This has been the reason I and some of my coworkers have been so sick for the past few days. At times it feels like I'm being disemboweled from inside of my body. Anyway, thanks NYC for being the cause of my ailment:

DRINKING WATER ADVISORY
NEW YORK CITY – June 30, 2005 – Following recent heavy rainstorms, higher than normal levels of particles have been detected in the City’s drinking water supply, which can interfere with the water chlorination process. These high levels were observed at approximately 2am today at the Hillview reservoir just north of New York City. While the affected water was diverted shortly thereafter, out of an abundance of caution, DOHMH is recommending that infants, the elderly, pregnant women and New Yorkers with conditions that compromise their immune systems– those with HIV/AIDS, especially those with CD4 counts less than 200; those with leukemia; and those who are post bone marrow transplantation - use either boiled or bottled water as a precaution for the next 24 hours (until noon Friday).

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has requested that doctors increase testing for parasitic illnesses and immediately report these diseases as well as any increase in gastrointestinal symptoms, especially diarrheal illness.

The DOHMH and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection are working closely with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further assess water quality and are continuing to monitor for illness.

The emphasis on “normal limits” is mine. One thing I must say for NY tap water, it has won taste awards for 8 out of the last 10 years. Personally I only drink triple filtered water at home and bottled water at work. When I switched to the new job I kept forgetting to pick up bottled water, so I kept drinking water from their fancy filtered water fountain. Unfortunately, I forgot that the ice machine doesn’t filter the water before making ice – damn it! And I kept drinking water (my 8 glasses a day) until late Friday when I went to the machine and saw the above notice on ice machine. I’ve learned a very painful and valuable lesson that will be a powerful reminder for many months to come.

Posted by: Michele at 09:15 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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