the water companies that are diagnosing sick people though. It's NHS clinical staff that are making the diagnosis

Are you saying that people think doctors and nurses / Public Health England are in on a conspiracy to cover up for the water company? And that this is a reasonable thing for them to think?

It's a minimum that I read on preparedness websites. It does take up a lot of space. Usually, just for the first three days before you work out other sources. You would of course choose to eat foods you have that contain liquid, tinned foods, use the liquid from chickpeas, drink juice from fruit, not go to the rice and dried beans immediately!

Its the south west water authority that are giving the advice to boil water.

The same authority that lied for 2 weeks after they poisoned a town in cornwall.

I can easily imagine that people may not trust them!

I dont think it makes them hard of thinking or paranoid.

And it's got nothing to do with Nurses! Most people aren't even going to need any medical attention.

But the cause of this whole thing is that Public Health have raised the alarm about cases of cryptosporidosis in the area! It's Public Health that has said there is an issue with the water, and what that issue is - based on the clinical cases being reported.

Given that Public Health have specified the parasite that is infecting people, it's not hard to then look up what methods of purification will kill that parasite. You don't have to listen to the water company at all.

Public Health England - "There's an outbreak of a waterborne parasite in this area, lots of cases have been confirmed. Water supplies need investigating ASAP."
People - "They must be covering up a chemical leak for the water company!"

Public health England aren't mentioned in that article.

Did you make that up to justify calling people 'hard of thinking'?

There are many, many articles about this situation. Just read the BBC news front page. Public Health are involved.

You made it up didn't you?

Try and demonstrate a little empathy for people who may be worried/ill. People who may have good cause not to trust SWW.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4rrmplxllo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1813768n0o

Both articles mention that the investigations were commenced due to public health identifying an outbreak, with UKHSA then investigating it.

"The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said investigations into the source were ongoing"

If people want to invent conspiracy theories, that our public health agencies are perpetrating some kind of bizarre cover up of a chemical leak, that's up to them, but I'm not going to play along and pretend that those conspiracy theories are reasonable.

I agree that the water companies are dodgy as anything, not trustworthy at all, but it wasn't them that raised the alarm on this. Disbelieving that the source is a parasite means you think our public health agencies are lying.

I wouldn’t trust it being boiled tbh!!

They poisoned a town??

Maybe it's for showering as I've used boiled water before when my boiler was broken.

I probably wouldn't either as I said before Dh has had this it really isn't a 24 hour bug situation it is horrible and can last weeks dh was really ill and needed a couple of courses of antibiotics.

I was antibacterial spraying and bleaching everywhere using gloves to put his washing In the machine. I.cant imagine what a whole town is going through the anxiety must be through the roof.