Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink!

"Wait! Let me give you bottled water to use to brush your teeth!" Those were the words that alerted Marash Girl to the problem with the drinking water in Gloucester, Massachusetts . . . . But she didn't really believe that beautiful Gloucester would have such a problem. . . Her friend continued: "My plumber told me that there has been a serious problem with the water here since they put in the new water pipes in Gloucester -- a chemical from the lining of the pipes seeps into the water -- it's carcinogenic!  And if my plumber told me, it must be true!  What plumbers are so picky about water?"  Well, Marash Girl didn't really believe her friend . . . she figured that her friend was over-reacting to a problem that possibly existed in the past but no longer . . . she didn't believe her until they went out to dinner that night and the waitress greeted them by assuring them that the owner of the restaurant had installed a very expensive water filter to use for any and all of the tap water used in the restaurant . . . for washing, for cooking, for drinking!  But can you really filter out a chemical that is carcinogenic? Marash Girl wondered. And why would anyone buy a house in Gloucester knowing about the water problem?  Obviously, because they didn't know about the water problem . . . Oh, dear . . . .

Fast forward two days . . .  Marash Girl and Marash Boy stopped at Harvard Community Health in Wellesley Hills and there were signs everywhere stating "Per order of the Town of Wellesley, do not use the public water supply" and "Please do not drink from public water supply until further notice!"

Please do not drink from public water supply until further notice!

"Please use Purell only for hand washing until further notice!

What is going on?  And how can a health facility function only on Purell?  Without considering further, Marash Boy and Marash Girl drove on to Wellesley Hills to visit their favorite bakery for a breakfast coffee and pastry.  Marash Girl asked for decaf coffee and was told that the establishment was not making decaf coffee because of the limitation on bottled water, as the public water supply in Wellesley was no longer safe to ingest.  Oh, no! Again?

And just to confirm what the staff had told her, up drove a truck labeled "Brookline Ice & Coal" (were we going back in time, or was it Marash Girl's imagination?), the driver pushing a hand cart of ice to be used by the restaurant which could no longer use ice made with Wellesley water.