US - Florida: Orlando & Winter Park urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients - August 20, 2021

[sharon sanders]

Orlando urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients


By KEVIN SPEAR
TRONC |
AUG 20, 2021 AT 2:53 PM

The city of Orlando and its water utility made an urgent appeal Friday afternoon for residents to cut back sharply on water usage for weeks because of a pandemic-triggered shortage of liquid oxygen used to purify water.

If commercial and residential customers are unable to reduce water usage quickly and sufficiently, Orlando Utilities Commission may issue a system-wide alert for boiling water needed for drinking and cooking. Without reductions in water usage, a boil-water alert would come within a week, utility officials said.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asked residents to immediately stop watering their lawns, washing their cars and using pressure washers. Landscape irrigation consumes about 40% of the water provided by OUC.

more..

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/cor...0210820-f522oks5dvfwbozl5w7gcxg4oy-story.html

 

[sharon sanders]

This is my city.


Winter Park asks customers to conserve water over chemical shortage used to treat COVID-19 patients

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/oran...HARHGBINNWOPY/

city press release:

https://cityofwinterpark.org/wp-con...21.21.pdf?ver=1629570975591&ver=1629600753121

 

[Emily]

What a difference a year makes.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries...al-shortage-of-oxygen-in-developing-countries
COVID-19 exposes a critical shortage of oxygen in developing countries

August 25, 2020 | Article
...
Developed regions such as the United States and Western Europe are thought to have relatively mature and sound medical-oxygen infrastructures, and incremental demand is likely to pose little threat to their supply chains. These regions generally had a sufficient supply of oxygen to meet prepandemic demand and have not experienced significant shortages during the pandemic. To provide continuous oxygen supplies, they redistributed medical oxygen from nonessential or underutilized healthcare facilities and repurposed existing nonmedical supplies. They also expanded delivery systems at healthcare facilities, such as pipeline networks and vacuum-insulated evaporators at hospitals...