5 Water Storage Myths

[Hinotori]

I don't have any long term water storage because I literally have no place for it. if we ever get a shop built, it can go in there. I usually have about 15 gallons of water around from the purifier at the store (Like most of my neighbors). We use that for drinking and cooking because our well water has too high of an iron content to taste good. The chickens get rainwater off the metal awning for 9 months of the year.

Yes we have a permanent stream and pond, but contamination is possible. It's only a few feet deep. The lilypads do help shade off algae during the warmer months. Ive never used that water for anything.

We have a few Lifestraws and a filter for short term water needs, but it would suck long term.

 

[MoonShadows]

Consumable water is THE #1 consideration when it comes to a disaster scenario whether that be a major natural disaster or manmade disaster. It is more important than food. I don't mean to sound harsh to anyone who has written in this thread, but you can either have "reasons" why you can't store or afford consumable water, or you WILL find the way to do it. Not having it, for any reason, will mean the difference between life and death after 3 days without consumable water. That's how long you will last without consumable water. It's as simple as that. A minimum is 1 gallon of water per person per day for a 30 day period, and if you live in a warm/hot environment or are/will be physically active (think wood chopping, gardening, etc), you will need more than 1 gallon per day. That does not include water for anything else but drinking/cooking/brushing your teeth, etc....consumable.

 

[waretrop]

I don't try to think really long term. I can protect myself very well. I can eat out of my pantry for over a year. I have water canned but only 10 gallons. I have a 10 gallon jug that I put one drop of clorox in every few months. That's all. It only my hubby and myself and if we run out of things or it really gets bad, well we will be dead anyway. That's too much for me to worry about for me at the moment..

 

[MoonShadows]

In the long run, each person has to decide for themselves. 10 gallons will last you and your husband 5 days. Don't mean to sound flippant, but that's a lot of food wasted in your pantry.

 

[Hinotori]

I planned ahead to limit our vulnerability to most local disasters. We don't live in the valleys where lahars flow. We're not built on fill and at huge risk from the earthquakes. We don't live near a slope to risk mudslides. Very small tornadoes are still a possibility. So is the mountain deciding we need a layer of ash.

I want to get a rainwater cachement system set up like a friend has. Almost all of their household water is caught, filtered, treated, and UV treated. We average 60+ inches of rain a year so it's very feasible. She can go 4 months on stored water while waiting for the rains without rationing. That was tested a couple years ago when we had an unusual dry spell. She offered to help set it up, but it does take money to start with.

 

[MoonShadows]

Sounds interesting! Any idea what a system like that costs?

 

[Hinotori]

I think she spent just shy of 20k. They did all the work themselves, and her husband actually designed their system. They did it out of necessity, really. They have 6 wells drilled on the 8 acres. Each time it was deeper and deeper and they still didn't hit a good aquifer. So the wells don't produce very much at all, about enough to water her chicken flocks and the garden. They have water rights, so they can take water from the stream on their property as well.

 

[MoonShadows]

Wow!

 

[sumi]

We lived on a small smallholding in S.A. for more than a year, relying on nothing but rainwater collected from the roof and stored in tanks and one biggish container/dam at the house, which was our provider for household use. We learned to use water sparingly and we managed. Most of our grey water went to water the vegetable garden and we had a pretty big garden.

Sadly our only "crisis" with this method happened after a long-awaited good rainfall filled our reserves one night. One of our household (we were 4 adults and 3 children sharing) checked the water levels in our main tank and found one of the cats fell into the tank and drowned. Effectively spoiling the water for consumption. That was a massive double blow. We kept he tank and "dam" covered, except for one area of maybe 2 sq feet where we checked the water level and somehow the cat managed to fall in there For the time needed to clean out (and use, we couldn't afford to discard all that precious water), we bought gallons of bottled water in town and filled our bottles with water from public bathrooms, when we were able to.

 

[waretrop]

In the long run, each person has to decide for themselves. 10 gallons will last you and your husband 5 days. Don't mean to sound flippant, but that's a lot of food wasted in your pantry.

@MoonShadows My chickens use more than 10 gallons in a day. I know I am not prepared. I am storing all that food in my pantry because I try to e thrifty and buy in larger amounts when on sale. I don't plan on being here if and when the SHTF. Then you know where you can get some main staples. If you can beat my very close friends. They all plan on being here when that happens. LOL

BUT I can take care of myself in a short term pinch and have many times. You have got me to thinking and I should can more water. To me, that will be good very drinkable water for a zillion years.

Also remember I have allot of flavored water already canned, mushroom, and tomato water so I would need less water per day for anything to do with food and eating. Wouldn't want to brush my teeth with mushroom water.

It isn't allot but it would save me from using clean clear water at the beginning of a tough time.