Post by woodyz on Sept 5, 2015 14:20:37 GMT -7
Emergency Water for Preppers Part 1: Acquisition
August 28, 2015 15 Replies
When it comes to planning for a disruptive event, nothing tops the quest for a source of good clean drinking water. Water followed by food, are the top priorities for 99.9% of all new preppers and even the seasoned pros still seek knowledge relative to keeping themselves both hydrated and fed.
What is most surprising is that as much my colleagues and I write abut water, there are still questions to be answered and water-related skills to be learned. For that reason I have chosen to declare “Water Month” at Backdoor Survival.
I am thrilled and honored that Daisy Luther, the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, has stepped up to answer your questions in Parts One through Three of this series on Emergency Water for Preppers. There is more in store, including a roundup of 100% free resources for information of emergency water as well a fantastic giveaway.
So grab a cup or bottle of good clean water and let us begin with Part One of “Emergency Water for Preppers”.
Emergency Water for Preppers: Acquisition
When Gaye posted the review of my book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, she asked me if I’d be interested in responding to some questions on the topic. I was very excited because I can’t think of a more vital discussion than water.
Out of all the things we prep, water is both the most vital and the most overlooked. Many times, people are far more interested in stocking food and ammo, because those categories have lots of variety. Do you want freeze-dried food or home canned goods? What is your firearm of choice? So much bandwidth on the internet has been used up on these topics.
And while it’s very important to have a loaded pantry and to be able to protect your home and family, it’s even more important to have something to drink. The lack of safe drinking water will kill you far more quickly than starvation will. In fact, you’ll only last a matter of days without it.
There were so many awesome questions that I’ve broken them into a few different articles. Today, let’s talk about acquiring drinking water.
If a disaster lasts long enough, eventually your supplies are going to run out, no matter how much you have stored. Even though the earthquake in Haiti happened more than 5 years ago, many people have been without a source of running water ever since. A way to acquire water is essential. The following questions all have to do with the safe and reliable acquisition of water.
How can I safely and efficiently collect rainwater for consumption?
If you get sufficient precipitation in your area, rainwater collection is a viable option for water acquisition.
People often think of rain as pure and natural, but it picks up pollutants in the air and off of any surfaces it touches on the way to your collection barrel. The way you collect it isn’t as important as what you do with the water after collection. You must always filter out the sediment and purify the water before consuming it.
I recommend the rain barrels that you can attach to the downspouts on your roof. If you intend to consume the water you collect, be sure that you purchase food grade rain barrels.
You’ll need to strain out sediment with a cheesecloth or even a coffee filter then run through a Berkey, boil, distill, or treat with bleach or pool shock.
As far as roofs are concerned, if you have the opportunity to replace a shingled roof with a metal roof, consider that the metal roof is far better for water acquisition because it doesn’t have particles ready to break free and contaminate your water, nor does it have the tiny nooks and crannies that soak up the rainfall.
What is the best way to filter water coming in from downspouts without clogging the water?
Some people use a mesh screen between the downspout and the water barrel to trap the particles, leaves, and other debris before it can enter your collection container. This will, however, clog up and can cause you to lose the water you had intended to collect.
To prevent this, you need to make a habit of regularly cleaning out your screen trap. For a double dose of protection, there are also downspout filters that will catch the larger debris before it reaches your screen. These are placed higher up on the downspout and have a collection area that is easy to access and clean.
Do you have any recommendations for OPSEC when it comes to water? For example rain barrels outside your home could be a red flag that there is a well-stocked pepper in that house if looters come by in a crisis…
There are some really pretty rain collection containers that look like large urns or planters. They’re designed to look like part of your exterior decor.
You can choose containers that go with the trim of your house to make them stand out a bit less. Other options you might consider are either fencing your backyard with privacy fencing or building some type of attractive screen around your water barrels that looks like part of the decor.
I’ve read about a gadget you can build that will remove water from the air – even when the air is dry. It sounds pretty far fetched to me. Is there any truth to such a thing?
These are called atmospheric water generators. They work by removing the ambient humidity from the air. They’ve actually been around for centuries. The ancient Incas kept their people alive by collecting dew and channeling it into reservoirs.
More recently, a young Australian student won the Dyson Award in 2011 for his innovative take on the device. According to Gizmag, here’s how it works:
“The Airdrop irrigation concept is a low-tech design that uses the simple process of condensation to harvest water from the air. Utilizing a turbine intake system, air is channeled underground through a network of piping that quickly cools the air to soil temperature. This process creates an environment of 100-percent humidity, from which water is then harvested. The collected water is stored in an underground tank, ready to be pumped out via sub-surface drip irrigation hosing.”
Sounds miraculous, right? There are a couple of downsides.
Most devices that are available require a large amount of power to extract the water. Another issue is that if you live in an area without a lot of humidity (you know, the kind of place where you’d really need to extract water from the air because there IS no water otherwise), you aren’t going to get more than a few drops using this method. It might be viable in the tropics or in the Deep South during the muggy summer weather.
I hear people almost screaming “Do not drink distilled water!” What are your thoughts about having a water still and drinking only distilled water? Would a major disaster make any difference in how you feel?
The reason people warn against drinking distilled water is because the distillation process doesn’t only remove the undesirable things, but it also removes the healthy minerals. If a person is dehydrated, water totally bereft of minerals will not help to replenish electrolytes and should be supplemented with an electrolyte powder.
But that’s not the only downside. The EPA warns, “Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water.” (source)
So based on these things, I wouldn’t make distilled water my every day choice.
This being said, I’d certainly prefer to drink distilled water over contaminated water. If you’re distilling your water to purify it during an emergency, and keep in mind that a severely dehydrated person will need supplemental electrolytes, it’s unlikely to hurt you as a temporary water solution.
Can you drink the water from your swimming pool?
This is a question I get asked a lot. Everyone says, “Oh, there’s chlorine in the pool water and that keeps it safe.”
Unfortunately, there’s a lot more than chlorine in the water. There are all sorts of chemicals, including stuff to kill algae. Unless the pool is your own, you have no idea what treatments have been used in it. Algaecide will make you very sick if you consume more than a mouthful from time to time when swimming.
But it gets worse. If the power has gone out, the pumps will stop running. The pumps are what keeps the water filtered and fairly clear of bacteria and fungi that grow there, After a couple of days, there will be so many contaminants in the swimming pool water that the chemicals would be the least of your worries. After a couple of weeks, the water will be stagnant,and will make you very ill.
Of course, before stuff begins growing in it, the 20,000 gallons of water sitting in your pool can easily be used for sanitation purposes. And, if you are really desperate, you can also treat the water and make it safer for consumption.
• Immediately after the power goes out, put a cover on the pool. The UV rays from the sun will reduce the effectiveness of the chlorine quickly, causing algae to grow sooner.
• If the pool is yours and you know it has only been treated with chlorine, you can prepare some of the water for drinking.
• Purify the pool water by boiling it
• Run it through a high quality filter such as the Berkey.
• Allow the water to sit in a container with the lid off for a couple of hours before consuming it. If you want to drink it immediately, pour it back and forth between two containers to aerate it.
Pool water should only be used for consumption as a last resort.
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The Final Word
Whereas there were not a lot of questions pertaining to the acquisition of water, the questions that were asked were good ones. After all, it does not take a PhD to figure out that one of the biggest challenges following adisruptive event will be finding a source of water to supplement what you already have.
In closing, I want to remind you that there are many more questions that will be answered in the subsequent “Water Month” articles. Coming soon:
One thing you can count on is that over time, I will continue to introduce you to strategies and resources that will help ensure that you have an adequate supply of water to help you maintain both hydration and sanitation, no matter what.
www.backdoorsurvival.com/emergency-water-for-preppers-acquisition/
Emergency Water for Preppers Part 2: Purification
September 3, 2015
While sourcing water, and especially an adequate supply of water, is a challenge, making such water safe to drink is a whole other matter. There is much confusion relative to the best method to use to purify water.
Is it boiling, filtering, adding bleach, distillation, or something else? Truth be told, the answer is “it depends”. Over time, I am starting to believe that the answer you get is dependent upon who you ask and what interests they happen to represent.
In this article, Daisy Luther, responds to the water purification questions posed by readers in a recent Prepper Book Festival giveaway. Daisy, who is the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, is not tied to special interests and is diligent in her research. As I mentioned in Part 1: Acquisition, she is stepping up to answer your questions and hopefully bring clarification to this all important topic of water purification.
So once again, grab a cup or bottle of good clean water and let us begin with Part Two of “Emergency Water for Preppers”.
Emergency Water for Preppers: Purification
While all of the aspects of water preparedness are vital, often the most overlooked is purification. Sometimes people outside the prepping world don’t think about the fact that the water they manage to acquire could be teeming with dangerous bacteria, sediment, and toxins. Today I’d like to address your questions about water purification.
What is the number one water filter you would recommend?
I have two different favorites.
For in-home use, I love my Big Berkey. For any time I’m away from home, I carry a Sawyer mini. We keep the mini in our backpacks, purses, and vehicles and have at least one in our possession at all times – you just never know when you might need to filter water!
What do you think of steri-pens for disinfecting water?
Steri-pens are awesome, because they are small and easy to use. They can purify up to 8000 liters of water. They work with ultraviolet light and destroy 99.9% of the bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that could make you sick.
The potential downside of steri-pens is that they require a power source. Some, like this one, are powered by AA batteries, while others can be recharged by computers, solar panels, or a wall charger.
What do you think of the SODIS method of purifying water?
SODIS stands for solar water disinfection.
It’s pretty amazing. Put water into a PET plastic bottle (PolyEthylene Terephthalate, Recycle code #1), lay it in the sun for at least 6 hours, and boom – you have safer water. The beauty of the SODIS water purification method is that it costs next to nothing and is simple to do in nearly any location.
The outdoor temperature is irrelevant – the purification occurs from the exposure to UV rays. This is sort of like an off-grid steri-pen.
Some warnings: if the water is cloudy, you need to filter it before using this method. If the weather is cloudy or overcast, 2 days will be required to purify the water. Be sure that your plastic bottle is absolutely clear.
This method is approved by the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, and UNICEF. (source)
For those who are concerned about the exposure to petrochemicals or BPA in the plastic, the SODIS website says that as long as you use the PET plastic bottles, the amount of exposure to those and other chemicals will be insignificant.
While this might not be my number one choice for water purification, if I was in a situation in which I didn’t have the supplies to use other methods, this would be my fallback method.
Speaking of the SODIS method, you might want to read Gaye’s review of the Puralytics Solar Bag; I know she swears by it.
Is using a WAPI (water pasteurization indicator) really adequate for heating water to a safe enough level to drink?
There are pros and cons to water pasteurization indicators.
On the pro side, a WAPI can help in situations during which you need to save fuel, since the pasteurization point of water is lower than the boiling point. They are a reliable way to heat your water quickly. Since they’re small and inexpensive, they can be a great addition to a bug-out bag.
This being said, I’d normally just opt to boil my water, since boiling water is unmistakable and can’t malfunction. Rocket stoves take very little fuel to bring water to the boiling point. WAPIs are really just a matter of personal preference.
What is really the best way to make sure you have clean water: filter, distill, boil, bleach, pool shock?
Distillation is probably the very safest method. When you’re capturing steam, you’ll have no debris or sediment, and the boiling required to make the steam will kill nearly all contaminants like bacteria, viruses, or protozoa.
The problem with distillation is that if water supplies are limited, you lose a lot during the process. This means it’s not the best method for every situation.
Water purification is always two-fold – you have to get rid of the chunks and you have to get rid of anything harmful living in it. If you are not distilling, most often it’s recommended to both filter and purify.
How do you use pool shock for potable water?
The great thing about storing pool shock instead of bleach is that you don’t have the limited shelf life of bleach. When a prep is this vital, you want it to be at full effectiveness when you need it the most.
Before using pool shock or any chemical purification method, filter any debris, particles and sediment out of your water.
Gaye has an excellent article with all the details on using pool shock to purify water. In summary, she wrote, “For my own use, I settled on 1 teaspoon of pool shock per gallon of water when making up my stock chlorine solution. Then, to disinfect water, I used 3/4 ounce of my pool shock solution to treat a gallon of water. This makes it easy to calculate how much to use, regardless of the size of your container.”
