Whitehall is a small upstate New York village that basically depends on one lake (Pine Lake) for all its water. The pipes running that water around town are old as hell — some of them go back 100 years.
Last winter, the lake’s water level dropped way too low, partly from drought and partly because the system leaks like a sieve. That meant the village pumps literally couldn’t reach the water, so they had to shut the whole thing down.
No water. No flushing toilets. No showers. People had to line up at the firehouse to get bottled water or even haul water to flush their toilets. Schools shut down, firefighters had to bring in trucks full of water to fight fires — it was basically a total collapse.
They used to have backup water sources (like Pike Brook and Broadman Reservoir), but years ago, they sold those off to save money, thinking they’d never need them again. Big mistake — because with no backup, one problem took down the entire system.
Even months later, people were still under boil-water orders and told to ration what little water was flowing. The village was trying to figure out if they could drill wells or fix the pipes, but that costs a ton of money.
Whitehall’s water crisis shows what happens when you ignore old infrastructure for too long and put all your faith in one water source. It turned a normal village into a place where people had to melt snow just to flush their toilets — in New York, not a developing country.
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