Water Storage 101
Water Storage 101 Understanding what your body needs and how to provide it
The single biggest necessity to store for survival isn't food, it's water. Yet, few preppers actually have enough water in their stockpile to last them for more than a few weeks. Even those who think they have enough water rarely do, simply because what the experts are calling enough water really isn't enough to meet your needs. The human body can only survive about three days without water. There are rare exceptions, where people have managed to survive longer, but like I said, they are rare. There are also situations which could make it so that a person couldn't even make it to three days, before they died. Hot weather will make you sweat, taking precious water out of your body. Since the human body is mostly water, it doesn't take much loss of water to create serious health issues. Without enough water, the individual cells in our body die. When enough cells in an organ die, then the organ dies as well. Before long, the body can't function and the person dies as well. In a disaster situation, you and I can't count on using the city water that we've become accustomed to. Oh, it might keep working for a while, but then, it might not either. It all depends upon the type of disaster we face. Something like an EMP would shut down the municipal water supply, just like everything else. Something simpler, like a hurricane or flood could contaminate the city water, making it undrinkable for weeks.
How Much Water is Enough? The average American uses a bit over 100 gallons of water per day. So, a family of four uses more than 400 gallons of purified water. Of that, about half is used to water our lawns and keep our flowers blooming. Another 25% is used to wash one thing or another, from our bodies to our dishes. The remaining 25% is used to flush toilets, for cooking, for drinking or is lost through waste and leakage. Obviously in a survival situation our families are not going to be able to use 400 gallons of water per day, especially if we have to haul that water home. We're going to have to find a lot of ways to cut our water usage, making the little bit of water we have go as far as possible. But how much is enough? Most survival instructors say that you need one gallon of potable water per person per day for drinking and cooking. I'd have to agree with that, unless you happen to live in a hot climate. If you are somewhere like Arizona in the summertime, you could sweat out a gallon of water per day. So, you'd obviously need to drink more than that. There's one huge problem with the gallon of water rule of thumb; that is that it doesn't take into account washing. Keeping clean is an important part of survival, as cleanliness helps prevent the spread of disease. While you won't be able to use 30 gallons of water for a nice hot bath, or 25 gallons to run your washing machine, you will need some water for washing.
1
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The other thing that's missed in that gallon of water per day figure is gardening. I'm sorry, but your roses and lawn are going to have to die; but you don't want your vegetable garden to die. That may very well be a very important part of your survival plans, so you have to consider water for your garden. All in all, I'd say that it would be possible to get by on five gallons of water per person per day. That's not much, but with careful usage and rationing, I believe it's possible. Saving Water in a Survival Situation So, how do you get by on five gallons of water per person? Mostly by not using our modern conveniences that require a lot of water. Stop using washing machines and wash clothes by hand. Stop using bathtubs and take sponge baths, stop using running water to wash dishes. Whenever you are using water, think of how to conserve it. I lived in a motorhome for several years. We only had a 60 gallon water tank, so we had to be careful with how much water we used. With practice, I learned how to shower using less than a gallon of water. Basically, I'd get myself wet and turn off the water. Then I'd wash my body and hair. Once everything was clean, I'd turn the water on to rinse off. That was it. Not as satisfying emotionally, but enough to get me clean. Potable Versus Non-Potable Water Not all of the water you use for survival needs to be potable water. Potable water has been purified for drinking. More than anything, that means that microscopic pathogens (bacteria and protozoa) have been killed. That water is only needed for drinking, cooking and washing dishes. For the rest, you can use non-potable water. That means that if you are purifying your own water in a survival situation, you don't need to purify the water that you're using for washing clothes, bathing, flushing the toilet or even for your garden. That saves on your water purification requirements. Water that has been used for washing clothes, dishes and bodies is called "grey water." It can be used for flushing toilets and for watering the garden. That makes double use of the same water, reducing your overall water requirements.
Storing All That Water One of the biggest reasons why people don't have enough water stored in with their prepping supplies is that they have trouble coming up with a way of storing all that water. Water is bulky and you can't dehydrate it or do anything else to make it take up less space. So, you have to come up with enough physical space for all those gallons of water.