Always, always use eye protection goggles and gloves when dealing with caustic chemicals. If your water tastes funny, you can aerate it by pouring it back and forth between containers a few times.
How do you filter iron and sand from well water?
Reverse osmosis is one of the best ways to remove unwanted minerals from any kind of water, but in an off-grid scenario that isn’t going to do you much good. Not only are most RO systems grid-dependent, but they can also be outrageously expensive.
Carbon block filters (like the kind in the Berkey systems) are your next best option for removing sediment. The more sediment in your water, the more frequently you’ll need to replace your filters. Be sure to stock up on lots of extras. Berkeys are gravity fed and require no source of power to clean your water.
I have looked at my water heater as a 50-gallon source but our water has a lot of minerals in it. What is the best way to clean it up for consumption?
When harvesting water from your water heater, quite often the first water that comes out will be discolored and full of sediment. Reserve this for non-consumption uses like flushing the toilet. (Regularly flushing your water heater will help keep the sediment from building up too much.) Once the water runs clear, you can collect this for drinking water.
Once you’ve collected the water, you should still purify it and filter it through something like a Berkey filter to remove any debris.
If you have a heavy buildup of lime, calcium, or other minerals, the best method for making the water safe to drink is distillation.
My question is how to make an easier homemade distiller for water. This would be helpful if one can afford a fancy distiller, but still has concerns about water quality in a less than ideal situation.
Gaye has chosen to answer this one so let me turn things over to her:
I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Jim Cobb’s newest book, Prepper’s Survival Hacks. In it he addresses the question of how to build your own solar still. Even though his book is not slated for publication until mid to late September, both Jim an his published have granted me permission to share his hack for building a survival still.
And just so you know, I agree 100% with Jim. This is not something I would do when SODIS or some other method is more productive.
SOLAR STILL
I’m going to be flat-out honest with you. I don’t in any way, shape, or form endorse the use of a solar still for acquiring water in a survival situation. I’m including it here for two reasons.
1. In any survival manual, it is almost expected that the solar still be mentioned, and its absence in this book would be noticeable.
2. I wanted to include it specifically so I could talk a bit about why you shouldn’t rely upon it.
MATERIALS
Shovel
Bucket or clean container
Large plastic tarp
Large rocks or logs
Small rock
#1 On the surface, the solar still is a fairly straightforward project. Using your shovel, dig a hole a few feet deep. At the bottom of the hole, roughly in the center, place your bucket or other clean container. Next, stretch the plastic tarp across the top of the hole using the large rocks or logs to secure it in place. Finally, place a small rock at the center of the tarp, which weighs it down above your container.
#2 The idea is that the sun will heat up the inside of that hole, causing moisture from the ground to evaporate, then condense on the bottom of the plastic tarp. It will then run along the plastic to the point above the bucket, into which it will drip.
Here’s the thing. The amount of water you’ll gain through the use of the solar still is, quite literally, a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of energy you’ll expend by digging the hole and setting everything up.
Don’t believe me? Go ahead, set one up tomorrow and see how well it performs. If you get more than 2 cups of water, you’ll be doing fairly well.
What would you recommend for a budget conscious first water filtration system?
If you want one of those pricey systems but can’t afford it, you can actually build your own version of a gravity filtration system. All you need are some basic tools, a couple of food grade buckets, and 2 or 4 Berkey filters.
Sometimes the pursuit of knowledge results in more questions than answers. I hope that is true in this case because the more you ask, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better prepared you will be following a disaster or other disruptive event.
Going forward, there will be an article answering your questions about water storage as well as a round up article providing you will links to some of the best articles on the web written by my preparedness blogging colleagues. Plus, in case you missed it, there is Part 1, Emergency Water For Preppers: Acquisition.
As I mentioned in Part 1, one thing you can count on is that over time, I will continue to introduce you to strategies and resources that will help ensure that you have an adequate supply of water to help you maintain both hydration and sanitation, no matter what.
Bargain Bin: Below you will find links to the items related to today’s article.
Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System: Fans of the Sawyer water filtration systems are evangelistic in their praise. Did you know they only weight 2 ounces and fit in the palm of your hand? At $16 give or take, the price is right. Be sure to also check out the Family Color Coded Gift Pack which looks nice.
Berkey Water Filter System: I personally own a Royal Berkey and it represents a key component of my water preps. This is definitely something you want to save up for.
Puralytics SolarBag Water Purifier : I reviewed the Solar Bag last year and cannot say enough good things about it. This is by far the easiest way to purify water using the sun.
It even works on a cloudy day; it just takes longer. Here is my review: The SolarBag Water Purifier.
SteriPEN Adventurer Opti Handheld UV Water Purifier : This is the UV version of the SteriPen. It is compact and portable and those that own them, love them. I admit, though, that I have not used on myself. There is also thisUSB powered model that can be powered with a portable solar panel.
Puralytics SolarBag Water Purifier : I reviewed the Solar Bag last year and cannot say enough good things about it. This is by far the easiest way to purify water using the sun. It even works on a cloudy day; it just takes longer. Here is my review: The SolarBag Water Purifier.
DryTec Calcium Hypochlorite, 1-Pound: This is 68% Calcium Hypochlorite. As of this writing, the price is under $10 with free shipping. I purchased Ultima Pool Shock which is 73% Calcium Hypochlorite. For more information, readHow to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water.
3M TEKK Protection Chemical Splash/Impact Goggle : I am pleased with these eye protection goggles and the price is reasonable. I have stashed them in my “water box” as well as in my tool kit, sick room kit, and bug-out-bag.
Prepper’s Survival Hacks: 50 DIY Projects for Lifesaving Gear, Gadgets and Kits: You are going to want this book, Written by my trusted colleague, Jim Cobb (and I know you LOVE his books), you are going to find his projects are a well thought-out resource you can actually use. No fluff here.
The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: You can survive up to three weeks without food, but only three days without water. When catastrophe strikes, having enough water can spell the difference between life and death. This book offers a step-by-step plan with straightforward information you can easily follow. Written by my friend Daisy Luther, I recommended the book for everyone’s survival library!
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter: The LifeStraw is considered the most advanced, compact, ultra light personal water filter available. It contains no chemicals or iodinated resin, no batteries and no moving parts to break or wear out. It weighs only 2 oz. making it perfect for the prepper. For more information, see my LifeStraw review. There is also the LifeStraw Family that can be used to filter 9 to 12 liters per hour.
Potable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets: Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets make questionable water bacteriologically suitable to drink. Easy to use and the water is ready to drink in 30 minutes. One 50 tablet bottle treats 25 quarts of water.
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Something I have learned over the years is that my own experience coupled with the anecdotal experience of my peers will always trump the theoretical. Most assuredly, this also applies to coping skills learned in a disaster or what I like to call a “Disruptive Event”.
Some of you might recall that due to a break at the water meter coming into my home, I was without running water for 12 days. Because I was prepared, the lack of running water was at most an inconvenience. You might even say that it was a grand adventure as I experienced a real life test of both my water preps and coping skills.
Today I have another real-life experience to share. This time, Daisy Luther, the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, shares a chapter from her book that describers her own first hand experience living life without running water during a power outage. Talk about a double whammy: no water AND no power!
Included in this chapter are are seven solutions to help you survive for the short term when the tap is running dry and the pump to the well (if you have one) is no longer working.
A Glimpse at Everyday Life without Running Water
I had been a prepper for several years before the importance of water storage truly resonated. As with most lessons, I had to learn it the hard way (fortunately, for us, it was not quite as hard a lesson as those in Chapter One).
My youngest daughter and I spent a year living in a cabin in the woods in North Central Ontario. We lived in secluded splendor on the banks of a huge lake and on the edge of an enormous national forest
.
We moved there straight from the city, so our “initiations” were many. In this breathtaking setting, we learned to provide our own heat and live without electricity and running water.
You know how it goes with the most important things you learn: we were thrown right into it and the choices were to either sink (by packing up our belongings and scurrying back to the city with our tails between our legs) or swim (by learning what we needed to in order to thrive in this drastically different environment).
The little cabin we moved to had electricity and running water supplied by a well 30 feet from our back door. Don’t let these amenities fool you, though. Just because these things were present doesn’t mean they were always available for our use. Try getting a heavy concrete well lid off when it’s buried under 3 feet of snow, then get back to me about the ease of availability of the water within.
The first challenge came in the late fall when our well dropped to dizzyingly low levels. The drought that had been going on for years was not limited to the West Coast—even lush, green Ontario suffered from low water tables.
Everything that came out of the taps was cloudy and murky, with bits of sediment from the bottom of the well floating through it. This was certainly not acceptable for drinking, washing dishes, or cooking. We had a bit of water, but not enough to do a load of laundry, and even if we had enough, our clothes were unlikely to get very clean from that muddy-looking water.
This broke us in gently, since we could still flush and take a quick, if not particularly thorough, shower. This predicament inspired me to invest in a water dispenser for the kitchen and enough 5-gallon jugs to keep us supplied with drinking water for a month. We used this for drinking, cooking, and making ice.
Kitchen sanitation was difficult and with snow impending that would leave us stranded at the cabin, I was hesitant to use our newly acquired drinking water for cleaning purposes. Here are some of the solutions we came up with.
We dirtied as few dishes as possible. I cooked in the oven and lined the cast iron with tin foil, which could easily be dis- posed of. Then the cookware required only a quick wipe. We also ate from paper plates and used the same drinking glasses throughout the day.
I set up a reusable water filtration system for dishwashing. I didn’t want to use my good Berkey filters for all of this sediment and gunk, so I rigged up a device for my faucet. I used a mesh sieve lined with a piece of fabric. (Flour sack towels work well for this, as do coffee filters for a disposable option.) I tied this little contraption to my faucet with a piece of garden twine and ran water through it slowly. It caught the greater part of the sediment. I put a splash of bleach and dish soap into the water. For rinsing, I used lake water that had been filtered through the Berkey, boiled, then seasoned with a little splash of bleach.
We cleaned with kitchen wipes. For wiping down counters, stoves, and food prep areas, we used antibacterial kitchen wipes. It seemed really silly to “clean” with dirty water. If it wasn’t too dirty from the dishes, we used the dishwater for cleaning, too.
The issue with our well lasted for about three weeks before the rain began to fall. Water table levels rose, and with them, our well water levels. Soon the water was sweet and clear again and we felt we were over the hurdle of water shortages. Little did we realize that all of this was merely a warm-up for the big event that would soon be coming our way. It would give a whole new meaning to power outages.
We hadn’t been there long when we had our first power outage. Being straight off the bus from the city, I thought that with a well and septic system, life would be easy in a situation without electricity. I was prepared for life without lights, appliances, or the Internet. But what I hadn’t thought of was life without running water. Not even dirty running water. No. Water. At. All.
In the city, despite our other inconveniences, when the lights went out, the water still flowed from the taps and the toilets still flushed. Not so when you have a well run by an electric pump. I discovered this when I got a panicked cry from the bathroom.
“Moooooom! The toilet won’t flush!” Rosie called.
I went in to see what was going on. “Wash your hands and I’ll get it working again.”
Rosie turned the taps to no avail. Uh oh. Then it dawned on me. The pump.
I sent my daughter down to the lake with a bucket to get water for flushing. We left the lid off the tank throughout the lights-out episode for the sake of ease.
Life without clean running water posed some problems, but it was nothing compared to life with NO running water at all. We rallied quickly. We had our 5-gallon jugs of drinking and cooking water. The lake had not yet frozen over, so we were able to haul up buckets of water for our other needs. But I was determined not to be stuck in this position later, when a foot of ice would cover the water of the lake.
I took notes throughout the outage, which was mercifully short, and came up with solutions to ease future electrical out- ages and their subsequent effects on water. More details on the nuts and bolts of water storage methods follow in Chapter Six.
Store tap water for sanitation. We added to our water storage supplies by purchasing 1-gallon bottles of drinking water. After we consumed the drinking water from these, we refilled them with tap water. Many of these were stored near the bathroom.
