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Some water questions...

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Lucky Jim 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I've got a few questions regarding water that I hope you can answer:

1. How much water does one person need per year to survive (drinking, cooking, etc.)?
2. Does the color of water barrels matter? I've seen blue, black, yellow, any color you can think of, really.
3. What kind of filter do you have / recommend?
4. How much water are you storing, personally?
 
#2 ·
The general rule of thumb I've heard is for 1 gallon of water per day per person. I think that's a little much but it's a nice round number to work with.

Color of rain barrel, I think a white/clear is best or any other color that lets some light in so you can see the level of water in there.

I hear a lot of people have the Big Berkey water filters, I think they are a good choice. I personally have a Katadyn w/ the ceramic filter impregnated w/ silver. I also have a UV battery powered light to sterilize the water after I use the Katadyn (called a SteriPen). I've used this system personally while kayaking my local rivers and had no ill effects.

I have 2 of the 55-gallon rain barrels that stay full for the most part from rain water.

I also have a few of the 7-gallon Aquatainers that are sold at Walmart for about $10 a piece. For these I just keep them filled with tap water and replace the water in them about every 6 months.

Household size: 2 adults
 
#3 ·
Jerddd... Are you talking about drinking water? Or did you want to add in washing your body and cloths... cleaning kills... washing down equipment... flushing toilets by hand...???

Your situation will determine the amount of water you need. Do you plan on bugging out by a lake or river? Are you in arid country? Etc...

As for barrels... I'm no expert but I've always heard to stay away from white or clear for long term bulk storage. Algae requires light to grow.... So... unless you can store it out of direct sunlight, you may want to consider other options. Of course, adding a bit of bleach should help reduce that, but... I'll defer to some others if they have better advice.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I haven't got a BOL, but if I ever go looking for one it'd have to be near a river so I'd have all the water I need, and it'd also provide fish and carry away slops and sewage.
Second choice would be a lake but I'd prefer the running water of a river.
I'd try to find a location something like this, and would live in a tent til I got round to building a cabin-


If water was short for any reason, sea water could hopefully provide enough drinking water to stay alive via one of these stills, or even better a dozen or more stills!
The sea would also provide fish, and rockpools would provide cockles and mussely things-
 
#6 · (Edited)
one of my concerns is the condition of my current water sources once the shtf. With all the hydraulic fracking going on, I hope the spring fed lake on my property is not contaminated with diesel, benzene and who knows what? I will likely never drive a car that runs on natural gas, so the reducing dependance on foreign oil bit doesn't wash with me. Safely store what you can in containers (hopefully BPA free) and learn how to find and conserve water sources now before the shtf.

Sorry for ranting, I didn't mean to hijack this thread.

To answer one of the OP's questions, I don't think color of the barrel is critical, but rather the material the barrel is made of. Is it food grade? What was stored in the barrel prior to you buying it? I found some 275 gallon totes on metal pallet that contained honey previously. I would also look at secondary or even tertiary treatment of water supply prior to consumption. I hope this helps.

punch
 
#7 ·
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