toxic water

jennalatournichols

over the weekend, my friend's bunny rabbit got really sick, so they rushed it to the ER where it later died. the vets at the ER said a very high number of small animals died over the weekend and they think it was due to a small trace of something toxic in the water that was just enough to hurt the smaller animals.

 

i am soooo skeeved!!!!! 

akg0053

Yuck! That's really gross. Stuff like that skeeves me out as well.

CutesBoots

Yikes!  You'd be on public water in Philly right?  Public suppliers are required to test and report the results regularly.  I'd call the water company and see if you can get some more information.

barkers4jmm

That's horrible.  I can't imagine (although I am more and more disgusted about lack of regulation for the public good) that concentrations of contaminants sufficient to kill small animals is permissible in public water systems.  Permissible levels should be much more conservative.  If a 3-lb rabbit can die from drinking the water, what is the impact to a 7lb newborn that drinks formula made with public water?  It's obviously pervasive enough that the vet noticed a trend. I agree to contact the water company.

Albireo

Whoa! Keep us updated on this, please? I'll bet it'll be news soon.

litt1er4

I work for the Philadelphia water department and yes we regularly test for normal contaminants (metals, organics, inorganics, bacteria, etc) but for obvious reasons we are not able to test for everything, for instance people dump their prescription medicines down the drain. Also there may be something in your pipes or some other intermediary that may contaminating your water.

Has the doctor told you what exactly is the toxic substance? Let me know if you have any questions. But I am truly confident that Philly water is very clean (we run a lot more test than most bottled water companies). If your really concerned you could run your water through a RO filtration system.

Luis Soto

litt1er4:

I work for the Philadelphia water department and yes we regularly test for normal contaminants (metals, organics, inorganics, bacteria, etc) but for obvious reasons we are not able to test for everything, for instance people dump their prescription medicines down the drain. Also there may be something in your pipes or some other intermediary that may contaminating your water.

Has the doctor told you what exactly is the toxic substance? Let me know if you have any questions. But I am truly confident that Philly water is very clean (we run a lot more test than most bottled water companies). If your really concerned you could run your water through a RO filtration system.

Yes, I completely agree.  Public water is tested daily, sometime multiple times a day.  They are under strict rules and regulations.  I would not drink tap water that could kill a small animal, as it could easily poison an infant.  Therefore, I don't believe this doctor who told you this.  It would be a public epidemic if that were true.  I would seek alternative opinions.  Sorry for your loss.