Fill the bathtub as soon as the weather gets bad. Because we lost power frequently, we began to immediately fill the tub the second the sky darkened and the wind began to howl. A full bathtub can provide a lot of flushes and washing-up water.
Place an old-fashioned pitcher and bowl on a stand to use for hand-washing. For many solutions, you need only look as far as an antique shop to see what our ancestors did. We set up cups near the pitcher and bowl to use for brushing our teeth.
Order extra filters and parts for your water- filtration system. Living in such a secluded area, the snow removal was not always dependable. With the filtration system, we never had to risk running out of potable water.
Use basins for dishwashing. Instead of using the sink to wash our dishes, we used basins. This way the water could be reused for flushing after the dishes were washed.
Stock up on baby wipes. When the power is out, you still want to keep clean. Baby wipes are a good way to take a quick sponge bath without using freezing cold water or using up your precious supplies. They can also be used for hand-washing and minor cleanups.
Keep a kettle on the woodstove. Actually, keep a couple of them. This added moisture to the dry air in the cabin and had the benefit of hot water on demand for tea, cocoa, or for adding to the basin to wash up with.
By the time the next power outage rolled around, we had become pros, and it was barely a blip on our radar.
The real moral of this chapter is not what we did or how we did it, though. It is that you can’t know what difficulties you will face without a practice run.
We’re pretty good at living without running water now, because we have had a lot of practice. It’s less convenient but it hardly feels like “roughing it” because we learned to resolve our issues. We discovered what we needed to make our lives more comfortable and we were able to stock up on those things at our leisure. Trust me, you don’t want to discover you need something only to find that everyone else in your town has just discovered the same thing.
Leave No Water Source Untapped
The “Rule of Three” states that you can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. That said, for most of us, the practical concern following a disaster will be water, plain and simple.
To quote Daisy, “There is nothing you can store that is more valuable than water or a way to purify water.”
I totally agree and because of that, I am promoting the sharing of as much free information as I can to help you plan ahead for both long and short term catastrophes that may impact you water supply. Having said that, if you have a few extra dollars to spare, I encourage you to check out the book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource . Other than your book on Survival Medicine, it may become the most important book in your library.
The Final Word
It was late July when I first conceived of “Water Month” on Backdoor Survival. At the time, I failed to consider the calendar and how it would be impossible to cram everything I wanted to do into a single month. As a result, you are going to find that “Water Month” may actually spill over into September.
Survival Basics: Water and Water Storage
January 6, 2015
During a recent book giveaway, the question asked was “What piece of prepping gear is at the top of your bucket list?” Needless to say, I was more than a little bit surprised to find that the top response was water storage, water filters, and water purification equipment.
While having the gear is nice, anyone interested in preparedness also needs to have a basic understanding of the concepts behind water and water storage. Where to find, store, purify, and filter water are all questions that need to be asked, answered, and periodically reviewed.
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And why do I know that? A couple of months ago I was personally without running water for 12 days. Being up to speed on the do’s and don’t of water were key to my getting by just fine during this period.
With that in mind, today I share an article on water as a survival basic.
Back to the Basics: Water for Survival
When I first started Backdoor Survival, my focus was on gathering the basics: food, water, shelter and fire. Of course, along the way I have learned that there is so much more that is essential to long term survival. Things that come to mind are clean air, clothing, first aid, self-defense, signaling and a community with others.
But today I want to keep things simple and, for the benefit of my newer readers, go back the basics and review the essentials of water for survival.
Water is the Most Important Survival Basic
Clean water is something that we all take for granted. We turn on the faucet and there it is. It is plentiful, it is clean and it is drinkable. Yes, it may have some undesirable chemical additions such a fluorides, but for the most part, having clean, drinkable water is something we have come to rely upon.
The bottom line is that if a disaster occurred and the supply lines to fresh water were comprised, we would be in a pickle. There is a possibility that safe water would not be available for days and possibly not for weeks.
The rule of thumb propagated by FEMA and just about every other authority out there is that you store at least one gallon of water per person and pet, per day, for a minimum of three days. But if you think that a three day water supply is adequate, think again.
A more reasonable recommendation is that you up the recommended amount of stored water to a two week supply. So for two people that would be 2 people x 1 gallon x 14 days = 28 gallons. This amount should cover your minimal needs for drinking, food preparation and nominal, and I mean nominal, hygiene.
DIY Water Storage
Storing water for an emergency can be as simple as filling thoroughly washed plastic or glass containers with tap water and sealing them tightly. This is something that anyone can do without incurring a cost so long as few simple rules are followed.
Here are the steps to can take to store water for emergency use:
1. Thoroughly clean your plastic bottle and jugs with dishwashing soap and water then rinse completely so there is no residual soap.
2. Sanitize your bottles by adding a solution of 1 teaspoon of un-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to a quart of water. Swish the sanitizing solution in the containers so that it touches all interior surfaces. Don’t forget to sanitize the lids and caps as well. After sanitizing the containers and caps, thoroughly rinse out the bleach solution with clean water.
Note: Bleach has an effective shelf-life of one year. Make sure that the bleach you are using is fresh.
3. Fill the sanitized containers to the top with regular tap water. Add two drops of non-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to the water, then tightly close the containers using the original caps. It is probably a good idea to use some latex or nitrile gloves at this point so that you maintain the sanitation and do not contaminate the caps by touching the inside of them with your fingers.
4. Date the outside with a permanent marker such as a Sharpie.
5. Store in a cool, dark place.
6. As a precaution, rotate in six months to a year. Dump the water, re-sanitize the jugs, and start all over. Or, if you have the space, mark the jugs as “non-potable” and save the water for non-drinking emergency purposes.
Personally, I think it would be a good idea to put up a few jugs at the first of each month. Do this for six months and you will build up a nice, rotating stock.
Plastic soda bottles or juice jugs work well for DIY water storage. On the other hand, milk jugs should not be used for water storage. Milk and protein sugars are difficult to remove and will compromise the stored water because they create an environment for bacteria growth. In addition, milk jugs are flimsy and will not hold up, even for a short period of time. Ditto cardboard. The cardboard will eventually leak and make a big mess. Glass is okay but be aware that glass is heavy and subject to breakage.
Water stored as described above will be good for at least six months to a year and possibly longer. Let me be clear: you rotate water not because it has an “expiration date” but that it may become chemically or biologically contaminated and foul. Why take a chance?
Technically, if water is stored in a cool, dark area and away from chemical and toxic fumes, it should last forever.
If the cleanliness of the the water is in question, it can be purified with purification tablets, fresh bleach, or a filtering system such as the Berkey or LifeStraw, among others.
If you have the space and the budget, you can also purchase food-grade plastic containers and drums designed for water storage. These containers typically hold up to 55 gallons of water and with the addition of proper purification chemicals, will keep the water safe for up to five years.
I personally have a 55 gallon water storage system. It was easy to set up and it came outfitted as a complete kit with all of the various tools and siphons I will need if/when that emergency situation occurs.
Another alternative, of course, is bottled water. The same rule applies: store in a cool, dark area and periodically rotate just to be on the safe side.
Hidden Sources of Water
In addition to tap water, there are other hidden sources of water that you can use when a disaster occurs. These sources include the water in your hot water heater, pipes, and even the ice cubes from the icemaker in your refrigerator or freezer. Before tapping in to these sources, however, you will first need to shut off the main valve coming in to your home so that you do not contaminate the ”good” water with the “bad”.
Here are some specific instructions for using the water in your hot water tank:
• Turn off the electricity or gas.
• Open the drain at the bottom of the tank.
• Start the water flowing by turning off the water intake valve at the tank and turning on a hot-water faucet.
• And don’t forget: be sure to refill the tank before turning the gas or electricity back on.
Outdoor Sources of Water
Barring the use of stored water or the hidden water sources in your home, there is always the outdoors. Water may be available from rainwater, streams, ponds, lakes and natural streams. Absolutely stay away from flood water since it is likely to contain sewage and other nasties that you do not even want to think about.
When using outdoor sources of water, you are going to have to undertake purification measures to make it safe. There are many ways to purify water, some better than others and some easier than others.
Water Purification
For ad hoc water purification, nothing beats plain old bleach as long as it is fresh (no more than a year old) and unscented.
According to the Clorox website: When boiling off water for 1 minute is not possible in an emergency situation, you can disinfect your drinking water with Clorox® Regular-Bleach as follows:
1. Remove suspended particles by filtering or letting particles settle to the bottom.
2. Pour off clear water into a clean container.
3. Add 8 drops of Clorox® Regular-Bleach (not scented or Clorox® Plus® bleaches) to one gallon of water (2 drops to 1 quart). For cloudy water, use 16 drops per gallon of water (4 drops to 1 quart).
Boiling water is considered the safest method of purifying water. What you do is bring water to a rolling boil for three to five minutes. The water may not taste that great but it will be safe to drink.
Factoid: To improve the taste of boiled or stored water, you can put some oxygen back in to the water by pouring it back and forth between two containers.
As an alternative to bleach or boiling water, the EPA has guidelines for using calcium hypochlorite, commonly sold as “pool shock” to disinfect water:
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water.
The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated.
This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another.
Tip: For more precise (and in my opinion better) instructions, visit the article How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water. In this article, I go into great detail describing plus showing you how to safely use Pool Shock for water purification purposes.
A good reference for this and other purification methods can be found in the downloadable and printable article Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water.
What About Water Filters?
The use of water filters to make raw water drinkable is another solution to the water for survival dilemma. The nice thing about a filtration system is that it will not only supplement your stored water, but will provide you with great tasting, chemical free drinking water for day to day.
I personally have a Royal Berkey and to tell the truth, wonder what took me so long to discover this alternative to purchased water in bottles and a countertop Brita.
This is not to say that I don’t have bottled water because I do. After all, if I have to leave my home, it would be tough to drag along a 55 gallon water barrel or a Berkey. But for day to day drinking as well as long term survival needs, you simply can not beat a quality filtration system.
Portable Water Filters
I have had good luck with the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter. This lightweight and affordable filter is like an oversized straw. You can use it with a cup or dip it directly into a pond or stream. There are other portable water filtering systems as well and these are handy to keep in your emergency backpack, your car or your travel kit.
Additional Reading
I have written about various aspects of water for survival purposes. Here are some additional articles for you to peruse as time and interest dictates.
16 Tips for Coping Without Running Water
The Five Myths of Water Storage
How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water
8 Reasons to Drink Water for Survival
15 Ways to Conserve Household Water Now
The Final Word
Thanks to a tip from a Backdoor Survival reader, I learned that you can find pre-used, food grade, 55-gallon plastic drums on Craigslist for about $25 each. If you decide to check in to this, be sure to confirm that the original contents was food. Clean them well first with vinegar and baking soda to remove odors, and then with a strong bleach for sanitation.
Here in my area, there is a fellow that sells such barrels and will even add a hose bib at the bottom for a nominal cost. I am not 100% sure I would drink from such a barrel but the water inside should be great for bathing, laundry and housekeeping chores.
Another reader has suggested the use of colloidal silver to get rid of bacteria in water. I have not researched this personally, however.
Whatever your water storage method of choice, I highly recommend that you store at least two weeks of water for every member of your household, including pets. Please remember that depending on climate conditions, you can only survive for an average of three to five days without the intake of water.
Why take a chance when it is so easy to store water ?
The Five Myths of Water Storage
May 14, 2014 17 Replies
For many, water becomes their very first prep. By that I mean that steps are taken to either purchase a supply of bottled water, set up a water barrel, or locate a source of local water that can be filtered and purified for consumption.
I was no exception. Water was my first major prepping purchase – before food storage, before a bug out bag, before first aid and trauma supplies, and before firearms. My first major preparedness purchase was a 55 gallon water barrel.
Like many newbies, I made a mistake with this initial purchase. I sunk a lot of many into a water storage system when I should have filled some smaller jugs, invested in a Berkey or other system, and figured out a way to transport water from local fresh-water ponds to my home. I also filled the barrel and stored it on concrete – a no no. It had to be emptied and refilled from the get go.
