Well poisoning: time frame until usable again?
score:4
Accepted answer
Two issues here. Toxic chemicals, and disease (bacteria and viruses).
- If something introduced toxic chemicals into the well, and the source for those chemicals has been removed, this is a question of how long it takes for the remaining chemicals already in there to become so diluted as to be no longer harmful. That depends on the type of chemical, how much got into the well, and the nature of the well itself (walls, water circulation, ...). Too many variables to come up with a number, or really, a range. I hope you agree.
Similar "too many variables" considerations apply to bacteria and viruses. However,
- Bacteria and viruses can be killed off by boiling the water prior to consumption. The issue is that, before the 19th century, people did not know about bacteria and viruses...
So... the answer really comes down to, it depends. The real danger with well poisoning was if it was not detected.
More post
- 📝 What post 18thC countries rulers escaped to a remote/separate region and hung on while the country collapsed under revolution?
- 📝 Why didn't early modern Christians object to pagan symbolism in art?
- 📝 Were there any pro-Native American groups during the Indian Wars?
- 📝 Why didn't the Black Death made the peasants more desperate and more accepting of exploitation?
- 📝 When did *wooden* 'nails' (pegs) for clay roof tiles go out of fashion?
- 📝 What was the German perspective on Stalingrad?
- 📝 When did English become a major subject in Japanese schools?
- 📝 What do we know culturally about Cheddar Man?
- 📝 Meaning of the words "Wanted Dead Or Alive"
- 📝 Was a passport needed to travel between UK and France in 1972?
- 📝 Why didn't Roman emperors have harems?
- 📝 How difficult was to escape from a naval battle after engaging into one during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 Major power shift in Gaul circa 350 B.C
- 📝 Was there a movement for "humane" slavery?
- 📝 What was the judicial body in 16th century France called?
- 📝 Are there any writings by blinded and/or exiled Byzantine emperors?
- 📝 Why did the Arab spring and Iranian Green movement failed for the most part, but the European revolution did not?
- 📝 Why Canada failed to emerge as a Great Power like UK or France?
- 📝 Solzhenitsyn's History of Russian Jews
- 📝 Has a sniper ever disabled a tank?
- 📝 A magic system at least partially based on the real-world cultural history of magic?
- 📝 In the Palestine Partition Plan, why was Jaffa allocated to the Arab state?
- 📝 Why did the United States issue the Monroe Doctrine when it did?
- 📝 Why did Danish people not "connect" with neighbor nations until Viking Age?
- 📝 Between which years did a trend of violence toward h*m*sexuals begin and end in America?
- 📝 When did we start expecting a store to have bags for our purchases?
- 📝 Looking for a people where the “traditional” gender roles are shifted
- 📝 When did the Charismatic Movement start?
- 📝 How could a man be made a bishop of a place while not having received major orders?
- 📝 What is the oldest debt that any country is paying right now, and to whom?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Well poisoning: time frame until usable again?
- 📝 How well did William III speak English at time of the Glorious Revolution in 1688?
- 📝 Until what time was the Ancient Roman calendar era used?
- 📝 Has there ever been a case when a traitorous military commander took command again for the side he betrayed?
- 📝 Why did Europe not see Roman-era numbers of men participating in battles until the 17th century?
- 📝 When were 'time zones' (or at least time difference) discovered?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 Until when was Marseille Greek-speaking?
- 📝 Why could Phoenicians sail past Cape Bojador but later Europeans could not until 1434?
- 📝 Why did Switzerland not grant votes to women until 1971?
- 📝 Why of all units is Time standard?
- 📝 At which point in time did the majority of German population become aware of the Holocaust?
- 📝 When was the last time a reigning monarch personally participated in battle?
- 📝 Why did Chamberlain remain Prime Minister of Britain until 10 May, 1940?
- 📝 Was there a Viking Exchange as well as a Columbian one?
- 📝 Why did Germany not join the United Nations until 1973?
- 📝 How did people wake up on time before alarm clocks?
- 📝 Who had the shortest time in going from imprisonment to head of state within democratic processes?
- 📝 What time of day was the White House burned in August of 1814?
- 📝 What was the shortest time between a historical event occuring and a museum opening dedicated to said event?
- 📝 Why did quill pens persist until the early 19th century despite the capacity to make metal dip pens?
- 📝 Why did people not tend to keep records or consider future consequences until very recently?
- 📝 Did Antarctica remain entirely unvisited by humans until the early 19th century?
- 📝 Why were battles massed until the late 1800s?
- 📝 Why was decimal time unsuccessful?
- 📝 Approximately how much travel time was saved by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?
- 📝 How did the Germans get housing again after WWII?
- 📝 What kind of evidence (if any) could be used to identify a large conquest in the time before writing?
- 📝 Why did the Japanese attack the Aleutians at the same time as Midway?
- 📝 How did the Druids learn the Greek language by the time of Caesar's campaign in Gaul?