BE PREPARED! WATER FOR THE NEXT EMERGENCY

[Gunreference1]

Steve

[Nobeard]

Heads-up...
That's the same link as your thread "MATCHES, SWITCHES & HANDLOADING NICHES" in the reloading forum.

Not bitching, honestly interested to see what the link was for this thread.

[Gunreference1]

Corrected. Thanks for the heads up!

Steve

[JTHunter]

While it still needs "treatment", there are many dehumidifiers on the market now that have built in pumps and can take moisture out of the air, pump it through its own hose into a waiting filter. We just had to get a new one for the basement living area of my mother's house and the unit is about 12" front-to-rear, about 20-22" high, and about 18" wide. What with dust and other contaminants in the air, the water out of that hose isn't potable so it still needs filtration. This unit is capable of about 35 pints/day, depending on the humidity.

[Nobeard]

Some good information in the video, thanks for posting. One of the main reasons I find time to come to Gunsnet is to check your posts like this one.

Here are some thoughts
As mentioned in the video, the water heater in your house has 40 to 60 gallons of water, along with what's in the toilet tank (NOT the toilet bowl!).

We have several tanks (ponds for you Yankees) and a deep well with a supply tank for the house to maintain constant pressure.
The well water tastes a little chalky (high mineral content) but it's been tested and shows to be good.
Even so, a back-up plan is always important.
Since the well pump is electric, and diesel fuel for the generator could be worth it's weight in gold one day?
We also have a hand-pump for the well and all the necessary adapters if the electric pump ever has to be removed.

Problem is, the floor of well shed is 12 ft. below ground level with cinder block walls, so the temp is usually at 70ºF all the time...
Which means the bottom is Rattle Snake Central this time of year!
The walls and rafters of the shed? That's where all the local hornets and yellow jackets want to spend the winter


The bathtub liner they mentioned is a great item, have several for both tubs so there is always an extra in case they need to be used.
One important thing: get one of those flat circular rubber mats to go over the tub drain, even if it has a plunger type plug that's operated with a lever.
The plastic liner is very thin and the weight of the water will try to push it through even a smallest gaps around the drain.
Nice thing is, it keeps the water relatively safe from dust, dirt and other 'contamination' typically found in a bathroom environment.


Water purification tablets are important, but most are iodine based.
Continued use will tear up your stomach and can't be good for the liver and kidneys either.
Get a quality filter to remove the iodine or whatever treatment chemical you're using.
We have a case of life straws and a case of the Alexapure filters as well (apologies for the crappy pic).


The UV light pen?
Might be useful, but as they mentioned it's not going to do anything for chemical contamination.
That's what filters are for - besides, clear glass jars are cheap and sunlight is free.
You can also inspect water that's been sitting undisturbed in the sun for several hours to see if anything has floated to the top of settled to the bottom.

Here's a good tip for your bug out bag...
Remember the old paper filters that go in the basket on big coffee makers?
Get Some!
Those are a great way to remove silt when getting water from a pond or stream.
Everyone should already have a couple of 2 qt. bladder canteens.
Mark one red for water collection and another green for water purification.
Put several coffee filters and some twist ties in a plastic zip lock bag with the red canteen.
Secure a piece of the filter to the neck of the red canteen with a twist tie then submerge to collect water.
Helps to roll it up and remove the air first. Also submerge it carefully so as not to stir any more trash than necessary from the water source.

Put your purification tablets in this one and treat the water as per the manufacturers instructions.
When the water should be ready? Put a fresh filter on the red canteen neck and carefully pour into the green canteen.
Now you can drink from the green canteen with the life straw to remove any other contaminates and the iodine / treatment media.

Some final thoughts.
City water is not delivered by a pump, it's gravity flow from the water towers.
That way, they only have to pump the water into the tower and the pressure will be relatively constant, even if the electricity is off...
Until there's a major grid-down event like an EMP attack.
At that point? No water is being treated or pumped into the tower.
So when it finally goes empty...it's going to stay empty.

Be prepared to put water into ANYTHING that will hold it - even old 55 gallon oil drums.

That can eventually be distilled by using a pressure cooker and some copper line (also a good way to make moonshine).

[JTHunter]

The UV light pen?
Might be useful, but as they mentioned it's not going to do anything for chemical contamination.
That's what filters are for - besides, clear glass jars are cheap and sunlight is free.
You can also inspect water that's been sitting undisturbed in the sun for several hours to see if anything has floated to the top of settled to the bottom.

Are you thinking that the UV light from the sun will do anything to the water in the jars? I hate to burst that bubble but I learned something last year about making "sun tea". The sun can't heat the water enough to kill bacteria like Listeria should the tea be contaminated so it won't do anything to help you either.