2
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Part of the problem is that people buy purified water in bottles and gallons to store. That's a whole lot more expensive than using tap water, or even than buying water from a water purification kiosk. Your purified water does not need to be in bottles and gallons, no matter how convenient that is. You're better off storing water in larger containers, as you'll be able to store more water in essentially the same amount of space. Five gallon jugs are good, but 55 gallon plastic drums are better. You can get used 55 gallon plastic drums from a variety of places, but you need to be careful about what they held before. Some chemicals will clean out easily, but others will not. If you can get used 55 gallon food-grade drums, which were used to ship cooking oil and other ingredients to commercial food processors, you can be assured of their safety. It is also possible to buy larger tanks for water storage. I have seen plastic water tanks for sale, ranging all the way up to 3,500 gallons. Take a look at a farm or industrial supply for these. The problem in most cases, is paying for the shipping, which can be as costly as the tank itself. If you have someplace local that you can buy those tanks, it's much cheaper than buying a tank and have it shipped in. Some industrial operations use large water tanks, making it possible at times to find large used tanks that have only had water stored in them. Those are most likely to be found at companies that deal in used industrial equipment. I personally buy my water tanks in Mexico. It's common down there for people to have water tanks mounted on the roofs of their houses, to ensure that they have water available when the city water goes down. That's a fairly common problem for them, so it's prudent to have a water tank. I buy 750 liter tanks (a touch over 200 gallons) for about $120 and bring them across the border in my pickup truck. That's about the largest size that will fit comfortably in the back of my truck. The next size up is wider than the truck. Stealth Water Storage The problem with these tanks is that it's hard to hide what they are; a big water tank looks like a big water tank. I've explained to my neighbors that the one on my back patio is for my garden and that I mix chemicals into it for fertilizing my garden. So far, it seems like they've bought that story. One of the easiest ways of hiding a large quantity of water is to store it in a swimming pool. If you happen to have an in-ground swimming pool, then you have somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons of water in your backyard. Don't drain it at the end of the season, save that water for emergencies. If you throw some railroad ties into the pool, they'll absorb the expansion of the water as it turns to ice and prevent the pool from cracking. If you don't have an in-ground pool, then consider buying an above ground one. Not only will the kids love it, but you'll have a good stealthy place to store water. A 15 foot diameter pool that's 4 feet deep 3
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will hold 5,287 gallons of water. Even if you figure on using five gallons of water per person per day, that's enough water for 265 days, for a family of four. Other Hiding Places for Your Water If you have an unfinished basement, you have an ideal place to store water. The cool, dark environment discourages growth of algae, while ensuring that the water containers are hid from casual view. But for those living in apartments or in homes that don't have basements, finding enough room to store water can be a problem. Water in gallons can be easily hidden under beds, which is another cool, dark place. Other than that, you're stuck putting water containers in every nook and cranny you can. I have a large house, but it doesn't have a basement. So, I have 500 gallons of water on my back patio and another 500 in my garage (I don't park cars in the garage). That's the best I can do. However, I also have a well and a water purification system. So, I have the capability of getting my own water, even if all other sources run dry. If I didn't have that capability, I wouldn't be satisfied with the water that I have.
Keeping Water Fresh Just because you put purified water into your containers, doesn't mean that it will necessarily stay purified. Oh, water that's stored in airtight containers and kept out of the direct sunlight will stay purified, but not all water is stored in that condition. Water that is not stored in airtight containers can get impurities from: ● ● ● ● ●
Dust blowing in Airborne bacteria Mosquitoes laying eggs Algae growing (in sunlight) Other getting into your water
In order to ensure that your water stays pure, make sure that all of your containers are well sealed. Even with them being sealed, you need to check the purity every once in a while. Take a small sample out and taste it to make sure that it doesn't have any algae growing in it. If it does, then you need to add something to kill the algae. You can purify water with chlorine, just like your municipal water providers do. The same thing is used in swimming pools, so if you have a pool for water storage, you're regularly adding chlorine to it as well. If you don't have a pool, you might want to buy your chlorine in the form of bleach.
