My fellow emergency preparedness people...

[battlemaiden]

talk to me about water purification systems. This is a much bigger concern for me than food- I have seeds, and dry goods.

 

Water is a big concern. If a hurricane were to hit this island and the drinking water tainted, I wouldn't have enough water for a family of 9 for very long. We aren't near a stream, but rain is frequent and we could collect if necessary.

 

I'm considering getting a water purifier of some sort. We have an old hiking hand pump thing that we used to use a lot, but I'm sure it is too old to handle large scale water purifying. Obviously, I'm assuming I won't have electricity, and I don't have a generator....yet. :D

 

What do you do about water?

 

Jo

[starwarsmomma]

I'm researching that too.

 

I've been trying to decide between the water purification tablets (like the hikers use), bleach or what... I just ordered some MORE books on amazon (hubby is going to really be unhappy, LOL).

[hillfarm]

The premium answer to your question is at www.bigberkey.com

 

That is kind of the "gold standard" for most preparedness types, but it is costly. And of course, you always want to have back ups.

 

First, I would store some water in either those 5gal bottles or even in large barrels (recycled fruit juice barrels are commonly used for this). I would also include a few cases of the individual bottles of water. Then I would investigate what, if any, natural or man-made reservoirs you might have access to around your home. Remember that you can use pool water for things like bathing, flushing toilets or washing dishes. As you mentioned, rain water is a good source, but you might need to plan for a good cachement system and a way to sanitize it and store it. And then finally, if you don't have access to a source of spring or well water, I would consider one of the filters like the Big Berkey.

 

Or you can try some of the purification tablets or bleach, but that would affect the taste of the water more and might add contaminants that are not so healthy. Check this website for more info: http://www.simplylivingsmart.com/videos-topics/article/video-articles/emergency-preparedness/25-water/138-clarifying-and-purifying-drinking-water.html

 

Right now I think Homeland Security, FEMA, and the Red Cross are recommending that we all keep a two week supply of water for everyone in our household on hand, one gallon per person per day. HTH

Edited March 26, 2009 by hillfarm

[magistramom]

Purchase a purification system for your pressure cooker (or purchase it along with purchasing a pressure cooker).

 

There are camping straws that purify nasty water as it is syphoned up the filter.

 

There are water purification bottles with filters, and you can learn to purify water using the sun.

 

Camping stores also sell water purification tablets.

 

Read up on Water Purification on Wikipedia, and on howstuffworks.com

 

Good luck with your research - there is a lot you can do!

[elegantlion]

We save all of our juice jugs and refill those with water. We have them stashed in numerous places in the house. Yes, they came in very handy during the hurricanes here last year.

[5Youngs]

We also have a Big Berkey. Almost everyone in our family has one, actually.

Once you invest in it, your only cost is the yearly filters.

[Tracy in Ky]

We use a system that is wonderful--it is called First Needs (I think). It is a backpacking water filter. It is small and lightweight, and it is so effective that it removes viruses and also food coloring from water.

 

One filter costs about 45-60 dollars I think, but it filters loads of water on one filter (several hundred gallons maybe?). We used it this winter when we were in the big ice storm. We were under a boil water advisory. Dh told me we could actually drink our pond water ( :ack2: ) if we filtered it through this purifier.