Naturally, all in time, those things happened. And as with all things that come with a certain age, if I had known then what I know now I would saved a lot of time and been a lot richer!
I can’t say that you will not make mistakes as your expand your preparedness efforts. What I can do, though, is help point you in the right direction so at the very least, the decisions you make are done with a modicum of knowledge.
Before you jump both feet first into setting up a water storage system, take heed of these five myths of water storage.
Water Storage – Myth vs. Fact
Myth #1: Water can expire
Water does not expire. Ever. Sure, water can become chemically or biologically contaminated and foul, but it doesn’t go bad or spoil.
What can happen to water is that it can go stale and look or taste bad. One thing you can do to make water that has been standing around for awhile taste better is to aerate it by stirring it up or pouring it from one jug to another to introduce some oxygen.
If the cleanliness of the the water is in question, it can be purified with purification tablets, fresh bleach, or a filtering system such as the Berkey or LifeStraw, among others.
Technically, if water is stored in a cool, dark area and away from chemical and toxic fumes, it should last forever.
Myth #2: Water can be stored in any old container that you find around the house
Water should be stored in a UV-resistant, food-grade plastic container or in metallized bags. Traditionally, water storage barrels are blue. The reason for this is that the blue color limits light exposure and biological growth (bacteria and algae) and also signifies that what is stored in the container is safe for human consumption.
The safest containers to hold water in are polyethylene-based plastics, or plastics #1, #2, and #4. Most water barrels are made out of plastic #2 and are BPA-free. If you are in doubt, check with the manufacturer before making purchase, especially if the water is going to be used for drinking.
Don’t use milk jugs for water storage. Since milk jugs are biodegradable, they will break down over time. In addition, it is almost impossible to remove all of the milk sugars from the used jug, opening the risk of contamination.
On the other hand, repurposed soda or juice bottles (made from PETE plastic), make great water storage containers. Just be sure to rinse them well beforehand with a mild bleach solution. This will eliminate any soda or juice residue plus lingering odors.
Another good option for water storage is re-useable Nalgene bottles.
Myth #3: A water barrel is all you need to consider yourself water–prepared
This one is actually comical. I can just see you now: the flooding river is rising and you need to evacuate. Strap on your water barrel and your bug out bag and you are good to go. Not!
Depending on the number of people in your family and whether you have located or set aside a separate water source for hygiene and cleaning, 55 gallons is not going to last long. Conservatively, you are going to need one gallon of water per person per day.
It is always a good idea to have a portable water filter you can transport when you are on the go. In addition, rain barrels can be a great source of non-potable water for flushing and for use in the garden. Good sense dictates that you store water in various sized containers and plan for different situations such as bugging-out, sheltering-in-place, sanitation and so on.
Myth #4: You can save space by stacking water barrels on top of each other
Most water barrels are not designed to be stacked. If space is limited, consider a stacking system designed to accommodate the weight of filled barrels. A good example is this one from Titan ReadyWater.
Also, there are options other than barrels, that can be stacked, These include water bricks and even canned water.
Myth #5: Since I have a water purifier, I don’t need a water filter
According to the water specialists at Emergency Essentials, water purifiers like Chlorine Dioxide will kill 99.9% of all microorganisms (like protozoa, bacteria, and viruses) in your water. Chlorine Dioxide is excellent for sheltering-in-place, and also great for treating water from your barrels or water you collect from streams or rivers while hiking.
Bleach is also a decent purified as long as it is fresh (less than a year old) and the unscented type.
Water purifiers alone will not remove dirt, silt, “gunk” and chemicals from your water. For these nasties, you need a filter. Using a purifier and filter together are an ideal combination to make sure your water is clean enough for drinking.
A Note About Storing Water Barrels
Did you know that water should not be stored on bare cement including the cement on the floor of your basement or garage?
The reason for this is that plastics absorb flavors and odors from chemicals and liquids spilled on the floor and also from the chemicals used to create the concrete. What you need to do is store your water on a piece of wood that sits between the floor and the concrete. A repurposed wood pallet would be ideal.
The Final Word
There is no question that having an adequate supply of water following a disaster or other emergency is paramount to both our health and our comfort. Having a large water barrel or two, if stored properly, will serve you well but should not preclude the storage of bottle water, frozen jugs of water in your freezer (which will them become a makeshift cooler when the power goes out), and water purification and filtering systems.
Redundancy is good and even more so when it comes to water.
How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water
August 13, 2014
If I were to ask how many of you store liquid bleach along with your other prepping supplies, I am certain that a good percentage of you would raise your hands. Liquid bleach is a powerful disinfectant and sanitizer but did you know that there is something better? Something with an almost indefinite shelf life that is inexpensive and takes almost no room to store?
That something is the chemical Calcium Hypochlorite most commonly known as Pool Shock.
I have known about Pool Shock for years but because it is not readily available in my area, I never took the time to search it out so I could stockpile some for my own emergency preps. That has now changed and today I plan to show you how to use Pool Shock the easy way, step by step.
Why Not Bleach?
Before we start, you may be asking “why not use liquid bleach?”. There are a few problems with liquid bleach. It takes a lot of room to store bleach plus the usable shelf life is only six month to a year depending on storage conditions.
The folks at Clorox say this:
The active ingredient in liquid bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is very sensitive to high heat and freezing, but under normal home storage conditions, it should still perform well for nine to twelve months.
In addition to a limited shelf life, there is another problem. I have had reports from Backdoor Survival readers telling me that in their area, they can only purchase “Clorox Ultra” which is concentrated. When I called Clorox to ask how to use concentrated bleach to purify water, they said that it was not intended to be used in that manner and why would I want to do that anyway. Seriously, their representative actually said that.
Pool Shock – The Boilerplate
When I started doing research for this article, I visited some of the most respected survival and preparedness blogs and forums for background material. After all, pool shock is pool shock and there must be some standards for use, right?
With just one exception, all of the sites I visited included this boilerplate from the EPA:
You can use granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water.
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water.
The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight.
To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected.
To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another.
Have your eyes glazed over yet? Mine have. Being an accountant, I like to deal in absolutes so what is this business about “one heaping teaspoon”? Plus, what’s up with the references to “approximately” and “roughly”?
I decided that it was time to do my own testing, and sure enough, each time I measured out a heaping teaspoon, I had different results; they ran the gamut from 1 1/4 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons. This made my head hurt.
Another thing. Over and over I read that you should use pool shock that is a minimum of 78% calcium hypochlorite with the balance being inert ingredients. Fair enough, but there are two problems with this. First, what you find locally may be 68%, it may be 78%, or it may be something else. I sourced mine from Amazon and it was 73% calcium hypochlorite. Second, the EPA, makes no such recommendation or at least none that I could find. They simply say “high-test”.
Did I mention this made my head hurt?
But there is more. I actually found a couple of sites that said to use one heaping tablespoon of Pool Shock for each two gallons of water! You know, just because you find something on the internet does not mean it is true.
My conclusion? The exact amount and the exact percentage does not matter as long as it is within a reasonable range and close to the EPA standard. I do think it is important that the pool shock does not contain other additives that may or may not be safe even when highly diluted. Other than that, however, it is my belief that the precise percentage of Calcium Hypochlorite to inert ingredients does not matter as long as it is 68% or higher.
For my own use, I settled on 1 teaspoon of pool shock per gallon of water when making up my stock chlorine solution. Then, to disinfect water, I used 3/4 ounce of my pool shock solution to treat a gallon of water. This makes it easy to calculate how much to use, regardless of the size of your container.
Step-by-Step: How to Purify Water Using Pool Shock
The first thing I did was gather my supplies. Notice that I used eye protection goggles and rubber gloves. Other supplies included an empty bleach bottle, funnel, shot glass, and measuring spoons.
I verified the size of my stock chlorine solution container, namely a repurposed bleach bottle. My bottle held 1.42 gallons and I wrote this on the outside with a Sharpie pen. My intent, however, was to only prepare 1 gallon of stock solution to keep the math simple.
After donning my protection gear, I added water to my stock solution bottle, carefully measuring the quantity. I used exactly one gallon of water.
I then measured out some pool shock; one level teaspoon to be exact. I put the cap back on the bottle and swished it around a bit. I gave it a sniff test and it definitely smelled bleach-like.
The next step was to purify water. I wanted to make drinking water and for me, the smaller the jug the better. I chose a 64 ounce repurposed apple juice jug. Remember the easy math? The EPA says 1 part chlorine solution to 100 parts water so the math is 64/100 = .64 ounces.
Keeping things easy, that translates into approximately 2/3rd ounce. Remember, the EPA guideline uses the word “approximately” all over the place. That was good enough for me. To easily measure the proper dilution, I used amini shot glass that had measurement markings along the side.
Be sure to pour your pool shock into your water and not the other way around. The last thing you want is to splash the solution on yourself on the surrounding surfaces (although you have probably noticed that I did this outdoors).
After preparing my newly purified water, I drank up. Three things. I did not throw up, I did not get diarrhea and I did not get sick or die.
I am comfortable with the results even though the solution I made may have been slightly stronger than the EPA guidelines. Then again, given the vagueness of the EPA guidelines, perhaps my measurements were spot on.
Note: I did not find that my water had an objectionable smell or taste. True, it was not sweet tasting like the water coming out of my Royal Berkey but it was palatable. If your own purified water has an unpleasant odor, simply aerate it by pouring it back and forth between clean containers. This trick applies to any water, not just water treated with pool shock.
Label your pool shock solution. This is powerful stuff. Get out your Sharpie and label the jug with as much information as you can. Store it in the same manner you store liquid bleach, up high and away from pets and children and in a location that is cool, dark and dry.
Also store your unused pool shock safely. Because it is corrosive, I chose a mason jar with a plastic lid. Plus, rather than empty the pool shock into the jar, I sealed the plastic bag it came in with a clip and stuffed the bag inside of the jar.
Other Handling and Storage Considerations
I contacted the manufacturer of the pool shock I purchased and requested a Material Safety Data Sheet on the product. They promptly responded and here is what it said about handling and storage:
Keep product tightly sealed in original containers. Store product in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area. Store away from combustible or flammable products. Keep product packaging clean and free of all contamination, including, e.g. other pool treatment products, acids, organic materials, nitrogen-containing compounds, dry powder fire extinguishers (containing mono-ammonium phosphate), oxidizers, all corrosive liquids, flammable or combustible materials, etc.
Do not store product where the average daily temperature exceeds 95° F. Storage above this temperature may result in rapid decomposition, evolution of chlorine gas and heat sufficient to ignite combustible products.
Recommendations
Now that I have been through the process and understand the math, I am confortable using pool shock to purify water for drinking, hygiene, and sanitation purposes. It is not, however, an excuse for not storing water nor an excuse for not having a supply of traditional water purification liquids or tabs that are pre-measured and simple to carry with you in bug-out-bags and emergency kits.
As far as I am concerned, the pool shock I have purchased is reserved for dire emergency use, period. Yes, I feel it is safe, but it is still a powerful chemical solution as is liquid bleach. I will use it as the water purification method of last resort and if the time comes, I will be thankful I have it on hand.
Disclaimer
I have to say this: I am not a chemist and I am not an expert. My methods are my own and they work for me. That being said, if you have any hesitation at all, visit other resources including the EPA and make the decision to use pool shock your own and not just something someone told you to do. Here is a link: Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water.
The Final Word
Everywhere you look you will see a recommendation to store bleach for water purification. I have made that recommendation and so have many, if not most, of my blogging peers. What you may not have seen is that liquid bleach has a limited shelf life of 6 to 12 months. I fear that this could be leaving a lot of people ill prepared to produce safe, potable water in an emergency.
This means that a person that began prepping a year ago, and does not know to rotate their bleach, is already living with false security when it comes to water purification. And what about people that have been prepping longer?
As long as pool shock is stored properly, it will have an almost indefinite shelf life plus, a small one pound package will treat many thousands of gallons of water. Ten thousand to be exact. It can be mixed and used as potable water and as a disinfectant, just like bottled liquid bleach.
