When is your next boil?
The White House is asking the public to help them identify the next boil water warning, The Hill reports.
The Hill spoke with the White House’s Office of the Press Secretary on Monday to get a sense of what the next warning could be.
A boil water advisory would be a signal to residents to stay away from drinking water.
“It could be anything from an increase in lead in drinking water, to an increase of ammonia in drinking stream, to the water supply itself, to a potential increase in bacteria in the water itself,” said John Deasy, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute.
“There could be a spike in some of the contaminants that are in the drinking water that’s coming out of the tap.”
In the past, the White Senate has sent warnings to state governments and private businesses, but it’s not clear whether the Trump administration would take this route.
According to the EPA, there are currently 1,600 boil water advisories in place nationwide.
This means there are more than 1,000 boil water warnings in effect.
The Trump administration has been pushing states to increase the number of boil water alerts they send out, but the idea of having a federal warning is a big step for the White house.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he wants states to notify the federal government about boil water violations in the next 30 days.
The EPA has a list of the 10 most significant violations, which include not keeping boil water filters at all times, not using filters properly, and failing to keep boil water clean.
States should also send notices to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The administration has said the federal agencies have a mandate to provide boil water information, and that the Trump administrations position is that states should follow their own state laws.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that he has instructed the White Houses staff to work with states to coordinate on the next advisories.
We want to make sure that the states follow their state laws,” Spicer said, according to The Hill.
