More than five months ago, a destructive wildfire changed the landscape of Paradise town in California. Today, the city remains as a disaster zone as not more than 10% of the debris left by the fire has been cleared. Apart from this and the big amount of toxic waste left all over town potable water has become a major problem.
According to the information provided by the state, approximately 10,500 services lines are available in the system and the water supply looks outdated becoming a big hazard for the residents. The warnings are intense: If you move back to Paradise, don’t drink water (even if you boil it). Residents have been buying water filtration systems that can check the VOC readings and help to get safe potable water.
At least 9,000 homes have been destroyed during this fire and 86 people lost their lives. The strength of the fire got even to those that were prepared for this situations. Wildfire desolation won’t change if water problems are not solved soon. Can this city come back to life after this disaster?
Dozens of volatile organic chemicals are found in different samples of water lines and hydrants. Benzene is the most dangerous one and has been detected in almost all the tests that showed positive for contamination. Authorities appear to be in a stage of measuring the size of this damage to the water supply system and the district is struggling to get financial aid to solve this and bring the residents back home.
