After Hurricane Opal, health officials tested water from all the affected public systems, and it took about four days to get the results back. Until the systems had been officially declared safe, health officials warned not to drink the untreated water. People with their own household wells should have their wells tested after a prolonged outage or if their well head and pump were flooded. Health departments can provide information on testing private wells. The loss of power also plays havoc with sewage systems.
Electricity is needed to run pumps and treatment plants.
If a sewage system is without power, residents should limit the amount of water they flush and drain. Since last year's onslaught of hurricanes, water and sewer system operators have installed more emergency generators to keep the system working even if a power outage occurs. If, after the storm, you find time to go boating, be wary of sunken and floating junk waiting to snag your boat. The Coast Guard and Florida Marine Patrol try to mark sunken debris in channels, but they can't mark or locate all the floating debris in the open waters of the rivers, bays and gulf. Until you're informed that tap water from your water system is safe and free of dangerous bacteria, drink water that was bottled before the hurricane.