Water storage during extended emergency?

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wahoowad

Minister of Fire
Dec 19, 2005
1,669
Virginia
I am increasing my preparedness to make it through extended power outages. I am uncomfortable with my fresh water situation because I am on a neighborhood well system that stops pumping when the power goes out. The longest I've been without power/water at this house has been 5 days. I want to be prepared for 2 weeks. There are only the 2 of us here but we ended up having a surprise guest the last outage so I want to prepare for 4 people to have a safety margin.

Here's my thinking for getting past an emergency:

drinking water = 1 gallon a day per person * 14 days * 4 people = 56 gallons needed of drinking water;
dishes/bathing/toilet = 1 gallon a day per person * 14 days * 4 people = 56 gallons needed of utility water;

I currently have 4 5-gallon portable water jugs so that can provide 20 gallons of drinking water.
I have 2 bathtubs I can fill so assume I can get 35 gallons each, or 70 gallons of utility water.


Phase 1 preparedness - have sufficient storage capability and fill containers before an approaching storm;
Phase 2 preparedness - develop a water storage capability so water is already stored/ready for a surprise emergency;

I appreciate any opinions on servicing my needs. Interested in issues such as how long I can store water in a clean container and still drink? What larger plastic containers (aka rain barrel type drums) can I use and can I simply fill and cap for extended duration. I have no running streams/lakes close enough to support me.

Thanks!
 
A couple of 55 gallon juice drums would be more than enough for you.
Use the blue ones and keep them out of the sun.
Fill with tap water and treat with some chlorine or iodine to kill existing bacteria.
Taste test every six months and keep for several years.
 
If you check out various survival sites (usually based in Utah), they generally have long term water storage options. If you have easy digging, an underground cistern can hold a lot of water and not take up any space http://www.tank-depot.com/product.aspx?id=130 (note, I havent dealt with this company). Alternative they sell plastic septic tanks that are similiar but only good for utility water.

Although you can use a UV system to keep it sterlized, most folks would just stockpile drinking water separate from utility water by buying bulk bottled water. If the water was sterile when stored it will last a long time although it will inevitably get some off flavors eventually.
 
Talk to your neighbors and go in on a suitable backup generator to run the well for the group in extended outages.
 
I'm with Mayhem. I share a well with a neighbor and he runs a genset as soon as the power goes out. He'll do this a few hours twice a day until he runs out of fuel. He will let us know when the fuel is running out so we can fill tanks if needed. In my case, I would fill up the RV tank at 40 gallons.

Who drinks a gallon of water a day? I have a secret. I drink no water at all. Be sure to have plenty of beer on hand. I do drink coffee which of course requires water to make so yes, a little bit is good but really a half gallon is more than enough per day. This is survival. Same with your utility water. I'll eat on dirty dishes and pee outside.

We have a lot of mormons in my state and they all seem to have a single blue barrel of water stashed away. That would be more than enough for several weeks if you were not wasteful doing things like flushing toilets and taking baths.

The biggest problem you will have is knowing whether to make the stored water last for 1 week or 6 weeks. How severely do you ration your supplies? You would be pretty upset if you were washing your hair with your survival water if you then die of thirst later on because you ran out.
 
It's nowhere near being code, but if you have a basement and a relatively high water table, you could hand-sink a shallow well and hook up a small pitcher pump that would be inside your foundation lines and inside the heated envelope of your house. A 1 1/4 inch well would be plenty for a hand pump and would give you all the water you need.

Around these parts, you can hit water at 10 feet and have a good head if you drive the point to 20 or 25.

You'll get a good workout driving the point, but for $500, you'd have a permanent, long term supply.
 
Two drops bleach for every quart of water stored. (eight drops per gallon)
Keep the containers out of direct sunlight.
 
if you mix the water 50/50 with rum it will keep pretty well. worked for sailors for several hundred years. (50/50 may be a lil overboard, but i like to play it safe)
 
Delta-T said:
if you mix the water 50/50 with rum it will keep pretty well. worked for sailors for several hundred years. (50/50 may be a lil overboard, but i like to play it safe)



Reminds of an old "digging the Erie Canal" story.
The foreman would set a barrel of wiskey up the route aways and tell'em, "That's our goal for today Boys."
 
Hard to imagine the Erie Canal being dug by hand, nothing more powerful than a mule was used. Talk about tough.

I second the suggestion on getting a generator to run the pump, plus you'll have power to keep the fridge cold, run
some lights, recharge batteries. etc. We got one 'cause we need to keep the sump pump running, but the added benefits are
nice.
 
Water heater? There's 40-50 gallons potable. And toilet tanks too. Between that and the garage beer frig and firearms, I'm set.
 
Czech said:
Water heater? There's 40-50 gallons potable. And toilet tanks too. Between that and the garage beer frig and firearms, I'm set.

Good point.
 
Rainwater collection would be a good choice, If you want to go cheap you can usually find 350 gallon tanks with a mwtal cage around them for pretty cheap. You can always drain the water and run it through a filter and boil it on your woodstove. The Ideal system would be a 1000 gallon or larger tank buried (won't freeze or get sunlight) then you can use a shallow well pump to pump it into the house and through a filter and chlorinator. You could live fairly normal for a long period of time if you just adjust your water usage based on rainfall
 
We have a 325gal poly tank in our basement. Bought from TSC. It's up on a frame so I just open a tap and the water runs out. We refill it with fresh every 6 months. We also have 6 rain barrels set up for collection in an emergency. We also have a "Big Berky" to treat the water if we have to resort to the rain barrels.

