Stockpile Water!

[MDG1976]

Just a quick thought: no matter how many lumen your flashilght is or how many carbon fiber accessories are on your AR, you're not ready for anything unless you have lots and lots a drinking water on hand. It's the first thing you'll "need" in any emergency situation.

[1911 guy]

When filling up containers for water, bottled water is best, empty soda bottles will work, milk jugs, pots and pans, even your bathtub. To clean up, dip some water out and wash up in the pan. Baby wipes will cut down on water usage for personal hygene, brushing your teeth is a luxury, your teeth won't rot in a few weeks. Avoid coffee, tea, soda,and juices as the caffein and sugar make you more thirsty than just water.
A catch pan will net you a couple pints of water if it's raining and bleach can be used to straighten out slightly questionable water. Emphasis on slightly.

[72Rover]

I've found that those 3 to 5 liter "wine in a box" aluminized plastic bladders make nifty reservoirs. For those of you with freezers (and expect momentary - like a day or three - power outages) save, rinse and fill these and place in the freezer. They will conform/maximize the amount you can store and keep the freezer cold for several days after the power goes. After that, you've got a good supply of drinking water.

Cheers

[GhostRider66]

I have one of these with spare filters:

http://www.911water.com/bs_07_bb.html

With this, nearly any water supply will do.

[birddog]

Since the NO disaster, I've thought a lot more about emergency provisions(as I'm sure many of us have). One thing I've thought of as a source of water is the above ground pool we have in the back yard. In the event of an emergency, I'd throw the winter cover on it and that should provide many thousand gallons of usable water for many months. Do I RELISH the thought of drinking pool water, no....but it is chlorinated and -- as long as it's covered to keep out debris -- should remain clean and usable for a long time.

[Double Naught Spy]

Yep, a pool makes for a nice, personal storage reservoir. Of course above ground or not, if you were in many spots of NO, a cover over your pool would not stop it from being contaminated when the whole thing is submerged. Of course, short of being flooded, they are a nifty stockpile.

I am repeatedly amazed by the ignorance of people in not recognizing resources available to them. For self defense, a commonly missed useful tool is a fire extinguisher, for example. In previous catastrophies people have failed to do simple things like filling bathtubs with water. They don't realize that even with water cut off, they have anywhere from 20-50 gallons of water stored in their water heater.

The folks in NO have plenty of water. They just can't drink it. However, they could be harvesting it quite simply with plastic wrap, a cup, and some supports for the wrap. The plastic wrap is spread out and supported over the ground. A cup is placed underneath and at the center. A small weight is placed on top, directly over the cup. As water evaporates upward, it contacts the plastic wrap, forms droplets, that then flow down to the center where they drip in the cup. We did this in scouts where we were (not in an area saturated with excess water, that is for sure), we could get about 3/4 of a cup of water from a 3x3 feet spead of plastic per day. With all the excess water in NO, I would bet each little setup could get 3-4 cups per day.

[Mk VII]

wash out the rain barrel in the back yard. If it's corroded or cracked, replace it now. Buy more of them, and have them sitting under the downpipes until you need them. Rainwater's better for the lawn anyhow.

[CAS700850]

Double-Naught,

A fellow Scout? Isn't it amazing how what we learned comes back and shows how, silly as it seemed at the time, it is actually valuable. We did the ground-water collection during Wilderness Survival Merit Badge class.

Of course, those people would need to find above-water ground to use.

We've got about 20 gallons in plastic stored securely in the basement. Think it's about time to add to the supplies...

[george_co]

Yes, a swimming pool will provide a lot of water. It is not safe water! The chlorine will dissipate in a matter of hours whether or not you cover the pool. You still need to make it safe before you use it.

Chlorine reacts will lots of things, and with the sun shining it reacts even faster. Once the chlorine is gone the water will quickly (matter of hours) become unsafe to drink. Viruses and bacteria will quickly grow due to their logrithmic growth rate.

You still need to add purification tablets, boil it, or filter it with high quality filtration system capable of removing giardia and other viruses. The standard sink or refrigerator filter will not do that, all those types of filters do is absorb the chlorine and taste compounds and control some bacteria if they have silver compounds mixed in with the carbon.

This is especially true in a swimming pool, where presumably people have been swimming. People are covered with all kinds of bacteria. Even if people don't use the pool as a bathroom, you still contaminate the pool with fecal matter, because none of us are that clean. I have managed water plants and seen where even a small decrease in chlorine amounts or an invisible increase particulate matter in the finished water will cause significant increases in bacteria counts.

[GhostRider66]

This is especially true in a swimming pool, where presumably people have been swimming. People are covered with all kinds of bacteria. Even if people don't use the pool as a bathroom, you still contaminate the pool with fecal matter, because none of us are that clean. I have managed water plants and seen where even a small decrease in chlorine amounts or an invisible increase particulate matter in the finished water will cause significant increases in bacteria counts.

Among the things I don't like to think about....I guess I'll be avoiding the pool for the rest of the summer.

