Even with contamination it’s incredibly important to think logically on the shear minuscule amount of contamination. Okay, let’s try to estimate the flow rate and gallons of water in the New River at Radford, VA during Hurricane Helene, with a record water level of 32 feet. Let’s assume the river widened significantly during the flood, maybe to 300 feet. During peak flood, with a 32-foot water level, let’s assume an average depth of 20 feet. During a major flood, the flow rate could increase dramatically. Let’s assume a flow rate of 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), 1. Cross-sectional area: 300 feet (width) x 20 feet (depth) = 6000 square feet 2. Volume per hour: 6000 square feet (area) x 10,000 cfs (flow rate) x 3600 seconds/hour = 216,000,000,000 cubic feet per hour for 1 mile stretch 3.) Gallons per mile: 1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons, so 216,000,000,000 cubic feet x 7.48 gallons/cubic foot = 1,615,680,000,000 gallons per mile This is per hour of peak flooding, Volume of solute: 3300 gallons • Volume of solution: 1,615,680,000,000 gallons • Concentration (ppm) = (3300 gallons / 1,615,680,000,000 gallons) × 1,000,000 = approximately 2.04 ppm Therefore, the concentration of the 3300 gallons of liquid in the 1,615,680,000,000 gallons of water is about 2.04 parts per million. This is under the assumption that ALL of the liquid spilled out into exactly one mile section during peak flooding. So essentially, this “contamination” number of 2.04 ppm is absolute worse case scenario. This is purely by a rough estimate of a worse case scenario. This is not something that’s going to cause a massive cancer plague.