At the end of the day, do your own research and decide for yourself. All I can say is that for me, the $13 investment was more than worth it for peace of mind down the road.
www.backdoorsurvival.com/emergency-water-for-preppers-acquisition/
August 28, 2015 15 Replies
When it comes to planning for a disruptive event, nothing tops the quest for a source of good clean drinking water. Water followed by food, are the top priorities for 99.9% of all new preppers and even the seasoned pros still seek knowledge relative to keeping themselves both hydrated and fed.
What is most surprising is that as much my colleagues and I write abut water, there are still questions to be answered and water-related skills to be learned. For that reason I have chosen to declare “Water Month” at Backdoor Survival.
I am thrilled and honored that Daisy Luther, the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, has stepped up to answer your questions in Parts One through Three of this series on Emergency Water for Preppers. There is more in store, including a roundup of 100% free resources for information of emergency water as well a fantastic giveaway.
So grab a cup or bottle of good clean water and let us begin with Part One of “Emergency Water for Preppers”.
Emergency Water for Preppers: Acquisition
When Gaye posted the review of my book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, she asked me if I’d be interested in responding to some questions on the topic. I was very excited because I can’t think of a more vital discussion than water.
Out of all the things we prep, water is both the most vital and the most overlooked. Many times, people are far more interested in stocking food and ammo, because those categories have lots of variety. Do you want freeze-dried food or home canned goods? What is your firearm of choice? So much bandwidth on the internet has been used up on these topics.
And while it’s very important to have a loaded pantry and to be able to protect your home and family, it’s even more important to have something to drink. The lack of safe drinking water will kill you far more quickly than starvation will. In fact, you’ll only last a matter of days without it.
There were so many awesome questions that I’ve broken them into a few different articles. Today, let’s talk about acquiring drinking water.
If a disaster lasts long enough, eventually your supplies are going to run out, no matter how much you have stored. Even though the earthquake in Haiti happened more than 5 years ago, many people have been without a source of running water ever since. A way to acquire water is essential. The following questions all have to do with the safe and reliable acquisition of water.
How can I safely and efficiently collect rainwater for consumption?
If you get sufficient precipitation in your area, rainwater collection is a viable option for water acquisition.
People often think of rain as pure and natural, but it picks up pollutants in the air and off of any surfaces it touches on the way to your collection barrel. The way you collect it isn’t as important as what you do with the water after collection. You must always filter out the sediment and purify the water before consuming it.
I recommend the rain barrels that you can attach to the downspouts on your roof. If you intend to consume the water you collect, be sure that you purchase food grade rain barrels.
You’ll need to strain out sediment with a cheesecloth or even a coffee filter then run through a Berkey, boil, distill, or treat with bleach or pool shock.
As far as roofs are concerned, if you have the opportunity to replace a shingled roof with a metal roof, consider that the metal roof is far better for water acquisition because it doesn’t have particles ready to break free and contaminate your water, nor does it have the tiny nooks and crannies that soak up the rainfall.
What is the best way to filter water coming in from downspouts without clogging the water?
Some people use a mesh screen between the downspout and the water barrel to trap the particles, leaves, and other debris before it can enter your collection container. This will, however, clog up and can cause you to lose the water you had intended to collect.
To prevent this, you need to make a habit of regularly cleaning out your screen trap. For a double dose of protection, there are also downspout filters that will catch the larger debris before it reaches your screen. These are placed higher up on the downspout and have a collection area that is easy to access and clean.
Do you have any recommendations for OPSEC when it comes to water? For example rain barrels outside your home could be a red flag that there is a well-stocked pepper in that house if looters come by in a crisis…
There are some really pretty rain collection containers that look like large urns or planters. They’re designed to look like part of your exterior decor.
You can choose containers that go with the trim of your house to make them stand out a bit less. Other options you might consider are either fencing your backyard with privacy fencing or building some type of attractive screen around your water barrels that looks like part of the decor.
I’ve read about a gadget you can build that will remove water from the air – even when the air is dry. It sounds pretty far fetched to me. Is there any truth to such a thing?
These are called atmospheric water generators. They work by removing the ambient humidity from the air. They’ve actually been around for centuries. The ancient Incas kept their people alive by collecting dew and channeling it into reservoirs.
More recently, a young Australian student won the Dyson Award in 2011 for his innovative take on the device. According to Gizmag, here’s how it works:
“The Airdrop irrigation concept is a low-tech design that uses the simple process of condensation to harvest water from the air. Utilizing a turbine intake system, air is channeled underground through a network of piping that quickly cools the air to soil temperature. This process creates an environment of 100-percent humidity, from which water is then harvested. The collected water is stored in an underground tank, ready to be pumped out via sub-surface drip irrigation hosing.”
Sounds miraculous, right? There are a couple of downsides.
Most devices that are available require a large amount of power to extract the water. Another issue is that if you live in an area without a lot of humidity (you know, the kind of place where you’d really need to extract water from the air because there IS no water otherwise), you aren’t going to get more than a few drops using this method. It might be viable in the tropics or in the Deep South during the muggy summer weather.
I hear people almost screaming “Do not drink distilled water!” What are your thoughts about having a water still and drinking only distilled water? Would a major disaster make any difference in how you feel?
The reason people warn against drinking distilled water is because the distillation process doesn’t only remove the undesirable things, but it also removes the healthy minerals. If a person is dehydrated, water totally bereft of minerals will not help to replenish electrolytes and should be supplemented with an electrolyte powder.
But that’s not the only downside. The EPA warns, “Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water.” (source)
So based on these things, I wouldn’t make distilled water my every day choice.
This being said, I’d certainly prefer to drink distilled water over contaminated water. If you’re distilling your water to purify it during an emergency, and keep in mind that a severely dehydrated person will need supplemental electrolytes, it’s unlikely to hurt you as a temporary water solution.
Can you drink the water from your swimming pool?
This is a question I get asked a lot. Everyone says, “Oh, there’s chlorine in the pool water and that keeps it safe.”
Unfortunately, there’s a lot more than chlorine in the water. There are all sorts of chemicals, including stuff to kill algae. Unless the pool is your own, you have no idea what treatments have been used in it. Algaecide will make you very sick if you consume more than a mouthful from time to time when swimming.
But it gets worse. If the power has gone out, the pumps will stop running. The pumps are what keeps the water filtered and fairly clear of bacteria and fungi that grow there, After a couple of days, there will be so many contaminants in the swimming pool water that the chemicals would be the least of your worries. After a couple of weeks, the water will be stagnant,and will make you very ill.
Of course, before stuff begins growing in it, the 20,000 gallons of water sitting in your pool can easily be used for sanitation purposes. And, if you are really desperate, you can also treat the water and make it safer for consumption.
• Immediately after the power goes out, put a cover on the pool. The UV rays from the sun will reduce the effectiveness of the chlorine quickly, causing algae to grow sooner.
• If the pool is yours and you know it has only been treated with chlorine, you can prepare some of the water for drinking.
• Purify the pool water by boiling it
• Run it through a high quality filter such as the Berkey.
• Allow the water to sit in a container with the lid off for a couple of hours before consuming it. If you want to drink it immediately, pour it back and forth between two containers to aerate it.
Pool water should only be used for consumption as a last resort.
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The Final Word
Whereas there were not a lot of questions pertaining to the acquisition of water, the questions that were asked were good ones. After all, it does not take a PhD to figure out that one of the biggest challenges following adisruptive event will be finding a source of water to supplement what you already have.
In closing, I want to remind you that there are many more questions that will be answered in the subsequent “Water Month” articles. Coming soon:
One thing you can count on is that over time, I will continue to introduce you to strategies and resources that will help ensure that you have an adequate supply of water to help you maintain both hydration and sanitation, no matter what.
www.backdoorsurvival.com/emergency-water-for-preppers-acquisition/
Emergency Water for Preppers Part 2: Purification
September 3, 2015
While sourcing water, and especially an adequate supply of water, is a challenge, making such water safe to drink is a whole other matter. There is much confusion relative to the best method to use to purify water.
Is it boiling, filtering, adding bleach, distillation, or something else? Truth be told, the answer is “it depends”. Over time, I am starting to believe that the answer you get is dependent upon who you ask and what interests they happen to represent.
In this article, Daisy Luther, responds to the water purification questions posed by readers in a recent Prepper Book Festival giveaway. Daisy, who is the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, is not tied to special interests and is diligent in her research. As I mentioned in Part 1: Acquisition, she is stepping up to answer your questions and hopefully bring clarification to this all important topic of water purification.
So once again, grab a cup or bottle of good clean water and let us begin with Part Two of “Emergency Water for Preppers”.
Emergency Water for Preppers: Purification
While all of the aspects of water preparedness are vital, often the most overlooked is purification. Sometimes people outside the prepping world don’t think about the fact that the water they manage to acquire could be teeming with dangerous bacteria, sediment, and toxins. Today I’d like to address your questions about water purification.
What is the number one water filter you would recommend?
I have two different favorites.
For in-home use, I love my Big Berkey. For any time I’m away from home, I carry a Sawyer mini. We keep the mini in our backpacks, purses, and vehicles and have at least one in our possession at all times – you just never know when you might need to filter water!
What do you think of steri-pens for disinfecting water?
Steri-pens are awesome, because they are small and easy to use. They can purify up to 8000 liters of water. They work with ultraviolet light and destroy 99.9% of the bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that could make you sick.
The potential downside of steri-pens is that they require a power source. Some, like this one, are powered by AA batteries, while others can be recharged by computers, solar panels, or a wall charger.
What do you think of the SODIS method of purifying water?
SODIS stands for solar water disinfection.
It’s pretty amazing. Put water into a PET plastic bottle (PolyEthylene Terephthalate, Recycle code #1), lay it in the sun for at least 6 hours, and boom – you have safer water. The beauty of the SODIS water purification method is that it costs next to nothing and is simple to do in nearly any location.
The outdoor temperature is irrelevant – the purification occurs from the exposure to UV rays. This is sort of like an off-grid steri-pen.
Some warnings: if the water is cloudy, you need to filter it before using this method. If the weather is cloudy or overcast, 2 days will be required to purify the water. Be sure that your plastic bottle is absolutely clear.
This method is approved by the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, and UNICEF. (source)
For those who are concerned about the exposure to petrochemicals or BPA in the plastic, the SODIS website says that as long as you use the PET plastic bottles, the amount of exposure to those and other chemicals will be insignificant.
While this might not be my number one choice for water purification, if I was in a situation in which I didn’t have the supplies to use other methods, this would be my fallback method.
Speaking of the SODIS method, you might want to read Gaye’s review of the Puralytics Solar Bag; I know she swears by it.
Is using a WAPI (water pasteurization indicator) really adequate for heating water to a safe enough level to drink?
There are pros and cons to water pasteurization indicators.
On the pro side, a WAPI can help in situations during which you need to save fuel, since the pasteurization point of water is lower than the boiling point. They are a reliable way to heat your water quickly. Since they’re small and inexpensive, they can be a great addition to a bug-out bag.
This being said, I’d normally just opt to boil my water, since boiling water is unmistakable and can’t malfunction. Rocket stoves take very little fuel to bring water to the boiling point. WAPIs are really just a matter of personal preference.
What is really the best way to make sure you have clean water: filter, distill, boil, bleach, pool shock?
Distillation is probably the very safest method. When you’re capturing steam, you’ll have no debris or sediment, and the boiling required to make the steam will kill nearly all contaminants like bacteria, viruses, or protozoa.
The problem with distillation is that if water supplies are limited, you lose a lot during the process. This means it’s not the best method for every situation.
Water purification is always two-fold – you have to get rid of the chunks and you have to get rid of anything harmful living in it. If you are not distilling, most often it’s recommended to both filter and purify.
How do you use pool shock for potable water?
The great thing about storing pool shock instead of bleach is that you don’t have the limited shelf life of bleach. When a prep is this vital, you want it to be at full effectiveness when you need it the most.
Before using pool shock or any chemical purification method, filter any debris, particles and sediment out of your water.
Gaye has an excellent article with all the details on using pool shock to purify water. In summary, she wrote, “For my own use, I settled on 1 teaspoon of pool shock per gallon of water when making up my stock chlorine solution. Then, to disinfect water, I used 3/4 ounce of my pool shock solution to treat a gallon of water. This makes it easy to calculate how much to use, regardless of the size of your container.”
