Water, when TSHTF

Ok so I've been thinking about water storage in a SHTF situation. First I live in a populated city so I will not be bugging out in my house because I would like to spare whatever ammo I can. I have an above ground swimming pool that can easily be emptied and hauled with me in a vehicle to my bug out location. When there, I think there will most likely be running water, but just to be prepared, I think it's safe to say that running water may be cut off at some point and then there will be a water problem.

My idea was to fill the pool just as I would for swimming and I do plan on swimming even after TSHTF, everyone needs a good bath from time to time right. Now depending on the situation I should be able to refill from time to time or just use the running water while it still exists. When it doesn't exist though, I would have the filter running and pool chemicals and chlorine added to the pool.

So my question is, are there any special filtering techniques that the ATS community is aware of to filter chlorinated water for drinking? Ir would the process be just the same as extracting water from a river or creek?

(I ran a search online but only came up with filter companies selling filters)

Also just for the delight of conversation, what are some of your plans for storing water for consumption?

I saw these Life Saver Water Bottles on the Colbert show after Katrina, and they were shown to be useful with any type of water, including raw sewage. They may be more for surviving verses thriving, but I bought a few for myself and family.

Peace,
spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


They actually have those and straws available at walmart. I was thinking of something that could support a community of people.

Definitely a good thing to have though.

chlorine IS a filtering agent. I would still say boil the water before you drink it, but as long as its not over-chlorinated, it really should be quite sterile.

Personally, I have already drawn up plans for a simple water distiller that can be broken down and easily moved-that way I know I can create good drinking water virtually anywhere.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


Walmart eh? Were they life saving water bottles, or the actual trademarked Lifesaver Water systems?

The actual Lifesaver bottles are better than the standard camping filters.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Not sure on the brand name, but they were all purpose and sell for about $15.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


personally, i see these bottles as a bit of a gimmick for shtf situations. They dont hold much water, and filters eventually wear out. Youre far better off figuring out how to store mass amount of water.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Thanks for that, I figured it would be rather simple. And yes the chlorination keeps it pretty clean even with little to no maintenance.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


Yea those are different. These things filter pure poisons and toxins, not just microbes and sediment like most. Hence the 100 dollars each. But the filter is good for 6000 liters of processing. They were designed in response to Katrina victims, where the water toxicity was unseen before and had pesticides, heavy metals, rotting corpses, oil and gasoline, sewage and most other yucky elements one could imagine. The point was the town was underwater, and people were dying from lack of clean water.
So I guess there may be a need fot 2 type of filtration systems, a general one for out in the woods, and a better one for a friggin apocalyptic toxicity scenario.

Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

Thanks for that, I figured it would be rather simple. And yes the chlorination keeps it pretty clean even with little to no maintenance.

a couple of other things that I would do with your pool idea-

-dig it into the ground. Keeping it even halfway below ground level will help keep the water cold. Warm water breed bacteria, so keeping it as cool as you can is important.

and

-get a sheet of UV amplifying plastic to put over it. This is itself will purify the water if you are unable to boil it.

reply to post by captaintyinknots

Youre far better off figuring out how to store mass amount of water.

True, but one should also consider all options. What if one has to remain on the move and can't return to their source?
I would suggest watching that TED vid to see just how good these things are.
These are not gimmicky at all, and are kind of in a class by themselves.

spec

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Good idea. I do have a cover and some of the bubble plastic.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

True, but one should also consider all options. But what if one has to remain on the move?
I would suggest watching that TED vid to see just how good these things are.

Like I said it's for a community, if need be we could always relocate.

But I pity the fool who tries to get into our water supply.

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

Youre far better off figuring out how to store mass amount of water.

True, but one should also consider all options. What if one has to remain on the move and can't return to their source?
I would suggest watching that TED vid to see just how good these things are.
These are not gimmicky at all, and are kind of in a class by themselves.

spec

edit on 5-4-2012 by speculativeoptimist because: (no reason given)

I dont mean gimmicky as in they arent effective. I mean gimmicky as in they are a short term solution to a long term problem. Having one in a travel kit would be indispensable in an emergency, but I personally would rely on one as my only means of getting drinking water.

thats all i meant.

reply to post by captaintyinknots

True true, supplemental at the least. Heck I want multiple options when it comes to the elixir of life.

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

True true, supplemental at the least. Heck I want multiple options when it comes to the elixir of life.

amen to that.

Pool water is FINE to drink. If you let it stand two days all the chlorine etc will gas out. Once the power goes out and your pump stops running, it's a different story after a few days, all kinds of algae will start growing.

Those LifeSaver bottles are awesome, I've never seen that. I'm going to go buy some and the jerry jugs too, even though I have an RO watermaker.

reply to post by CaptChaos


Yeah I guess your right. Which is cool as long as the pool is maintained there should be plenty of fresh drinking water. We can just take out what we need as we go.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


I've got this one covered. Both my main residence, and my bug out location, are on Georgian Bay, and I regularly drink that water unfiltered now. Granted, the water there is lower now than it has been in a long time, but there's still plenty enough to take care of me and mine.

It's the rest of the bloody stuff I have to worry about. We're reloading ammo now, which is a good thing, and we both certainly know how to hunt and fish. It's all the other niggly little details we've yet to finish.

Not sure how relevant this is but I bought an Ecoloblue Atmospheric Water Generator a few years back and love it. It's basically a small air conditioner that runs the water through reverse osmosis and six other filters along with UV etc. all in a water cooler type housing.

The water where I'm at is terrible and bottled water has it's own problems. This is absolutely the best tasting water I've ever had and just enjoy drinking plain old water again. Anytime I take a swig from the faucet I'm reminded quickly why I got it.

I have a small generator out back and during power outages here, I can run it for a few hours and get a couple of gallons of water (as long as humidity is over 40%, otherwise it takes much longer).

Costs me about $35 a month to run and the newer ones claim to be much more efficient. Pricey, but does eventually pay for itself if you're buying water anyway.

Personally, for a SHTF scenario, I would use a distiller or boiling. Having a reserve of any kind is useful though.