4
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
Normal bleach, used to whiten clothing is a liquefied form of chlorine, with a concentration of 6.5%. That makes it ideal for purifying water and keeping your water purified. You'll need to add 8 drops of bleach, per gallon of water, in order to kill anything in it and purify it. Make sure that you are using regular unscented bleach, and not the "color safe" kind (which isn't chlorine). There are 20 drops in one cc of bleach or water, so: ● ● ● ●
5 gallons of water need 2cc of bleach 25 gallons of water need 10cc of bleach 55 gallons of water need 22cc of bleach 100 gallons of water need 40cc of bleach
Bleach will not stay in the water forever, but will eventually change its form, breaking down to other chemicals. This will happen faster in the sunlight than it will in the dark. Even so, a tank of water in the basement might need to have bleach added to it every six months to a year. Doing so will guarantee that your water stays pure the whole time and you will have fresh water when you need it.
Water Purification Systems While bleach can be used to purify water, that isn't the only way to do so. Pretty much everyone knows that you can purify water by boiling it. But in fact, you don't have to bring water all the way up to boiling temperature to purify it. o o Water boils at 212 F, but you can purify it by bringing it up to 160 F.
Heating water to purify it, without bringing it up to the boiling point is called pasteurization. There is a device, called a Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI), which serves as a simple indicator to tell you when you have heated water enough to pasteurize it. The WAPI consists of a plastic capsule, with a wax bead in it. When the bead melts, the water is hot enough and can be removed from the heat. Most preppers depend upon a filter system for purifying their water, more than anything else. The two best filters on the market are the Berkley system and the Sawyer system. The Berkley water filter system is a multi-stage cartridge filter, which will probably remove more than any other filtering system on the market. The only problem with it is that the cartridges only last so long. The Sawyer system uses a hollow fiber membrane, which is back-flushable. That makes it possible for the manufacturer to guarantee the filter for 1,000,000 gallons. If you want to be prepared for any emergency, you shouldn't just depend upon your stored water. While you should be stockpiling water for that emergency, you should also make sure that you have a good water purification system, whether it is one of these mechanical filters, chemical purification through bleach or heat purification through pasteurization. Better yet, have more than one, so that you have something you can use as a backup. 5
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
While water alone won't guarantee your survival, lack of water could easily guarantee your death. That makes it worthwhile to take water storage and purification seriously. A good stock of purified water in your home, as well as a reliable means of purifying more will help guarantee your family's health and very survival in a difficult situation.
6
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
The single biggest necessity to store for survival isn't food, it's water. Yet, few preppers actually have enough water in their stockpile to last them for more than a few weeks. Even those who think they have enough water rarely do, simply because what the experts are calling enough water really isn't enough to meet your needs. The human body can only survive about three days without water. There are rare exceptions, where people have managed to survive longer, but like I said, they are rare. There are also situations which could make it so that a person couldn't even make it to three days, before they died. Hot weather will make you sweat, taking precious water out of your body. Since the human body is mostly water, it doesn't take much loss of water to create serious health issues. Without enough water, the individual cells in our body die. When enough cells in an organ die, then the organ dies as well. Before long, the body can't function and the person dies as well. In a disaster situation, you and I can't count on using the city water that we've become accustomed to. Oh, it might keep working for a while, but then, it might not either. It all depends upon the type of disaster we face. Something like an EMP would shut down the municipal water supply, just like everything else. Something simpler, like a hurricane or flood could contaminate the city water, making it undrinkable for weeks.
How Much Water is Enough? The average American uses a bit over 100 gallons of water per day. So, a family of four uses more than 400 gallons of purified water. Of that, about half is used to water our lawns and keep our flowers blooming. Another 25% is used to wash one thing or another, from our bodies to our dishes. The remaining 25% is used to flush toilets, for cooking, for drinking or is lost through waste and leakage. Obviously in a survival situation our families are not going to be able to use 400 gallons of water per day, especially if we have to haul that water home. We're going to have to find a lot of ways to cut our water usage, making the little bit of water we have go as far as possible. But how much is enough? Most survival instructors say that you need one gallon of potable water per person per day for drinking and cooking. I'd have to agree with that, unless you happen to live in a hot climate. If you are somewhere like Arizona in the summertime, you could sweat out a gallon of water per day. So, you'd obviously need to drink more than that. There's one huge problem with the gallon of water rule of thumb; that is that it doesn't take into account washing. Keeping clean is an important part of survival, as cleanliness helps prevent the spread of disease. While you won't be able to use 30 gallons of water for a nice hot bath, or 25 gallons to run your washing machine, you will need some water for washing.