Always, always use eye protection goggles and gloves when dealing with caustic chemicals. If your water tastes funny, you can aerate it by pouring it back and forth between containers a few times.
How do you filter iron and sand from well water?
Reverse osmosis is one of the best ways to remove unwanted minerals from any kind of water, but in an off-grid scenario that isn’t going to do you much good. Not only are most RO systems grid-dependent, but they can also be outrageously expensive.
Carbon block filters (like the kind in the Berkey systems) are your next best option for removing sediment. The more sediment in your water, the more frequently you’ll need to replace your filters. Be sure to stock up on lots of extras. Berkeys are gravity fed and require no source of power to clean your water.
I have looked at my water heater as a 50-gallon source but our water has a lot of minerals in it. What is the best way to clean it up for consumption?
When harvesting water from your water heater, quite often the first water that comes out will be discolored and full of sediment. Reserve this for non-consumption uses like flushing the toilet. (Regularly flushing your water heater will help keep the sediment from building up too much.) Once the water runs clear, you can collect this for drinking water.
Once you’ve collected the water, you should still purify it and filter it through something like a Berkey filter to remove any debris.
If you have a heavy buildup of lime, calcium, or other minerals, the best method for making the water safe to drink is distillation.
My question is how to make an easier homemade distiller for water. This would be helpful if one can afford a fancy distiller, but still has concerns about water quality in a less than ideal situation.
Gaye has chosen to answer this one so let me turn things over to her:
I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Jim Cobb’s newest book, Prepper’s Survival Hacks. In it he addresses the question of how to build your own solar still. Even though his book is not slated for publication until mid to late September, both Jim an his published have granted me permission to share his hack for building a survival still.
And just so you know, I agree 100% with Jim. This is not something I would do when SODIS or some other method is more productive.
SOLAR STILL
I’m going to be flat-out honest with you. I don’t in any way, shape, or form endorse the use of a solar still for acquiring water in a survival situation. I’m including it here for two reasons.
1. In any survival manual, it is almost expected that the solar still be mentioned, and its absence in this book would be noticeable.
2. I wanted to include it specifically so I could talk a bit about why you shouldn’t rely upon it.
MATERIALS
Shovel
Bucket or clean container
Large plastic tarp
Large rocks or logs
Small rock
#1 On the surface, the solar still is a fairly straightforward project. Using your shovel, dig a hole a few feet deep. At the bottom of the hole, roughly in the center, place your bucket or other clean container. Next, stretch the plastic tarp across the top of the hole using the large rocks or logs to secure it in place. Finally, place a small rock at the center of the tarp, which weighs it down above your container.
#2 The idea is that the sun will heat up the inside of that hole, causing moisture from the ground to evaporate, then condense on the bottom of the plastic tarp. It will then run along the plastic to the point above the bucket, into which it will drip.
Here’s the thing. The amount of water you’ll gain through the use of the solar still is, quite literally, a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of energy you’ll expend by digging the hole and setting everything up.
Don’t believe me? Go ahead, set one up tomorrow and see how well it performs. If you get more than 2 cups of water, you’ll be doing fairly well.
What would you recommend for a budget conscious first water filtration system?
If you want one of those pricey systems but can’t afford it, you can actually build your own version of a gravity filtration system. All you need are some basic tools, a couple of food grade buckets, and 2 or 4 Berkey filters.
Sometimes the pursuit of knowledge results in more questions than answers. I hope that is true in this case because the more you ask, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better prepared you will be following a disaster or other disruptive event.
Going forward, there will be an article answering your questions about water storage as well as a round up article providing you will links to some of the best articles on the web written by my preparedness blogging colleagues. Plus, in case you missed it, there is Part 1, Emergency Water For Preppers: Acquisition.
As I mentioned in Part 1, one thing you can count on is that over time, I will continue to introduce you to strategies and resources that will help ensure that you have an adequate supply of water to help you maintain both hydration and sanitation, no matter what.
Bargain Bin: Below you will find links to the items related to today’s article.
Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System: Fans of the Sawyer water filtration systems are evangelistic in their praise. Did you know they only weight 2 ounces and fit in the palm of your hand? At $16 give or take, the price is right. Be sure to also check out the Family Color Coded Gift Pack which looks nice.
Berkey Water Filter System: I personally own a Royal Berkey and it represents a key component of my water preps. This is definitely something you want to save up for.
Puralytics SolarBag Water Purifier : I reviewed the Solar Bag last year and cannot say enough good things about it. This is by far the easiest way to purify water using the sun.
It even works on a cloudy day; it just takes longer. Here is my review: The SolarBag Water Purifier.
SteriPEN Adventurer Opti Handheld UV Water Purifier : This is the UV version of the SteriPen. It is compact and portable and those that own them, love them. I admit, though, that I have not used on myself. There is also thisUSB powered model that can be powered with a portable solar panel.
Puralytics SolarBag Water Purifier : I reviewed the Solar Bag last year and cannot say enough good things about it. This is by far the easiest way to purify water using the sun. It even works on a cloudy day; it just takes longer. Here is my review: The SolarBag Water Purifier.
DryTec Calcium Hypochlorite, 1-Pound: This is 68% Calcium Hypochlorite. As of this writing, the price is under $10 with free shipping. I purchased Ultima Pool Shock which is 73% Calcium Hypochlorite. For more information, readHow to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water.
3M TEKK Protection Chemical Splash/Impact Goggle : I am pleased with these eye protection goggles and the price is reasonable. I have stashed them in my “water box” as well as in my tool kit, sick room kit, and bug-out-bag.
Prepper’s Survival Hacks: 50 DIY Projects for Lifesaving Gear, Gadgets and Kits: You are going to want this book, Written by my trusted colleague, Jim Cobb (and I know you LOVE his books), you are going to find his projects are a well thought-out resource you can actually use. No fluff here.
The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: You can survive up to three weeks without food, but only three days without water. When catastrophe strikes, having enough water can spell the difference between life and death. This book offers a step-by-step plan with straightforward information you can easily follow. Written by my friend Daisy Luther, I recommended the book for everyone’s survival library!
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter: The LifeStraw is considered the most advanced, compact, ultra light personal water filter available. It contains no chemicals or iodinated resin, no batteries and no moving parts to break or wear out. It weighs only 2 oz. making it perfect for the prepper. For more information, see my LifeStraw review. There is also the LifeStraw Family that can be used to filter 9 to 12 liters per hour.
Potable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets: Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets make questionable water bacteriologically suitable to drink. Easy to use and the water is ready to drink in 30 minutes. One 50 tablet bottle treats 25 quarts of water.
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Something I have learned over the years is that my own experience coupled with the anecdotal experience of my peers will always trump the theoretical. Most assuredly, this also applies to coping skills learned in a disaster or what I like to call a “Disruptive Event”.
Some of you might recall that due to a break at the water meter coming into my home, I was without running water for 12 days. Because I was prepared, the lack of running water was at most an inconvenience. You might even say that it was a grand adventure as I experienced a real life test of both my water preps and coping skills.
Today I have another real-life experience to share. This time, Daisy Luther, the author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, shares a chapter from her book that describers her own first hand experience living life without running water during a power outage. Talk about a double whammy: no water AND no power!
Included in this chapter are are seven solutions to help you survive for the short term when the tap is running dry and the pump to the well (if you have one) is no longer working.
A Glimpse at Everyday Life without Running Water
I had been a prepper for several years before the importance of water storage truly resonated. As with most lessons, I had to learn it the hard way (fortunately, for us, it was not quite as hard a lesson as those in Chapter One).
My youngest daughter and I spent a year living in a cabin in the woods in North Central Ontario. We lived in secluded splendor on the banks of a huge lake and on the edge of an enormous national forest
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We moved there straight from the city, so our “initiations” were many. In this breathtaking setting, we learned to provide our own heat and live without electricity and running water.
You know how it goes with the most important things you learn: we were thrown right into it and the choices were to either sink (by packing up our belongings and scurrying back to the city with our tails between our legs) or swim (by learning what we needed to in order to thrive in this drastically different environment).
The little cabin we moved to had electricity and running water supplied by a well 30 feet from our back door. Don’t let these amenities fool you, though. Just because these things were present doesn’t mean they were always available for our use. Try getting a heavy concrete well lid off when it’s buried under 3 feet of snow, then get back to me about the ease of availability of the water within.
The first challenge came in the late fall when our well dropped to dizzyingly low levels. The drought that had been going on for years was not limited to the West Coast—even lush, green Ontario suffered from low water tables.
Everything that came out of the taps was cloudy and murky, with bits of sediment from the bottom of the well floating through it. This was certainly not acceptable for drinking, washing dishes, or cooking. We had a bit of water, but not enough to do a load of laundry, and even if we had enough, our clothes were unlikely to get very clean from that muddy-looking water.
This broke us in gently, since we could still flush and take a quick, if not particularly thorough, shower. This predicament inspired me to invest in a water dispenser for the kitchen and enough 5-gallon jugs to keep us supplied with drinking water for a month. We used this for drinking, cooking, and making ice.
Kitchen sanitation was difficult and with snow impending that would leave us stranded at the cabin, I was hesitant to use our newly acquired drinking water for cleaning purposes. Here are some of the solutions we came up with.
We dirtied as few dishes as possible. I cooked in the oven and lined the cast iron with tin foil, which could easily be dis- posed of. Then the cookware required only a quick wipe. We also ate from paper plates and used the same drinking glasses throughout the day.
I set up a reusable water filtration system for dishwashing. I didn’t want to use my good Berkey filters for all of this sediment and gunk, so I rigged up a device for my faucet. I used a mesh sieve lined with a piece of fabric. (Flour sack towels work well for this, as do coffee filters for a disposable option.) I tied this little contraption to my faucet with a piece of garden twine and ran water through it slowly. It caught the greater part of the sediment. I put a splash of bleach and dish soap into the water. For rinsing, I used lake water that had been filtered through the Berkey, boiled, then seasoned with a little splash of bleach.
We cleaned with kitchen wipes. For wiping down counters, stoves, and food prep areas, we used antibacterial kitchen wipes. It seemed really silly to “clean” with dirty water. If it wasn’t too dirty from the dishes, we used the dishwater for cleaning, too.
The issue with our well lasted for about three weeks before the rain began to fall. Water table levels rose, and with them, our well water levels. Soon the water was sweet and clear again and we felt we were over the hurdle of water shortages. Little did we realize that all of this was merely a warm-up for the big event that would soon be coming our way. It would give a whole new meaning to power outages.
We hadn’t been there long when we had our first power outage. Being straight off the bus from the city, I thought that with a well and septic system, life would be easy in a situation without electricity. I was prepared for life without lights, appliances, or the Internet. But what I hadn’t thought of was life without running water. Not even dirty running water. No. Water. At. All.
In the city, despite our other inconveniences, when the lights went out, the water still flowed from the taps and the toilets still flushed. Not so when you have a well run by an electric pump. I discovered this when I got a panicked cry from the bathroom.
“Moooooom! The toilet won’t flush!” Rosie called.
I went in to see what was going on. “Wash your hands and I’ll get it working again.”
Rosie turned the taps to no avail. Uh oh. Then it dawned on me. The pump.
I sent my daughter down to the lake with a bucket to get water for flushing. We left the lid off the tank throughout the lights-out episode for the sake of ease.
Life without clean running water posed some problems, but it was nothing compared to life with NO running water at all. We rallied quickly. We had our 5-gallon jugs of drinking and cooking water. The lake had not yet frozen over, so we were able to haul up buckets of water for our other needs. But I was determined not to be stuck in this position later, when a foot of ice would cover the water of the lake.
I took notes throughout the outage, which was mercifully short, and came up with solutions to ease future electrical out- ages and their subsequent effects on water. More details on the nuts and bolts of water storage methods follow in Chapter Six.
Store tap water for sanitation. We added to our water storage supplies by purchasing 1-gallon bottles of drinking water. After we consumed the drinking water from these, we refilled them with tap water. Many of these were stored near the bathroom.