The book answer is you need 2 gallons per day minimum, per person for food prep, cleaning/hygiene, drinking.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/agricu...-lids/leg-style-storage-tank-325-gal--2137463
 
I don't want to change the sublect but how do you like the big berkey? Have you used it on rainwater? Does anyone have any ideas on ways to keep above ground water tanks from feezing?
 
bassmaster17327 said:
I don't want to change the sublect but how do you like the big berkey? Have you used it on rainwater? Does anyone have any ideas on ways to keep above ground water tanks from feezing?

The berkey is great, we used it for 10 days straight two years ago during an ice storm induced power outage. we used it on water melted from snow and ice off the roof and such. We didn't have the basement storage system then. Pour water in the top, tap out the bottom, no one got sick, water tasted fine. They are expensive. A person could buy just the filters and build one from 5 gallon buckets and save some $$ but it would not be as "sanitary" as the stainless...

If you need to keep an above ground, but outdoors tank from freezing, a stock tank heater could be used... as long as you had electricity. We get a lot of sun and a lot of above freezing days here in winter. Last year I missed draining 1 rain barrel, remembered in Jan. The top 15 gallons or so were frozen, the rest ran out. It is one that is on the south side of the house, and it's "canyon"(ish) in color. One of the black tanks might do good if you have a clear south facing spot to put it, esp. if you could build a frame around it and cover it with clear plastic, like a small greenhouse.
 
I thought about the stock heater but I really did not want to use alot of electric, I was wonderinging if I had it turned off and let the heater freeze in the barrel then turned it on if it would damage the heater. My 55 gallon white rain barrel here in PA is already frozen enough to where it will not drain water. It is on the south side so today I wrapped a Black tarp around it to see if it would draw more sun and thaw it out.

Has anyone seen the ozone machines that are supposed to sterilize water? I wonder if they work and if the bubbling would cause enough water movement to keep it from freezing
 
About 3 years ago a bad storm left us without power for 2 1/2 weeks. We had 5 in our family, +3 grandparents having to live with us for the next 2 months. My wife got out our water crock that takes 5 gal purified water bottles we used for drinking/cooking, along with a dozen large liquid laundry soap jugs she keeps full of water for filling the toilet tank, washing dishes etc. While we were out of power someone was traveling to a nearby town every day so whoever was going took the jugs along and filled them at a relatives or the park. We only did that for a few days before we purchased a generator to run the water well and lights. After the generator purchase we filled the jugs from our faucet and the drinking water bottles from our own reverse osmosis system for when the generator was not running.

Now while the bottles and jugs are in storage we change out the water every 6 months.
 
I have 2 of the 350 gallon chemical totes for rainwater off of my garage. I have thought of getting 1 or 2 more for the basement. I did test my rainwater this summer and it was potable without boiling. Mine had sulphuric acid in them and I filled them with tap water and 16 boxes of baking soda to neutralize the acid. After letting it sit for a day I emptied them and then hooked the gutter into it. Very satisfied. Just an idea

Jeff
 
bassmaster17327 said:
I thought about the stock heater but I really did not want to use alot of electric, I was wonderinging if I had it turned off and let the heater freeze in the barrel then turned it on if it would damage the heater. My 55 gallon white rain barrel here in PA is already frozen enough to where it will not drain water. It is on the south side so today I wrapped a Black tarp around it to see if it would draw more sun and thaw it out.

Has anyone seen the ozone machines that are supposed to sterilize water? I wonder if they work and if the bubbling would cause enough water movement to keep it from freezing

The problem I see with that, is if you actually NEED that water, you probably don't have electricity to thaw it, and I doubt it would damage the heater for it to freeze in there. I have seen it happen a few times, heaters always worked after..
 
A am not sure of the watts of a tank heater, I was hoping to be able to run it off of my solar system. I think the best method would be to put the tanks in ground but where I live there is no way to get machinery up thee to bury the tanks, I guess after
i live there at that cabing I could starting digging by hand. I was also thinking about a a pump from a fish pond to pump the water and keep it moving so maybe it will not freeze, I think a pond pump would use alot less electric than a heater.

Jhoff did you try putting a prewash on your downspout? If the acid is on the roof that will let alot of it get removed befor going into the totes, will also help to remove organic dirt on the roof
 
Organic dirt aka bird crap. Potable water from your roof eh? May as well be creek water.
 
I'd think having a pump water purifier that you take on back country camping tricks would do the trick for potable water if you have a stream or lake nearby. If not, fill a couple 55 gallon drums with rainwater and purify what you need as you need it. I've filtered some pretty nasty swamp water in my time with no ill effect.
 
Cheaper than Dirt sell what they call a "water bob" A poly tank that fits in the bathtub. Includes a pump - about $20
 
Highbeam said:
Organic dirt aka bird crap. Potable water from your roof eh? May as well be creek water.

Our water froze a few days ago, but I had an action plan which involved a couple of barrels of water stored with a load of logs in our house, so we could live in an emergency.

Yes, I agree that if you just drink rainwater form your roof you are drinking diluted bird crap (possibly more healthy than some canned drinks but it doesn't have a lot going for it on the marketing side).

We can wash in the roof water, flush the toilet with it, and clean our root veg in it (working on the basis that if a potato grew in the ground absorbing rainwater all it's life, it would not suddenly become poisonous if it were washed in rainwater before cooking).

Theoretically, were you to clean your roof before rain, and let the first few gallons go down the drain, the rest would actually be quite clean.

I'd boil it before drinking it though :)
 
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