[P-Marlowe]

Even though cyanide is a very potent poison, it would take a LOT of cyanide to poison a city's water supply. In order to be guarnteed a lethal dose you need to injest about 300 mg. of cyanide salts. (that's like 3 asprin tablets). If you took 100 pounds of cyanide salts and tossed it into a reservoir, it MIGHT raise the level of cyanide to a level that would make it unfit for drinking, but it would be unlikely to kill anyone. You'd probably need to drink 20 to 30 gallons of water to get a lethal dose.

My guess is that these terrorists, like most terrorists, are just plain stupid. They did get caught, didn't they?

[piasa]

If they were going to just toss it into a reservoir, they wouldn't need a map of the water system.

[Rubber Duckie]

I don't think we can count on their stupidity. Some of them may just be running intereference. What is needed is draconian punishment, like hanging the perps that get caught-- before they have a chance to kill anybody.

[Travis McGee]

They would not attempt to affect an entire city's water supply, it's much easier and more effective to pump poison BACK into a system, with very cruel local effects.

Look for a pipe break which causes the pressure to be turned off temporarily. The terrorists then pump their poison back into the system through a house. This poison moves through a few neighborhoods (or a building) at lethally high concentrations.

[monday]

"My guess is that these terrorists, like most terrorists, are just plain stupid. They did get caught, didn't they?"

I agree, they are possibly the stupidest people on earth. Unfortunately, even these losers get lucky occasionally. 9-11