Fill the bathtub as soon as the weather gets bad. Because we lost power frequently, we began to immediately fill the tub the second the sky darkened and the wind began to howl. A full bathtub can provide a lot of flushes and washing-up water.
Place an old-fashioned pitcher and bowl on a stand to use for hand-washing. For many solutions, you need only look as far as an antique shop to see what our ancestors did. We set up cups near the pitcher and bowl to use for brushing our teeth.
Order extra filters and parts for your water- filtration system. Living in such a secluded area, the snow removal was not always dependable. With the filtration system, we never had to risk running out of potable water.
Use basins for dishwashing. Instead of using the sink to wash our dishes, we used basins. This way the water could be reused for flushing after the dishes were washed.
Stock up on baby wipes. When the power is out, you still want to keep clean. Baby wipes are a good way to take a quick sponge bath without using freezing cold water or using up your precious supplies. They can also be used for hand-washing and minor cleanups.
Keep a kettle on the woodstove. Actually, keep a couple of them. This added moisture to the dry air in the cabin and had the benefit of hot water on demand for tea, cocoa, or for adding to the basin to wash up with.
By the time the next power outage rolled around, we had become pros, and it was barely a blip on our radar.
The real moral of this chapter is not what we did or how we did it, though. It is that you can’t know what difficulties you will face without a practice run.
We’re pretty good at living without running water now, because we have had a lot of practice. It’s less convenient but it hardly feels like “roughing it” because we learned to resolve our issues. We discovered what we needed to make our lives more comfortable and we were able to stock up on those things at our leisure. Trust me, you don’t want to discover you need something only to find that everyone else in your town has just discovered the same thing.
Leave No Water Source Untapped
The “Rule of Three” states that you can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. That said, for most of us, the practical concern following a disaster will be water, plain and simple.
To quote Daisy, “There is nothing you can store that is more valuable than water or a way to purify water.”
I totally agree and because of that, I am promoting the sharing of as much free information as I can to help you plan ahead for both long and short term catastrophes that may impact you water supply. Having said that, if you have a few extra dollars to spare, I encourage you to check out the book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource . Other than your book on Survival Medicine, it may become the most important book in your library.
The Final Word
It was late July when I first conceived of “Water Month” on Backdoor Survival. At the time, I failed to consider the calendar and how it would be impossible to cram everything I wanted to do into a single month. As a result, you are going to find that “Water Month” may actually spill over into September.
Survival Basics: Water and Water Storage
January 6, 2015
During a recent book giveaway, the question asked was “What piece of prepping gear is at the top of your bucket list?” Needless to say, I was more than a little bit surprised to find that the top response was water storage, water filters, and water purification equipment.
While having the gear is nice, anyone interested in preparedness also needs to have a basic understanding of the concepts behind water and water storage. Where to find, store, purify, and filter water are all questions that need to be asked, answered, and periodically reviewed.
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And why do I know that? A couple of months ago I was personally without running water for 12 days. Being up to speed on the do’s and don’t of water were key to my getting by just fine during this period.
With that in mind, today I share an article on water as a survival basic.
Back to the Basics: Water for Survival
When I first started Backdoor Survival, my focus was on gathering the basics: food, water, shelter and fire. Of course, along the way I have learned that there is so much more that is essential to long term survival. Things that come to mind are clean air, clothing, first aid, self-defense, signaling and a community with others.
But today I want to keep things simple and, for the benefit of my newer readers, go back the basics and review the essentials of water for survival.
Water is the Most Important Survival Basic
Clean water is something that we all take for granted. We turn on the faucet and there it is. It is plentiful, it is clean and it is drinkable. Yes, it may have some undesirable chemical additions such a fluorides, but for the most part, having clean, drinkable water is something we have come to rely upon.
The bottom line is that if a disaster occurred and the supply lines to fresh water were comprised, we would be in a pickle. There is a possibility that safe water would not be available for days and possibly not for weeks.
The rule of thumb propagated by FEMA and just about every other authority out there is that you store at least one gallon of water per person and pet, per day, for a minimum of three days. But if you think that a three day water supply is adequate, think again.
A more reasonable recommendation is that you up the recommended amount of stored water to a two week supply. So for two people that would be 2 people x 1 gallon x 14 days = 28 gallons. This amount should cover your minimal needs for drinking, food preparation and nominal, and I mean nominal, hygiene.
DIY Water Storage
Storing water for an emergency can be as simple as filling thoroughly washed plastic or glass containers with tap water and sealing them tightly. This is something that anyone can do without incurring a cost so long as few simple rules are followed.
Here are the steps to can take to store water for emergency use:
1. Thoroughly clean your plastic bottle and jugs with dishwashing soap and water then rinse completely so there is no residual soap.
2. Sanitize your bottles by adding a solution of 1 teaspoon of un-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to a quart of water. Swish the sanitizing solution in the containers so that it touches all interior surfaces. Don’t forget to sanitize the lids and caps as well. After sanitizing the containers and caps, thoroughly rinse out the bleach solution with clean water.
Note: Bleach has an effective shelf-life of one year. Make sure that the bleach you are using is fresh.
3. Fill the sanitized containers to the top with regular tap water. Add two drops of non-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to the water, then tightly close the containers using the original caps. It is probably a good idea to use some latex or nitrile gloves at this point so that you maintain the sanitation and do not contaminate the caps by touching the inside of them with your fingers.
4. Date the outside with a permanent marker such as a Sharpie.
5. Store in a cool, dark place.
6. As a precaution, rotate in six months to a year. Dump the water, re-sanitize the jugs, and start all over. Or, if you have the space, mark the jugs as “non-potable” and save the water for non-drinking emergency purposes.
Personally, I think it would be a good idea to put up a few jugs at the first of each month. Do this for six months and you will build up a nice, rotating stock.
Plastic soda bottles or juice jugs work well for DIY water storage. On the other hand, milk jugs should not be used for water storage. Milk and protein sugars are difficult to remove and will compromise the stored water because they create an environment for bacteria growth. In addition, milk jugs are flimsy and will not hold up, even for a short period of time. Ditto cardboard. The cardboard will eventually leak and make a big mess. Glass is okay but be aware that glass is heavy and subject to breakage.
Water stored as described above will be good for at least six months to a year and possibly longer. Let me be clear: you rotate water not because it has an “expiration date” but that it may become chemically or biologically contaminated and foul. Why take a chance?
Technically, if water is stored in a cool, dark area and away from chemical and toxic fumes, it should last forever.
If the cleanliness of the the water is in question, it can be purified with purification tablets, fresh bleach, or a filtering system such as the Berkey or LifeStraw, among others.
If you have the space and the budget, you can also purchase food-grade plastic containers and drums designed for water storage. These containers typically hold up to 55 gallons of water and with the addition of proper purification chemicals, will keep the water safe for up to five years.
I personally have a 55 gallon water storage system. It was easy to set up and it came outfitted as a complete kit with all of the various tools and siphons I will need if/when that emergency situation occurs.
Another alternative, of course, is bottled water. The same rule applies: store in a cool, dark area and periodically rotate just to be on the safe side.
Hidden Sources of Water
In addition to tap water, there are other hidden sources of water that you can use when a disaster occurs. These sources include the water in your hot water heater, pipes, and even the ice cubes from the icemaker in your refrigerator or freezer. Before tapping in to these sources, however, you will first need to shut off the main valve coming in to your home so that you do not contaminate the ”good” water with the “bad”.
Here are some specific instructions for using the water in your hot water tank:
• Turn off the electricity or gas.
• Open the drain at the bottom of the tank.
• Start the water flowing by turning off the water intake valve at the tank and turning on a hot-water faucet.
• And don’t forget: be sure to refill the tank before turning the gas or electricity back on.
Outdoor Sources of Water
Barring the use of stored water or the hidden water sources in your home, there is always the outdoors. Water may be available from rainwater, streams, ponds, lakes and natural streams. Absolutely stay away from flood water since it is likely to contain sewage and other nasties that you do not even want to think about.
When using outdoor sources of water, you are going to have to undertake purification measures to make it safe. There are many ways to purify water, some better than others and some easier than others.
Water Purification
For ad hoc water purification, nothing beats plain old bleach as long as it is fresh (no more than a year old) and unscented.
According to the Clorox website: When boiling off water for 1 minute is not possible in an emergency situation, you can disinfect your drinking water with Clorox® Regular-Bleach as follows:
1. Remove suspended particles by filtering or letting particles settle to the bottom.
2. Pour off clear water into a clean container.
3. Add 8 drops of Clorox® Regular-Bleach (not scented or Clorox® Plus® bleaches) to one gallon of water (2 drops to 1 quart). For cloudy water, use 16 drops per gallon of water (4 drops to 1 quart).
Boiling water is considered the safest method of purifying water. What you do is bring water to a rolling boil for three to five minutes. The water may not taste that great but it will be safe to drink.
Factoid: To improve the taste of boiled or stored water, you can put some oxygen back in to the water by pouring it back and forth between two containers.
As an alternative to bleach or boiling water, the EPA has guidelines for using calcium hypochlorite, commonly sold as “pool shock” to disinfect water:
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water.
The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated.
This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another.
Tip: For more precise (and in my opinion better) instructions, visit the article How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water. In this article, I go into great detail describing plus showing you how to safely use Pool Shock for water purification purposes.
A good reference for this and other purification methods can be found in the downloadable and printable article Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water.
What About Water Filters?
The use of water filters to make raw water drinkable is another solution to the water for survival dilemma. The nice thing about a filtration system is that it will not only supplement your stored water, but will provide you with great tasting, chemical free drinking water for day to day.
I personally have a Royal Berkey and to tell the truth, wonder what took me so long to discover this alternative to purchased water in bottles and a countertop Brita.
This is not to say that I don’t have bottled water because I do. After all, if I have to leave my home, it would be tough to drag along a 55 gallon water barrel or a Berkey. But for day to day drinking as well as long term survival needs, you simply can not beat a quality filtration system.
Portable Water Filters
I have had good luck with the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter. This lightweight and affordable filter is like an oversized straw. You can use it with a cup or dip it directly into a pond or stream. There are other portable water filtering systems as well and these are handy to keep in your emergency backpack, your car or your travel kit.
Additional Reading
I have written about various aspects of water for survival purposes. Here are some additional articles for you to peruse as time and interest dictates.
16 Tips for Coping Without Running Water
The Five Myths of Water Storage
How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water
8 Reasons to Drink Water for Survival
15 Ways to Conserve Household Water Now
The Final Word
Thanks to a tip from a Backdoor Survival reader, I learned that you can find pre-used, food grade, 55-gallon plastic drums on Craigslist for about $25 each. If you decide to check in to this, be sure to confirm that the original contents was food. Clean them well first with vinegar and baking soda to remove odors, and then with a strong bleach for sanitation.
Here in my area, there is a fellow that sells such barrels and will even add a hose bib at the bottom for a nominal cost. I am not 100% sure I would drink from such a barrel but the water inside should be great for bathing, laundry and housekeeping chores.
Another reader has suggested the use of colloidal silver to get rid of bacteria in water. I have not researched this personally, however.
Whatever your water storage method of choice, I highly recommend that you store at least two weeks of water for every member of your household, including pets. Please remember that depending on climate conditions, you can only survive for an average of three to five days without the intake of water.
Why take a chance when it is so easy to store water ?
The Five Myths of Water Storage
May 14, 2014 17 Replies
For many, water becomes their very first prep. By that I mean that steps are taken to either purchase a supply of bottled water, set up a water barrel, or locate a source of local water that can be filtered and purified for consumption.
I was no exception. Water was my first major prepping purchase – before food storage, before a bug out bag, before first aid and trauma supplies, and before firearms. My first major preparedness purchase was a 55 gallon water barrel.
Like many newbies, I made a mistake with this initial purchase. I sunk a lot of many into a water storage system when I should have filled some smaller jugs, invested in a Berkey or other system, and figured out a way to transport water from local fresh-water ponds to my home. I also filled the barrel and stored it on concrete – a no no. It had to be emptied and refilled from the get go.
Naturally, all in time, those things happened. And as with all things that come with a certain age, if I had known then what I know now I would saved a lot of time and been a lot richer!