[birddog]

George,
Thanks for the post -- I didn't call the pool water "potable", just "usable". Of course, it would have to be boiled or filtered. My plan for boiling it involves either my gas-grill or Coleman camping stove, if the electricity is out.

[Clean97GTI]

Another method I had thought of for killing mircobes/viruses/etc would be to add a potable alcohol to the water in question.
Could one add, say an ounce or two per gallon and achieve a decent level of decontamination?

That would be the equivalent of 1/2 to one shot of liquor per gallon of water. The water would certainly counteract the dehydrating effect of one shot of booze and one shot in that quantity of water isn't really going to intoxicate much at all.

A stronger liquor that could contribute water to the mix (like vodka) would be useful.
Pure grain alcohol would be the most potent and econimical.
If you wanted to get rid of the alcohol, you could always boil the water, but then you are cutting down on water and could have boiled it in the first place (as well as distilling it in the process)
What do you think?

[VTKFJoe]

Clean97GTI - I think you are looking for a good reason to stockpile Vodka

[Boats]

I think iodine or chlorine has been the choice for over a century for a reason. I think you'd need a lot more alcohol than you propose to use to change the water mix into a lethal environment for parasites and bacteria.

An MSR Waterworks EX is an excellent and affordable system for the average user. I am thinking about getting one myself so that I would have a lesser effort system than my Katadyn Pocket Filter is.

The EX concept is to throw iodine in the water for the recommended time. Then pump it through the filter. Since the ceramic cartridge has an activated carbon core, it removes the iodine taste from the water for you. The EX can be made to adapt its discharge directly into the excellent wide mouth Nalgene bottle to avoid post pumping contamination from flying dust or other air suspended stuff. Eight thousand liters of water in a field serviceable unit with few parts is the right answer for about $125.00 online.

[obm]

make sure if you stockpile anything you do it discreetly. once an unruly mob that hasn't had water or food for a couple days find out you have any stockpile your house will be overrun.

[dpesec]

OBM you bet. I was thinking about a generator, but I'm not sure about that for the same reason.
I know my ex girlfriend has one but I'm not sure....

[Dave P]

Isn't a little bleach in your stored water a good thing? Can you safely drink it then?

[Clean97GTI]

Any reason is a good reason to stockpile vodka.
You can use it as a light source as well as a weapon.

Cocktails? Yes, I'll have a double-tall Molotov.

[Janitor]

I have a portable water purification filter. Not a drinking water "taste" filter - one that should make your supply safe against the majority of bacteria, etc.

The one I use: http://www.rei.com/product/47575396....HP_CAMPING_TOC

That, and some purification type addative like iodine, and you should be good to go under most conditions.

[Clean97GTI]

Dave,

the National Park Service advises 8 drops of bleach per gallon.

[MaterDei]

Brushing ones teeth is never a luxury!

[Clean97GTI]

You don't need water to brush your teeth.
It makes the excercise quicker and more effective, but is not needed.

You can use a bare brush.
The Army Field Survival also states that using ones finger or a chew stick is better than nothing.

If you can find some, chewing gum will also benefit you.

[wingnutx]

Get some plastic jerry cans, fill them from your tap, and rotate your stock periodically. Keep some cheap bleach on hand for purification.

Also, a solar still is easy to make out of a sheet of plastic. I learned that in scouts 25 years ago.

[Cosmoline]

Yes indeed. Water is the most important survival supply, bar none. It's far more important than food. Store at least five gallons per person, more if possible.

I'm not making a joke, but mildly alcoholic liquid bread (AKA beer) is also a very good thing for your stockpile. It's sterile, resists fungus and bacteria growth to some extent, and unlike hard liquor does not dry you out. It also has massive loads of carbs.

Vodka is good for cleaning your hands off and cleaning out wounds.

[Clean97GTI]

Originally Posted by cosmoline

Yes indeed. Water is the most important survival supply, bar none. It's far more important than food. Store at least five gallons per person, more if possible.

I'm not making a joke, but mildly alcoholic liquid bread (AKA beer) is also a very good thing for your stockpile. It's sterile, resists fungus and bacteria growth to some extent, and unlike hard liquor does not dry you out. It also has massive loads of carbs.

Vodka is good for cleaning your hands off and cleaning out wounds.

Just an FYI, but some beers will go bad without refrigeration. Your standard American brews are not among these. It WILL dry you out though. The alcohol is what does this. It won't be as quick and you have to drink a fair amount (get drunk in other words) to manage it. You'd be far better off to prepare water first instead of carrying beer.

Vodka is good for cleaning tools and maybe hands. You don't want to put alcohol into wounds. While it will kill nasties, it has a detrimental effect on exposed tissues. They don't heal nearly as well when you half-ass cauterize them with a chemical. It's better than nothing, but you'd probably be better off using urine.
Alcohol does have redeeming quality though. It does act as a mild pain reliever. While you'd be better off with other things, alcohol CAN manage this.

I'm still awaiting a reply from the National Park Service regarding alcohol as a water purifier.