Do you get tap water during a hurricane? (Miami, Tampa: safe, to move)

[tar21]

During a hurricane do you get tap water or does it shut off? And if it shuts off how long is it usually off for? Also do you ever have sewage water come out from the tap during a hurricane?

[tallrick]

During Andrew, Wilma and Katrina neither myself nor any of my friends lost water service. However, since the county has to run on backup generators when the power goes out, pressure is reduced. Those of us with wells never run out of water unless we do not have generators ourselves.

[valicky]

I also never lost water, during or after any hurricanes, not even Andrew. The pressure was considerably lower after Andrew for a while though.

[Cubanchic]

In Andrew we didn't lose water but the pressure was way low and the water was somewhat rusty looking. We had to boil the water for a period of two weeks.

For all the other hurricanes that didn't happen except for low pressure.

[Cubanchic]

In Andrew we didn't lose water but the pressure was way low and the water was somewhat rusty looking. We had to boil the water for a period of two weeks.

For all the other hurricanes that didn't happen except for low pressure.

[tar21]

Originally Posted by Cubanchic

In Andrew we didn't lose water but the pressure was way low and the water was somewhat rusty looking. We had to boil the water for a period of two weeks.

For all the other hurricanes that didn't happen except for low pressure.

Was it safe to wash your hands or shower with the water without boiling it?

[Cubanchic]

Originally Posted by tar21

Was it safe to wash your hands or shower with the water without boiling it?

Our clothes got ruined with tub washing, so we boiled our water for drinking and showered at my parents which were two miles away, since they had well water. We were out of power for about-almost five weeks and when we finally got power I literally ran to the meter and kissed it!

[tallrick]

I too remember the rusty water. However, we did already have a R-O filter and used that for drinking water. Power was off for over a month, but the second day after Andrew I was so bored and frustrated that I started raiding the trash piles and getting junk from friends to build a wood gasifier for the old generator I had at my parents home. Once we got the generator running on gasoline and could weld it only took two days to get the wood gas system working and we spent the following weeks enjoying hot water, some air conditioning and running the washing machine. By the time the county had increased water pressure and clothes came out clean. Even after power was restored we continued to run the generator to help clean up the debris. I was quite frustrated with the inept Tampa electric guys who were supposed to "fix" the power but in a way thanked them for giving me incentive to build my first wood powered generator.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by tar21

During a hurricane do you get tap water or does it shut off? And if it shuts off how long is it usually off for? Also do you ever have sewage water come out from the tap during a hurricane?

By the way, I forgot to mention that without power sewage pumps do not work. Unless you have a septic tank all sewers rely on gravity and electricity to move sewage. It is simply not possible to dig the main lines deep enough to let gravity move sewage all the way to Key Biscayne. So every 1/2 mile or so there are pits where sewage collects then is pumped to a forced main for treatment. I had a friend in the South Miami heights area who was dealing with sewage overflowing in the street from the manhole cover. However, since the water supply is a separate system it is physically impossible for sewage to come out of the tap.

[Cubanchic]

Originally Posted by tallrick

By the way, I forgot to mention that without power sewage pumps do not work. Unless you have a septic tank all sewers rely on gravity and electricity to move sewage. It is simply not possible to dig the main lines deep enough to let gravity move sewage all the way to Key Biscayne. So every 1/2 mile or so there are pits where sewage collects then is pumped to a forced main for treatment. I had a friend in the South Miami heights area who was dealing with sewage overflowing in the street from the manhole cover. However, since the water supply is a separate system it is physically impossible for sewage to come out of the tap.

Hubby told me that in the event of a hurricane they will put generators on the pump sumps located in areas that are down. He works with the compliance dept of Derm and since Andrew they greatly improved a contingency plan for the suburbs. Now the high rise buildings are a another thing altogether, hopefully that all have a backup generator for each building.