I can’t say that you will not make mistakes as your expand your preparedness efforts. What I can do, though, is help point you in the right direction so at the very least, the decisions you make are done with a modicum of knowledge.
Before you jump both feet first into setting up a water storage system, take heed of these five myths of water storage.
Water Storage – Myth vs. Fact
Myth #1: Water can expire
Water does not expire. Ever. Sure, water can become chemically or biologically contaminated and foul, but it doesn’t go bad or spoil.
What can happen to water is that it can go stale and look or taste bad. One thing you can do to make water that has been standing around for awhile taste better is to aerate it by stirring it up or pouring it from one jug to another to introduce some oxygen.
If the cleanliness of the the water is in question, it can be purified with purification tablets, fresh bleach, or a filtering system such as the Berkey or LifeStraw, among others.
Technically, if water is stored in a cool, dark area and away from chemical and toxic fumes, it should last forever.
Myth #2: Water can be stored in any old container that you find around the house
Water should be stored in a UV-resistant, food-grade plastic container or in metallized bags. Traditionally, water storage barrels are blue. The reason for this is that the blue color limits light exposure and biological growth (bacteria and algae) and also signifies that what is stored in the container is safe for human consumption.
The safest containers to hold water in are polyethylene-based plastics, or plastics #1, #2, and #4. Most water barrels are made out of plastic #2 and are BPA-free. If you are in doubt, check with the manufacturer before making purchase, especially if the water is going to be used for drinking.
Don’t use milk jugs for water storage. Since milk jugs are biodegradable, they will break down over time. In addition, it is almost impossible to remove all of the milk sugars from the used jug, opening the risk of contamination.
On the other hand, repurposed soda or juice bottles (made from PETE plastic), make great water storage containers. Just be sure to rinse them well beforehand with a mild bleach solution. This will eliminate any soda or juice residue plus lingering odors.
Another good option for water storage is re-useable Nalgene bottles.
Myth #3: A water barrel is all you need to consider yourself water–prepared
This one is actually comical. I can just see you now: the flooding river is rising and you need to evacuate. Strap on your water barrel and your bug out bag and you are good to go. Not!
Depending on the number of people in your family and whether you have located or set aside a separate water source for hygiene and cleaning, 55 gallons is not going to last long. Conservatively, you are going to need one gallon of water per person per day.
It is always a good idea to have a portable water filter you can transport when you are on the go. In addition, rain barrels can be a great source of non-potable water for flushing and for use in the garden. Good sense dictates that you store water in various sized containers and plan for different situations such as bugging-out, sheltering-in-place, sanitation and so on.
Myth #4: You can save space by stacking water barrels on top of each other
Most water barrels are not designed to be stacked. If space is limited, consider a stacking system designed to accommodate the weight of filled barrels. A good example is this one from Titan ReadyWater.
Also, there are options other than barrels, that can be stacked, These include water bricks and even canned water.
Myth #5: Since I have a water purifier, I don’t need a water filter
According to the water specialists at Emergency Essentials, water purifiers like Chlorine Dioxide will kill 99.9% of all microorganisms (like protozoa, bacteria, and viruses) in your water. Chlorine Dioxide is excellent for sheltering-in-place, and also great for treating water from your barrels or water you collect from streams or rivers while hiking.
Bleach is also a decent purified as long as it is fresh (less than a year old) and the unscented type.
Water purifiers alone will not remove dirt, silt, “gunk” and chemicals from your water. For these nasties, you need a filter. Using a purifier and filter together are an ideal combination to make sure your water is clean enough for drinking.
A Note About Storing Water Barrels
Did you know that water should not be stored on bare cement including the cement on the floor of your basement or garage?
The reason for this is that plastics absorb flavors and odors from chemicals and liquids spilled on the floor and also from the chemicals used to create the concrete. What you need to do is store your water on a piece of wood that sits between the floor and the concrete. A repurposed wood pallet would be ideal.
The Final Word
There is no question that having an adequate supply of water following a disaster or other emergency is paramount to both our health and our comfort. Having a large water barrel or two, if stored properly, will serve you well but should not preclude the storage of bottle water, frozen jugs of water in your freezer (which will them become a makeshift cooler when the power goes out), and water purification and filtering systems.
Redundancy is good and even more so when it comes to water.
How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water
August 13, 2014
If I were to ask how many of you store liquid bleach along with your other prepping supplies, I am certain that a good percentage of you would raise your hands. Liquid bleach is a powerful disinfectant and sanitizer but did you know that there is something better? Something with an almost indefinite shelf life that is inexpensive and takes almost no room to store?
That something is the chemical Calcium Hypochlorite most commonly known as Pool Shock.
I have known about Pool Shock for years but because it is not readily available in my area, I never took the time to search it out so I could stockpile some for my own emergency preps. That has now changed and today I plan to show you how to use Pool Shock the easy way, step by step.
Why Not Bleach?
Before we start, you may be asking “why not use liquid bleach?”. There are a few problems with liquid bleach. It takes a lot of room to store bleach plus the usable shelf life is only six month to a year depending on storage conditions.
The folks at Clorox say this:
The active ingredient in liquid bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is very sensitive to high heat and freezing, but under normal home storage conditions, it should still perform well for nine to twelve months.
In addition to a limited shelf life, there is another problem. I have had reports from Backdoor Survival readers telling me that in their area, they can only purchase “Clorox Ultra” which is concentrated. When I called Clorox to ask how to use concentrated bleach to purify water, they said that it was not intended to be used in that manner and why would I want to do that anyway. Seriously, their representative actually said that.
Pool Shock – The Boilerplate
When I started doing research for this article, I visited some of the most respected survival and preparedness blogs and forums for background material. After all, pool shock is pool shock and there must be some standards for use, right?
With just one exception, all of the sites I visited included this boilerplate from the EPA:
You can use granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water.
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water.
The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight.
To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected.
To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another.
Have your eyes glazed over yet? Mine have. Being an accountant, I like to deal in absolutes so what is this business about “one heaping teaspoon”? Plus, what’s up with the references to “approximately” and “roughly”?
I decided that it was time to do my own testing, and sure enough, each time I measured out a heaping teaspoon, I had different results; they ran the gamut from 1 1/4 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons. This made my head hurt.
Another thing. Over and over I read that you should use pool shock that is a minimum of 78% calcium hypochlorite with the balance being inert ingredients. Fair enough, but there are two problems with this. First, what you find locally may be 68%, it may be 78%, or it may be something else. I sourced mine from Amazon and it was 73% calcium hypochlorite. Second, the EPA, makes no such recommendation or at least none that I could find. They simply say “high-test”.
Did I mention this made my head hurt?
But there is more. I actually found a couple of sites that said to use one heaping tablespoon of Pool Shock for each two gallons of water! You know, just because you find something on the internet does not mean it is true.
My conclusion? The exact amount and the exact percentage does not matter as long as it is within a reasonable range and close to the EPA standard. I do think it is important that the pool shock does not contain other additives that may or may not be safe even when highly diluted. Other than that, however, it is my belief that the precise percentage of Calcium Hypochlorite to inert ingredients does not matter as long as it is 68% or higher.
For my own use, I settled on 1 teaspoon of pool shock per gallon of water when making up my stock chlorine solution. Then, to disinfect water, I used 3/4 ounce of my pool shock solution to treat a gallon of water. This makes it easy to calculate how much to use, regardless of the size of your container.
Step-by-Step: How to Purify Water Using Pool Shock
The first thing I did was gather my supplies. Notice that I used eye protection goggles and rubber gloves. Other supplies included an empty bleach bottle, funnel, shot glass, and measuring spoons.
I verified the size of my stock chlorine solution container, namely a repurposed bleach bottle. My bottle held 1.42 gallons and I wrote this on the outside with a Sharpie pen. My intent, however, was to only prepare 1 gallon of stock solution to keep the math simple.
After donning my protection gear, I added water to my stock solution bottle, carefully measuring the quantity. I used exactly one gallon of water.
I then measured out some pool shock; one level teaspoon to be exact. I put the cap back on the bottle and swished it around a bit. I gave it a sniff test and it definitely smelled bleach-like.
The next step was to purify water. I wanted to make drinking water and for me, the smaller the jug the better. I chose a 64 ounce repurposed apple juice jug. Remember the easy math? The EPA says 1 part chlorine solution to 100 parts water so the math is 64/100 = .64 ounces.
Keeping things easy, that translates into approximately 2/3rd ounce. Remember, the EPA guideline uses the word “approximately” all over the place. That was good enough for me. To easily measure the proper dilution, I used amini shot glass that had measurement markings along the side.
Be sure to pour your pool shock into your water and not the other way around. The last thing you want is to splash the solution on yourself on the surrounding surfaces (although you have probably noticed that I did this outdoors).
After preparing my newly purified water, I drank up. Three things. I did not throw up, I did not get diarrhea and I did not get sick or die.
I am comfortable with the results even though the solution I made may have been slightly stronger than the EPA guidelines. Then again, given the vagueness of the EPA guidelines, perhaps my measurements were spot on.
Note: I did not find that my water had an objectionable smell or taste. True, it was not sweet tasting like the water coming out of my Royal Berkey but it was palatable. If your own purified water has an unpleasant odor, simply aerate it by pouring it back and forth between clean containers. This trick applies to any water, not just water treated with pool shock.
Label your pool shock solution. This is powerful stuff. Get out your Sharpie and label the jug with as much information as you can. Store it in the same manner you store liquid bleach, up high and away from pets and children and in a location that is cool, dark and dry.
Also store your unused pool shock safely. Because it is corrosive, I chose a mason jar with a plastic lid. Plus, rather than empty the pool shock into the jar, I sealed the plastic bag it came in with a clip and stuffed the bag inside of the jar.
Other Handling and Storage Considerations
I contacted the manufacturer of the pool shock I purchased and requested a Material Safety Data Sheet on the product. They promptly responded and here is what it said about handling and storage:
Keep product tightly sealed in original containers. Store product in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area. Store away from combustible or flammable products. Keep product packaging clean and free of all contamination, including, e.g. other pool treatment products, acids, organic materials, nitrogen-containing compounds, dry powder fire extinguishers (containing mono-ammonium phosphate), oxidizers, all corrosive liquids, flammable or combustible materials, etc.
Do not store product where the average daily temperature exceeds 95° F. Storage above this temperature may result in rapid decomposition, evolution of chlorine gas and heat sufficient to ignite combustible products.
Recommendations
Now that I have been through the process and understand the math, I am confortable using pool shock to purify water for drinking, hygiene, and sanitation purposes. It is not, however, an excuse for not storing water nor an excuse for not having a supply of traditional water purification liquids or tabs that are pre-measured and simple to carry with you in bug-out-bags and emergency kits.
As far as I am concerned, the pool shock I have purchased is reserved for dire emergency use, period. Yes, I feel it is safe, but it is still a powerful chemical solution as is liquid bleach. I will use it as the water purification method of last resort and if the time comes, I will be thankful I have it on hand.
Disclaimer
I have to say this: I am not a chemist and I am not an expert. My methods are my own and they work for me. That being said, if you have any hesitation at all, visit other resources including the EPA and make the decision to use pool shock your own and not just something someone told you to do. Here is a link: Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water.
The Final Word
Everywhere you look you will see a recommendation to store bleach for water purification. I have made that recommendation and so have many, if not most, of my blogging peers. What you may not have seen is that liquid bleach has a limited shelf life of 6 to 12 months. I fear that this could be leaving a lot of people ill prepared to produce safe, potable water in an emergency.
This means that a person that began prepping a year ago, and does not know to rotate their bleach, is already living with false security when it comes to water purification. And what about people that have been prepping longer?
As long as pool shock is stored properly, it will have an almost indefinite shelf life plus, a small one pound package will treat many thousands of gallons of water. Ten thousand to be exact. It can be mixed and used as potable water and as a disinfectant, just like bottled liquid bleach.
At the end of the day, do your own research and decide for yourself. All I can say is that for me, the $13 investment was more than worth it for peace of mind down the road.
www.backdoorsurvival.com/emergency-water-for-preppers-acquisition/