Physician: water shutoffs pose immediate health risks to children, elderly and disabled

Dr. Brian Hames, an internal medicine physician and pediatrician, said the ordinance addresses basic public-health needs and urged the council to support it. He said he treats elderly adults, people with disabilities and young children and described the medical consequences of losing running water.

"From a health standpoint, just within 24 hours without drinking water you start to have some of the deleterious effects of, being without enough food, dehydration. Within 4 days you are, almost beyond the point of recovery in the hospital," Hames said. He added that losing access to clean water undermines basic hygiene and can lead to infections and other severe conditions, and he called the ordinance "important for the health of every single person in Wilmington."