Normal People Preparing for TEOTWAWKI – How, When, and Why to Store Water

Earlier this year, our portion of the Illinois river was seeing the longest flood that it had in almost 100 years!  In the lock and dam near our house, the water was above the barrier that the boats usually go UNDER.  So you have the height of most of the barges and other boats, now add another 8-10 feet above that.  That’s how high the water was.  BUT now, we’re seeing a drought here in our part of Illinois.  You never know whether or not you’re going to be seeing feast or famine when it comes to water.  So how would you survive if all water were to stop flowing right now?  As with all things, if we get a system in place NOW for water storage, filtration, and usage, then everything will be much easier if we ever need them.

Options for Water Systems

So, what are our options when we are looking for long-term water systems?  We need something that will allow us to collect water near us, something that should be fairly consistent, something that should be as safe as we can get.

Google Earth

To find water like that, let’s start with a very under-utilized tool – Google Earth.   Put your house into the search bar and hit enter.

So what are we looking for?  Several things.  First, we’re looking for pools.  It’s not ideal, and you’ll definitely need a water filter, but if you have the right filter – like a Berkey water filter – you can filter pool water.   Now keep in mind that just because a pool shows on Google earth, doesn’t mean that it is still there.  When I look at my neighborhood, I know that the pool next door has been filled in for at least two years, but it still shows on google earth, so take it with a grain of salt.

Once you’ve done a search for pools – which usually show up bright blue – look for rivers, ponds, or lakes which oftentimes show up a green/brown.  Sometimes they are hard to see because they can blend in with the trees, but you should be able to see it if you just zoom in and look through the areas around your house carefully.  These ones can look camouflaged.

When I searched for my house, I found a creek near me and a lot more pools than I had imagined I would find.  It’s a start!

Make Drinking Water From Natural Sources Safe 

It’s not just enough to find water.  We need to filter it and make it safe to drink as well.

So let’s talk about making our water safe.  No matter where you get your water from, the first question that you should ask is what color (if any) is your water?  Is it brown, greenish, yellow, or clear?  If your water is anything but clear you’ll need to start with manual filtering of water.  We need to make any water that is not clear – clear.  It’s not hard.

(1) You can make a filter simply by using a 2-liter soda bottle.

Cut straight across the bottle about four inches below the neck.  Turn that upside down and place it in the bottom half of the bottle.  Stuff a clean dish towel or piece of fabric into the upside-down part of the bottle.  Pour the water that you gathered from the natural source – a river, pond, stream, etc.  into the upside-down portion of the bottle.  The piece of fabric should filter out whatever is changing the color of the water.  Once you’ve filled the bottom portion of the bottle, look at the water again.  Is it clear?  Woohoo!  You finished the first half of what you needed to.  If it’s not, you just do it again until the water in the bottom of the bottle is clear.

(2) Then we make the water safe for drinking.

Water Purifying Filter

We use a Berkey Water Purifying System in our house.  The water here in this part of Illinois really upset my stomach when we moved here four years ago.  We had purchased a Berkey a long time before, but never set it up – yea, stupid I know.  We’ve used it since.  Berkey water systems filter out 99.99% of dangerous pathogens.  It’s also the easiest way to purify your water.

Boil it

Making water safe to drink is simple.  You can simply bring it to a rolling boil for one minute.  If you’re above 6000 feet above sea level, you can boil it for 3 minutes to ensure that you’ve killed bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.

Iodine

According to Princeton University, using iodine to disinfect water is super simple.  You need a 2% tincture of iodine.  Once your water is clear, you can use 5 drops of iodine for every quart of water to disinfect it.  Also according to Princeton University, using iodine can kill more types of dangerous organisms than our next item.

Chlorine Bleach 

Most household bleach contains between 5.25 percent and 8.25 percent chlorine.  When you choose a bleach, make sure that you check the bottle and that your bleach fits into those parameters.  Also, make sure that the bleach that you’re using is unscented.  When you use bleach to disinfect the water, you’ll want to use 5 drops of 5.25-8.25% chlorine bleach per quart!

Make sure that you rotate your bleach though.  I try to use up my bleach within one year of purchasing it.  It will degrade over time, and I want my bleach to be potent when I need it.

But okay, let’s be honest.  I don’t want to have to haul water to my house if I don’t have to.  Somehow I doubt you do either, huh?

Well Water

If you are blessed (or smart enough) to have a property with a well on it, do you have a manual hand pump?  If you have a well, it is such a blessing, but don’t waste it by not having a way to get water from it if you are without power!  Do make sure that you have your well tested regularly – at least once every year or two.

Water Barrels

Water barrels are important and give you a definite boost during the first few days of a disruptive event or even in the event of a nuclear detonation where you’ll need to shelter in place for at least 21 days.  We had four 55 gallon water barrels set up at a previous house.  That gave us 210 gallons of water or one gallon for each member of our family per day for a month.  That should be your short-term goal.  One gallon per person per day for 30 days.

Rain Water Catchment System

But we need to go beyond that for water.  We need to have a system in place for the long-term.  We need to have something in place NOW.

Water barrels are a more permanent solution.  While the water in them won’t last forever, they will at least keep you from having to haul water in a long-term situation like TEOTWAWKI.  But it’s not just the water barrels, it’s using them to collect rainwater.  Whether or not it’s legal to collect rainwater in your area now – and you should look into it – in a TEOTWAWKI situation, it’s not going to matter if you’re collecting rainwater.

Again, these are things that you need to get into place now (even if you don’t use them).

I’ve watched several different YouTube videos on how to set up a Rainwater Catchment System.  This one is the best one out there that I’ve found.  It takes you through the whole thing step by step.

Want Some More Info on Storing Water?

Want some more information on ways to store water?  Need some tools that make water storage easier?

What About You?

Have you put any water systems into place NOW?   How much water do you currently have?  How long could your family go if the water to your house went dry?  Share your answers with us in the comments so that we can all be better prepared.

Together let’s Love, Learn, Practice, and Overcome

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