Water Storage and Purification

Water Storage and Purification

As mentioned previously, water is probably the most necessary
element for human life, with the exception of oxygen.  

When planning your water resources for survival you need to deal
with three areas:

Storing water
Finding or obtaining water
Purifying water

Storing Water

For your in-home cache or survival retreat stash, you should count
on two gallons of water per-person per-day.  While this is more
water than necessary to survive (except in hot climates or after
strenuous exertion) it ensures water is available for hygiene
and cooking as well as drinking.  

Captain Dave's personal in-home stash has enough water for a week,
and he lives near a stream in an area where it rains frequently!
 

Commercial gallon bottles of filtered/purified spring water often
carry expiration dates two years after the bottling date.  A good
rotation program is necessary to ensure your supply of water remains
fresh and drinkable (see previous section on food for information
on rotation).  Captain Dave purchases cases of six one-gallon
jugs. which frequently go on sale for just under 50 cents per
gallon.  The heavy-duty cardboard boxes stack easily and protect
the jugs from rupturing.  

If you prefer to store your own water, don't use milk cartons.;
it's practically impossible to remove the milk residue (ugh!).
 Bleach bottles are recommended by others, and although Captain
Dave has never used this method, and apparently bleach manufacturers
don't recommend it.

For self-storage, you're probably better off with containers of
at least 5 gallons.  Food-grade plastic storage containers are
available commercially in sizes from five gallons to 250 or more.
 Containers with handles and spouts are usually five to seven
gallons, which will weigh between 40 and 56 pounds.  Get too far
beyond that and you'll have great difficulty moving a full tank.

15 gallon and 30 gallon containers used for food service -- such
as delivery of syrups to soda bottlers and other manufacturers
-- are often available on the surplus market.  After proper cleaning,
these are ideal for water storage -- as long as a tight seal can
be maintained.  55 gallon drums and larger tanks are also useful
for long-term storage.  But make sure you have a good pump on
hand! 

Solutions designed to be added to water to prepare it for long-term
storage are commercially available.  Bleach can also be used to
treat tap water from municipal sources.  Added at a rate of about
1 teaspoon per 10 gallons, bleach can ensure the water will remain
drinkable.  Captain Dave recommends rotating the water in storage
tanks every year.  

Once you're in a survival situation where there is a limited amount
of water, conservation is an important consideration.  While drinking
water is critical, water is also necessary for rehydrating and
cooking dried foods.  Water from boiling pasta, cooking vegetables
and similar sources can and should be retained and drunk, after
it has cooled.  Canned vegetables also contain liquid that can
be consumed.

Short Term Storage

People who have electric pumps drawing water from their well have
learned the lesson of filling up all available pots and pans when
a thunderstorm is brewing.  What would you do if you knew your
water supply would be disrupted in an hour?

Here are a few options in addition to filling the pots and pans:

The simplest option is to put two or three heavy-duty plastic
trash bags (avoid those with post-consumer recycled content) inside
each other.  Then fill the inner bag with water.  You can even
use the trash can to give structure to the bag.  (A good argument
for keeping your trash can fairly clean!)


Fill your bath tub almost to the top.  While you probably
won't want to drink this water, it can be used to flush toilets,
wash your hands, etc.


If you are at home, a fair amount of water will be stored in your
water pipes and related system.  

To get access to this water, first close the valve to the outside
as soon as possible.  This will prevent the water from running
out as pressure to the entire system drops and prevent contaminated
water from entering your house.

Then open a faucet on the top floor.  This will let air into the
system so a vacuum doesn't hold the water in.  Next, you can open
a faucet in the basement.  Gravity should allow the water in your
pipes to run out the open faucet.  You can repeat this procedure
for both hot and cold systems.

Your hot water heater will also have plenty of water inside it.
 You can access this water from the valve on the bottom.  Again,
you may need to open a faucet somewhere else in the house to ensure
a smooth flow of water.   Sediment often collects in the bottom
of a hot water heater.  While a good maintenance program can prevent
this, it should not be dangerous.  Simply allow any stirred up
dirt to again drift to the bottom.

Finding or Obtaining Water

There are certain climates and geographic locations where finding
water will either be extremely easy or nearly impossible.  You'll
have to take your location into account when you read the following.
 Captain Dave's best suggestion: Buy a guide book tailored for
your location, be it desert, jungle, arctic or temperate.

Wherever you live, your best bet for finding a source of water
is to scout out suitable locations and stock up necessary equipment
before an emergency befalls you.  With proper preparedness, you
should know not only the location of the nearest streams, springs
or other water source but specific locations where it would be
easy to fill a container and the safest way to get it home.

Preparedness also means having at hand an easily installable system
for collecting rain water.  This can range from large tarps or
sheets of plastic to a system for collecting water run off from
your roof or gutters.  

Once you have identified a source of water, you need to have bottles
or other containers ready to transport it or store it.

Purification

And while you may think any water will do in a pinch, water that
is not purified may make you sick, possibly even killing you.
 In a survival situation, with little or no medical attention
available, you need to remain as healthy as possible.  And a bad
case of the runs is terribly uncomfortable in the best of times!

Boiling water is the best method for purifying running water you
gather from natural sources.  It doesn't require any chemicals,
or expensive equipment -- all you need is a large pot and a good
fire or similar heat source.  Plus, a rolling boil for 20 or 30
minutes should kill common bacteria such as guardia and cryptosporidium.
 One should consider that boiling water will not remove foreign
contaminants such as radiation or heavy metals.

Outside of boiling, commercial purification/filter devices made
by companies such as PUR or Katadyn are the excellent choices.
 They range in size from small pump filters designed for backpackers
to large filters designed for entire camps.   Probably the best
filtering devices for survival retreats are  the model where you
pour water into the top and allow it to slowly seep through the
media into a reservoir on the bottom.  No pumping is required.

On the down side, most such filtering devices are expensive and
have a limited capacity. Filters are good for anywhere from 200
liters to thousands of gallons, depending on the filter size and
mechanism.  Some filters used fiberglass and activated charcoal.
 Others use impregnated resin or even ceramic elements.

Chemical additives are another, often less suitable option.  The
water purification pills sold to hikers and campers have a limited
shelf life, especially once the bottle has been opened.  Captain
Dave considers these good for the car's emergency kit, as long
as they are frequently replaced.

Pour-though filtering systems can be made in an emergency.  Here's
one example that will remove many contaminants:

Take a five or seven gallon pail (a 55-gallon drum can also be
used for a larger scale system) and drill or punch a series of
small holes on the bottom.  


Place several layers of cloth on the bottom of the bucket, this
can be anything from denim to an old table cloth.

Add a thick layer of sand (preferred) or loose dirt.  This will
be the main filtering element, so you should add at least half
of the pail's depth.

On top of the sand, add some larger gravel.

Add another few layers of cloths, weighted down with a few larger
rocks.  

Your home-made filter should be several inches below the top of
the bucket.
 

Place another bucket or other collection device under the holes
you punched on the bottom.  

Pour collected or gathered water into the top of your new filter
system.  As gravity works its magic, the water will filter through
the media and drip out the bottom, into your collection device.
 If the water is cloudy or full of sediment, simply let it drop
to the bottom and draw the cleaner water off the top of your collection
device with a straw or tube.

While this system may not be the best purification method, it
has been successfully used in the past.  For rain water or water
gathered from what appear to be relatively clean sources of running
water, the system should work fine.  If you have no water source
but a contaminated puddle, oily highway runoff or similar polluted
source, the filter may be better than nothing, but it's not a
great option.

Once the system has been established and works, you must remember
to change the sand or dirt regularly.


