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Monday, February 10, 2014

Six Letters Re: Resource Management



 

From the Survival Blog


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HJL,

When calculating your stored water resources, don't forget your water heater. That's usually 30 to 50 gallons. When collecting rainwater the amount collected depends on the square footage of the portion of the roof the rain is landing on. My patio is 10 by 30 feet, that's 300 square feet. If a half an inch of rain falls thats 150 square feet of rain, 12.5 cubic feet, = 93 gallons. That doesn't even include the house roof that flows onto the patio roof. There's two 55 gallon drums filled almost full. Use a 275gl water tote and you have a lot of water. - Sasquatch

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Good day to you all!

Z.H.T., you have written a fine article. Thank you. I would like the readers to know one thing about bottled water, however. The bottles are permeable to contaminants. This occurred several years ago to Poland Spring Water in Maine. They had received reports of "funny tasting" water and, upon further investigation, found stored bottles sitting next to cleaning agents. The vapors or liquids did, indeed, leach through the plastic, thus giving them the funny taste. So, I encourage all who are storing bottled water in the basement or garage to store them carefully. It sure would be a terrible backslap to find this happen when it was needed. Take care and God bless. - J.P.

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Dear SurvivalBlog,

I enjoyed the letter from Z.H.T and can validate much of what he wrote. The drinking water in my town is not very appealing to anyone, so bottled water is preferred. I have 60 gallons on hand in 6 gallon containers that we rotate through and refill from a vending kiosk at $0.25 a gallon. In addition to this I regularly rinse and refill suitable containers with tap water to cook and wash with and stash these all over the house, behind furniture, and under guest beds. I also buy cases of bottled water to keep in vehicles and just to use. At last count I had approximately 100 gallons stashed away. Also, as my metal roof gets built by me in stages, my rainwater system will evolve. It is not glamorous, but it is not overly difficult and rewarding when you approach it like a puzzle. I am very curious about where 1 gallon of bottled water gets over $5? I would consider going into the bottled water business there! In North Texas under normal conditions a gallon of water ranges from .25 to $1.00. - J.C.

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Hugh,

The author I believe overlooked a large source of fresh water many people also forget about in their own homes-- the water heater. Many water heaters hold 75 gallons, and many newer houses have two (ours does), totaling 150 gallons of fresh water stored right in our garage and upstairs closet. - WDP

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HJL,

A good tip for storing water is to reuse old bottles and fill them up with tap water. Put the bottles in the freezer. It creates a thermal mass in case the power goes out, like a giant bag of ice. It will keep things in the freezer for a bit longer than if the freezer was half empty. It also is a great place to store water. - W.R.

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Hugh,

I've never felt the need to respond before, and I know this is a few days past, but here goes!

This author clearly has a good start on thinking about water availability, but has missed a few key points.

1.   Water coming out of the tap is not expensive and there is always unused space in a house (under beds and other furniture, backs of closets, etcetera), so saying there is not enough money or space to store water may be committing to an erroneous notion that ends in a disastrous mistake. We even fill and store used 1 gallon containers in our deep freeze to maximize its efficiency and would not hesitate to drink those in an emergency.

2.   Don't forget that our homes run on a water system and that system holds a great deal of water at any given time, even if it has lost pressure. Your water heater, for example, even a small one, still has 20-30 gallons of potable water waiting for you to remember it and hook up a hose to the bottom of the tank to drain it out. In our large home full of people, we opted for a 50 gallon tank. This does cost more upfront and in operation, but we chose to spoil ourselves in this area and thus have 50 gallons of emergency storage as well.

3.   There is also water in your pipes throughout the house. Tapping into this source would be essential in a true crisis and hopefully common sense, but I would hate to think that someone could die of thirst in a house full of water they didn't realize was there. Just be sure you have plenty of capacity for catching the water and that you are in a clear state of emergency before breaking into your pipes. If you decide to do so, try drilling a small hole higher up in the system first. Don't just smack a pipe in your basement with a hammer, or you will likely lose more than you gain. Remember, in all but the worst situations, you'll want those pipes repaired, so minimize the damage you create. Of course, if you or you children are dying of thirst, I suppose you won't care much about a future plumbing bill!

4.   Potable water is even hiding in our toilet tanks (not the bowls!) so bear that in mind and stretch to think of other places water is waiting or where you could be storing bottles of various shapes and sizes. It could make all of the difference to you one day and is the cheapest prep, next to improving your mind and body, and far easier to secure than any I can think of off hand! - K.S.

Addendum from the poster:

Consider using rain barrels of some kind and size to collect rain water and then use them to manually to flush one toilet or water the garden when needed.

 

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