WASHINGTON — As D.C. residents stock up on bottled water in the wake of a boil advisory, the look on customers’ faces isn’t one of panic.
There’s annoyance, maybe some strained looks, but not panic as people walked out of grocery stores around D.C. Friday morning carrying cases of bottled water they didn’t anticipate buying.
“I woke up and I read the article and then I came here,” said Eden Rochelle, who walked out of a Giant near Wisconsin Avenue with two cases of bottled water. “I was like ‘Ugh, I’m going to have to fight someone at the grocery store if I don’t get up now.’”
Those two cases will be divided between her roommates and herself for the next day or so.
Justin Fulb has fewer people to share the three cases and three gallon jugs of water he had in his cart.
“We have a baby and a two-year-old at home, so we drink a lot of water anyway,” Fulb said. “So we’re stocking up just because we get normal [amounts of] water and so now I just got a little extra.”
Douglas Petersen also came out with a couple of cases of water, and nothing else.
“It will probably last longer than this little incident will,” he admits. “But I’ve got a kid at home so I’m just playing it safe.”
Lely Constantinople and her daughter Bella came out “with as much water as we can possibly carry ourselves,” as she put it.
She said the store shelves were thinning out faster than employees could restock them on what’s ramping up to be a seasonably hot summer weekend, though it wasn’t for lack of effort.
“I brushed my teeth, I made my coffee,” she said with frustration in her voice, as she remembered the lead water scandal of years past. “It’s taken them a decade to build back trust, and the advisory — you know, I hope that’s the case. I hope no one gets sick; I hope this doesn’t affect anyone.”
“I really do think about people who can’t afford to come in here and buy water,” added Constantinople. “What is the city doing for them today and for the days to come?”
Around the corner at Silver, a restaurant along Wisconsin Avenue that’s open for breakfast, a manager said the advisory wouldn’t have an impact on food preparations, saying any time water was needed it would be boiled for as long as necessary.
She added customers who asked for a glass of water to drink were provided with bottled water.
But most people weren’t worried.
“The advisory is an advisory,” Rochelle argued with nonchalance. “It’s not necessarily if you drink tap water you’re going to die … but I’d rather play it safe.”
