Bad Water Joke Prompts Flood Of Public Concern In Florida County [VIDEO]

A pair of Florida radio hosts got into some hot water over an out-of-hand April Fools' joke Monday, causing a public panic by telling listeners that turning on their faucets would release "dihydrogen monoxide."

Any calendar-conscious folks who paid attention in high school chemistry would recognize that dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) is water and that the deejays were just having a bit of fun on April 1.

But apparently there are not a lot of chemists or calendars in the Fort Myers, Fla. area.

The on-air joke prompted a wave of concerned people to contact the local water utility, causing the Lee County board of commissioners to issue an immediate press release assuring citizens that nothing more than plain, safe water is coming out of the taps. Ironically, that's pretty much what the deejays said, too.

According to the Atlantic Wire, there was talk of pressing felony charges against the deejay pair because their listeners(unwittingly) panicked so much.

Diane Holm, a public information officer for Lee County told local WTSP-TV that, "My understanding is it is a felony to call in a false water quality issue."

As it turned out, no felony charges were pressed, likely because saying dihydrogen monoxide is coming out of the faucet is technically accurate.

In an effort to douse the figurative fire, the radio station broadcast that the water is safe to drink and that the deejays had played a bad April Fools' joke.

The long-time Gator Country morning deejays, Val St. John and Scott Fish were suspended for a day because of the prank, according to the Atlantic Wire.