“Steripen in Action” © 2011 by butforthesky.com, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Water is the absolute most essential requirement for survival. Your body cannot go more than a couple of days without it. In the event of a disaster or social unrest, water that is safe for human consumption will be scarce. The water that you get from the faucet in your kitchen is either not going to be available, or it will be contaminated and unsafe.
When it comes to meeting your water consumption needs, there are two main considerations: 1) Access to Water and 2) Water purification.
1) Access to Water: Most likely, if you live in a city, in a disaster scenario you will not have running water. This is because the water utilities that pump the water to homes will most likely be out of operation. These utilities require electricity to operate. If the power goes out, so will the water. If you live in a rural area, you probably get your water from a nearby well and, in that case, you will probably still have access to running water in your house. If you are in the city, you should consider how you would get water for your needs. You should have some water storage barrels that you can fill up and have available to last you a few weeks. For more long term solutions, consider locating the nearest lake or river. Also, consider rain collection methods such as rain water barrels and rain collection tanks.
2) Water Purification: There are a number of different ways to purify water. Here are the most prevalent suggestions with some pros and cons as well as some videos to help you visualize how each works:
Water Purification Tablets: These are tablets that you drop into the water you want to purify. They dissolve in the water and kill harmful bacteria so that the water is safe for human consumption. You have to use 1 to 2 tablets per liter of water. The downside to using tablets is that eventually you will run out if you are in a long-term survival situation. Also, it can take over a half-hour to purify water using this method. Here is a video displaying how to use water tablets:
Boiling Water to purify: Boiling water will kill almost everything in the water that is dangerous for humans to consume. How long you have to boil water depends on what altitude you are at. To be safe, you should let it boil for ten minutes. It is wise to combine this method with another filtration method. The downside to this method is that boiling water can use up precious other resources like fuel or firewood. I suggest you leave this as a last option where the other methods are not available.
UV Radiation Water Purification Devices: This is my number one favorite solution for water purification. It is incredibly quick, simple and safe. These devices utilize UV radiation to kill harmful bacteria and sterilize the water. As with every suggested piece of survival gear, you should have two or three of them in case it breaks or gets stolen. There are a few different types of devices, so I’ll let the videos do the talking:
In conclusions, you should assess these methods for obtaining and purifying water and then take steps to make sure you are prepared to supply yourself and your loved ones with the most basic element of survival.
[…] 2. Water Purification Tools – Obviously, carrying enough water to last you two weeks is not practical. You should fill up a couple of canteens to last you a couple days. But you should also have a water filter and sterilization device to obtain clean and safe drinking water along your route to safety. UV sterilization devices such as the SteriPen are great because they are small and can make your water safe to drink in less than a minute. Click here to read my post on water purification: The First Necessity For Survival: Water Purification […]
[…] a. Pre-Tank Treatment – The goal at this stage is to purify the water as much as possible before it makes its way into the tank. The water coming from the roof can have debris such as leaves, sticks, dirt, bird feces, etc… You want to initially divert and screen as much of this as possible. This can be done by employing a diverter chamber transition fitting to the downspouts. This technique allows you to divert the initial flush of water at the beginning of a rainfall. The first flush from the roof is going to be the dirtiest, but after a short while, a lot of the gunk and contaminants will be washed away. You should also use a screen transition in conjunction with the downspouts to filter out larger debris. If you have screens, you should check them often to make sure they are not clogged. Clogging can be prevented by using a special type of angled screen. b. Post-Tank Treatment – Post-tank treatment refers to the stage in which water is purified and made safe for human consumption. The intensity of treatment at this level will depend on the intended use of the water. Obviously, drinking water gets the most attention and treatment. However, water that will be used for agriculture probably doesn’t need much treatment at all. For water that is going to be used for human consumption, you should use a multi-barrier approach. The first barrier is the filtration barrier. This is like screening, but on a much smaller scale. Next is the disinfection barrier. At this stage, the goal is to kill microorganisms that may be in the water. By using a combination of chlorination and UV light, you should feel pretty safe that the water that is safe to drink. For more on water purification, see The First Necessity For Survival: Water Purification […]
[…] The First Necessity For Survival: Water Purification | How To Survive … http://www.howtosurvivestuff.com/Boiling Water to purify: Boiling water will kill almost everything in the water that is dangerous for humans to consume. How long you have to boil water depends on what altitude you are at. To be safe, you should let it boil for … […]
[…] The First Necessity For Survival: Water Purification | How To Survive … http://www.howtosurvivestuff.com/Water is the absolute most essential requirement for survival. Your body cannot go more than a couple of days without it. In the event of a disaster or social unrest, water that is safe for human consumption will be scarce. […]
Hi! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you so much, a wonderful job!
Hey, I need to spend some time researching more about topics like this.
Thanks for excellent info I was looking for this info for one of my
school assigments. I will com back to enjoy more.
Thanx. Regards!
Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any
issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked
and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no back up.
Do you have any methods to protect against hackers? The info has been so very much appreciated!
You’ve several super ideas! Maybe I ought to think about trying this myself. Thanks a lot!.