1
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
The other thing that's missed in that gallon of water per day figure is gardening. I'm sorry, but your roses and lawn are going to have to die; but you don't want your vegetable garden to die. That may very well be a very important part of your survival plans, so you have to consider water for your garden. All in all, I'd say that it would be possible to get by on five gallons of water per person per day. That's not much, but with careful usage and rationing, I believe it's possible. Saving Water in a Survival Situation So, how do you get by on five gallons of water per person? Mostly by not using our modern conveniences that require a lot of water. Stop using washing machines and wash clothes by hand. Stop using bathtubs and take sponge baths, stop using running water to wash dishes. Whenever you are using water, think of how to conserve it. I lived in a motorhome for several years. We only had a 60 gallon water tank, so we had to be careful with how much water we used. With practice, I learned how to shower using less than a gallon of water. Basically, I'd get myself wet and turn off the water. Then I'd wash my body and hair. Once everything was clean, I'd turn the water on to rinse off. That was it. Not as satisfying emotionally, but enough to get me clean. Potable Versus Non-Potable Water Not all of the water you use for survival needs to be potable water. Potable water has been purified for drinking. More than anything, that means that microscopic pathogens (bacteria and protozoa) have been killed. That water is only needed for drinking, cooking and washing dishes. For the rest, you can use non-potable water. That means that if you are purifying your own water in a survival situation, you don't need to purify the water that you're using for washing clothes, bathing, flushing the toilet or even for your garden. That saves on your water purification requirements. Water that has been used for washing clothes, dishes and bodies is called "grey water." It can be used for flushing toilets and for watering the garden. That makes double use of the same water, reducing your overall water requirements.
Storing All That Water One of the biggest reasons why people don't have enough water stored in with their prepping supplies is that they have trouble coming up with a way of storing all that water. Water is bulky and you can't dehydrate it or do anything else to make it take up less space. So, you have to come up with enough physical space for all those gallons of water.
2
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
Part of the problem is that people buy purified water in bottles and gallons to store. That's a whole lot more expensive than using tap water, or even than buying water from a water purification kiosk. Your purified water does not need to be in bottles and gallons, no matter how convenient that is. You're better off storing water in larger containers, as you'll be able to store more water in essentially the same amount of space. Five gallon jugs are good, but 55 gallon plastic drums are better. You can get used 55 gallon plastic drums from a variety of places, but you need to be careful about what they held before. Some chemicals will clean out easily, but others will not. If you can get used 55 gallon food-grade drums, which were used to ship cooking oil and other ingredients to commercial food processors, you can be assured of their safety. It is also possible to buy larger tanks for water storage. I have seen plastic water tanks for sale, ranging all the way up to 3,500 gallons. Take a look at a farm or industrial supply for these. The problem in most cases, is paying for the shipping, which can be as costly as the tank itself. If you have someplace local that you can buy those tanks, it's much cheaper than buying a tank and have it shipped in. Some industrial operations use large water tanks, making it possible at times to find large used tanks that have only had water stored in them. Those are most likely to be found at companies that deal in used industrial equipment. I personally buy my water tanks in Mexico. It's common down there for people to have water tanks mounted on the roofs of their houses, to ensure that they have water available when the city water goes down. That's a fairly common problem for them, so it's prudent to have a water tank. I buy 750 liter tanks (a touch over 200 gallons) for about $120 and bring them across the border in my pickup truck. That's about the largest size that will fit comfortably in the back of my truck. The next size up is wider than the truck. Stealth Water Storage The problem with these tanks is that it's hard to hide what they are; a big water tank looks like a big water tank. I've explained to my neighbors that the one on my back patio is for my garden and that I mix chemicals into it for fertilizing my garden. So far, it seems like they've bought that story. One of the easiest ways of hiding a large quantity of water is to store it in a swimming pool. If you happen to have an in-ground swimming pool, then you have somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons of water in your backyard. Don't drain it at the end of the season, save that water for emergencies. If you throw some railroad ties into the pool, they'll absorb the expansion of the water as it turns to ice and prevent the pool from cracking. If you don't have an in-ground pool, then consider buying an above ground one. Not only will the kids love it, but you'll have a good stealthy place to store water. A 15 foot diameter pool that's 4 feet deep 3
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
will hold 5,287 gallons of water. Even if you figure on using five gallons of water per person per day, that's enough water for 265 days, for a family of four. Other Hiding Places for Your Water If you have an unfinished basement, you have an ideal place to store water. The cool, dark environment discourages growth of algae, while ensuring that the water containers are hid from casual view. But for those living in apartments or in homes that don't have basements, finding enough room to store water can be a problem. Water in gallons can be easily hidden under beds, which is another cool, dark place. Other than that, you're stuck putting water containers in every nook and cranny you can. I have a large house, but it doesn't have a basement. So, I have 500 gallons of water on my back patio and another 500 in my garage (I don't park cars in the garage). That's the best I can do. However, I also have a well and a water purification system. So, I have the capability of getting my own water, even if all other sources run dry. If I didn't have that capability, I wouldn't be satisfied with the water that I have.
