boil water advisory????

The boil water advisory that has been in effect for the last day and a half was lifted this afternoon and it;s good to know that I can safely drink the water that comes out of my faucets again. However, it does make me wonder how many people actually boiled their drinking water. I did, but the way they explained it on TV an advisory is merely a suggestion that you might want to boil your water but they really didn't think there was any danger in drinking it. So why bother with an advisory? I suspect the powers that be were more interested in avoiding any possibility of a law suit if someone did get sick than a real concern for people's health.