You can only survive 3 days without it , Start storing water, NOW!!!

How many Americans have at least a month of Water stored?

Survival can be broken down into the rule of 3's
You can only survive....
3 SECONDS without HOPE,
3 MINUTES without AIR,
3 HOURS without SHELTER,
3 DAYS without WATER,
3 WEEKS without FOOD,
3 MONTHS without LOVE...


A person can survive without food for several weeks, but can only survive without water for 3 days; which is a damn good reason why it is very important to have an emergency water supply at your house.

For most of you water is magically pumped into your house with electrical water pumps. Because It is pumped electrically if the power goes out or if the infrastructure that moves that water gets damaged you will no longer be able to get it out of your sink. Local water sources can also be contaminated and you could be forced to treat that water before you can drink it. A little preparation now will dramatically increase your chance to survive later if SHTF.


First step is easy and free. Take whatever food grade containers you have laying around and fill them up with tap water. Extra 2 liter soda bottles, 5 gallon water containers, or 55 gallon food grade drums are all great ways to store it. Note: Milk Jugs are not recommended for long term storage of drinking water(see Don'tBeAfraid post on page 3).
You can look on Craigslist for some good deals on storage containers or the 55 gallon drums. There is a local farmer that sells them for 30 bucks in my area. How much water you need stored depends on your availability of ground water in your area and size of your family. You should have about a gallon a day per person and store at least a months supply. I keep two 55 gallon drums of drinking water full in the basement but your needs could vary.



Second step is find out where you can get more water if your reserves run out. Look arouind now for bodies of water around you like Springs, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. Make sure you have some way to carry that water back from the source. The pipes, hot water heater, and storage tanks in your house all store many gallons of water and you can open the valves on them to collect it without electricity. You can also collect rainfall from your gutters. For city people I would recommend getting a 4-way Water Valve Key to get water out of city buildings.



If you have a well on your property, in an emergency you can remove your electric water pump and use a simple device made out of PVC called a Well Bucket. This simple contraption will let you bring up the water in the bottom of your well, regardless of how deep it is, and without electricity. It will only be a few bucks to collect the rope and parts now to make it, don't count on Home Depo to be open after the SHTF.



If your water is contaminated or comes from an outside source like a pond or river your going to want to treat it before drinking. Giardia and Cryptosporidiuum are two waterborne diseases that are often found in swimming pools and standing water as well as in rural settings. They are spread by human and animal feces and are hard to destroy.

There are numerous ways to treat the water and kill the bugs so I will only cover a few of the more common ways to do that. Boiling water at a rapid boil for 3 minutes will kill all the bugs. You can also add small drops of Bleach to the water or other chemicals specially sold for treating it. They sell backpack water filters and larger gravity fed bucket filters are also available, or you could make your own. Your preference will largely depend on how much money you would like to spend. and make sure you have a backup method encase your filter breaks.



Here is some more information, Good Luck:
[link to www.family-survival-planning.com]
[link to www.family-survival-planning.com]
[link to www.princeton.edu]
[link to beprepared.com]
[link to www.doh.wa.gov]

Start storing food and water now, before its too late..
Here is my other thread on Storing Food:
Thread: You can only survive 3 Weeks without it, start storing food, NOW!!!

Last Edited by Liquid_Pestilence on 01/24/2013 04:53 PM