Keeping Water Fresh Just because you put purified water into your containers, doesn't mean that it will necessarily stay purified. Oh, water that's stored in airtight containers and kept out of the direct sunlight will stay purified, but not all water is stored in that condition. Water that is not stored in airtight containers can get impurities from: ● ● ● ● ●
Dust blowing in Airborne bacteria Mosquitoes laying eggs Algae growing (in sunlight) Other getting into your water
In order to ensure that your water stays pure, make sure that all of your containers are well sealed. Even with them being sealed, you need to check the purity every once in a while. Take a small sample out and taste it to make sure that it doesn't have any algae growing in it. If it does, then you need to add something to kill the algae. You can purify water with chlorine, just like your municipal water providers do. The same thing is used in swimming pools, so if you have a pool for water storage, you're regularly adding chlorine to it as well. If you don't have a pool, you might want to buy your chlorine in the form of bleach.
4
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
Normal bleach, used to whiten clothing is a liquefied form of chlorine, with a concentration of 6.5%. That makes it ideal for purifying water and keeping your water purified. You'll need to add 8 drops of bleach, per gallon of water, in order to kill anything in it and purify it. Make sure that you are using regular unscented bleach, and not the "color safe" kind (which isn't chlorine). There are 20 drops in one cc of bleach or water, so: ● ● ● ●
5 gallons of water need 2cc of bleach 25 gallons of water need 10cc of bleach 55 gallons of water need 22cc of bleach 100 gallons of water need 40cc of bleach
Bleach will not stay in the water forever, but will eventually change its form, breaking down to other chemicals. This will happen faster in the sunlight than it will in the dark. Even so, a tank of water in the basement might need to have bleach added to it every six months to a year. Doing so will guarantee that your water stays pure the whole time and you will have fresh water when you need it.
Water Purification Systems While bleach can be used to purify water, that isn't the only way to do so. Pretty much everyone knows that you can purify water by boiling it. But in fact, you don't have to bring water all the way up to boiling temperature to purify it. o o Water boils at 212 F, but you can purify it by bringing it up to 160 F.
Heating water to purify it, without bringing it up to the boiling point is called pasteurization. There is a device, called a Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI), which serves as a simple indicator to tell you when you have heated water enough to pasteurize it. The WAPI consists of a plastic capsule, with a wax bead in it. When the bead melts, the water is hot enough and can be removed from the heat. Most preppers depend upon a filter system for purifying their water, more than anything else. The two best filters on the market are the Berkley system and the Sawyer system. The Berkley water filter system is a multi-stage cartridge filter, which will probably remove more than any other filtering system on the market. The only problem with it is that the cartridges only last so long. The Sawyer system uses a hollow fiber membrane, which is back-flushable. That makes it possible for the manufacturer to guarantee the filter for 1,000,000 gallons. If you want to be prepared for any emergency, you shouldn't just depend upon your stored water. While you should be stockpiling water for that emergency, you should also make sure that you have a good water purification system, whether it is one of these mechanical filters, chemical purification through bleach or heat purification through pasteurization. Better yet, have more than one, so that you have something you can use as a backup. 5
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
While water alone won't guarantee your survival, lack of water could easily guarantee your death. That makes it worthwhile to take water storage and purification seriously. A good stock of purified water in your home, as well as a reliable means of purifying more will help guarantee your family's health and very survival in a difficult situation.
6
This ebook was brought to you by PrepperZine.com
