We live in a world where water is a given—if you need water for drinking, cooking, washing your body, dishes and clothes, keeping grass and gardens green, and a myriad of other uses, you just turn the tap on, and out comes an endless supply of clean, usable water.
If and when you turn the tap and nothing comes out, or you can’t be sure that what comes out is safe to drink or use, it can alter your life almost immediately. Even mild dehydration starts to affect your physical performance and mental state fairly quickly, but severe dehydration, which is defined as water-induced loss of blood levels in excess of 15%, if not treated quickly and decisively, will result in coma and death. Having enough water in your system is the number-one priority in any survival or emergency situation.
The issue is twofold. First, how do you ensure that you have enough water to consume and meet your other needs, and second, how do I make sure that the water I drink is safe?
Storing Enough Water
As to having an adequate water supply, the usual rule is a gallon of water per person per day. That should be enough water for cooking, drinking, and meet very basic hygiene needs. Of course, there are a lot of variables to this equation. Water loss in moderate temperatures and during sedentary activities runs closer to a quart and a half daily than a gallon. Foods can also provide some of the water your body needs as well. On the other hand, if you are outdoors, in hot temperatures, and working hard, even a full gallon won’t keep you hydrated all day. The two main guidelines are that if you feel thirsty, you should drink water, and if your urine is not clear or light yellow, you are dehydrated. As you plan your water storage requirements, ask yourself what kind of heat you might have to deal with. Are you going to be sitting around waiting for services to come back, walking a distance from work back to your home, or working up a sweat clearing debris? If you need to be mobile, you have to consider the fact that water weighs eight pounds per gallon. Moving around with large quantities can become quite burdensome.
If you will be staying closer to home, you have more options. You have a surprising amount of drinkable water stored in and around your home all the time. The tank behind each of your toilets contains 3 to 5 gallons of perfectly good water. If you have kids you may want to empty this water into containers, as they are not likely to follow your admonitions not to flush—and once the water is in the bowl, it should not be trusted. Also, a water heater contains perfectly drinkable water. If tap water is suspect, close the inlet valve to prevent contaminated water from refilling the heater. Older water heaters might have sediment in the bottom of the tank, and while a little rust never hurt anyone, it’s not too appetizing. Luckily, there are inexpensive (under $10) water heater strainers out there, or just rubber band a hankie to the spigot.
Of course, there are other ways to store a supply of water.
- If you have a freezer that’s half full, filling soda bottles and placing them in the freezer will save energy, store water, and if the power goes out, keep the freezer cold longer.
- You can also keep a couple of cases of grocery store bottled water. The small bottles work better since the large milk jug sizes tend to distend and leak after a while. If you do this, be sure to rotate your water supply regularly; bottled water actually has an expiration date.
- Used 2 liter soda bottles can be used; just add four drops of bleach to keep the water potable, and be sure to replace the water every six months or so.
- Finally, you can keep a big barrel of water in the basement or garage. Frankly, this is what I do, since when I give the garage a good cleaning in the fall I add more bleach, and in the spring I siphon the barrel empty and refill. If you really want to fill and forget, there are commercial products that you can use to treat stored water that are reputed to last five years. The two main ones are dry sodium hypochlorite (the same ingredient used in bleach), and liquid sodium chloride, sold under the brand name Aqua Mira™, which is the same technology used by municipal water works to treat water.
Making Water Safe to Use
What if you have access to water, but you are concerned that it has become contaminated? There are several methods to make it drinkable.
Boiling
The first is boiling. This is the most reliable; nothing living that will make you sick will survive in water brought to a rolling boil for five minutes. The obvious drawback is fuel. If you need to boil more than a few quarts for a few days, you will need to have quite a quantity of fuel on hand.
Filters
Filters exist that attach to your faucet—assuming you have pressure—or will pump water straight from a source like a creek or pond, or even that are placed in a water bottle, where you just squeeze and drink. Dozens of models are available on the internet, at sporting goods outlets, or at your local shopping center. Some are designed for household applications, others more towards backcountry use. Most filters will eliminate protozoa and bacteria. If you need one that will also take care of viruses, you should look for one with a ceramic filter. The one disadvantage to ceramic filters is that water flows much slower through them. When I owned one that I bought for camping use, I spent many a long hour by the fire pumping and pumping and pumping. It was enough to make me just stick my face in the stream and suck. So I admit my bias against them. And viral contamination of surface water is not a problem in the US or most developed countries. HOWEVER, in a disaster situation where water is exposed to the… ahem, “output” of lots of fellow humans in an urban environment, that may not be the case. Another reason why a personal store of water is a very good idea.
Chemical Treatment
The third way to make water safe is chemically. And chemical treatments have come a long way since the Halazone tablets and Tincture of Iodine of my youth, both of which left the treated water tasting so nasty you needed to have drink mix handy just to choke it down. I already discussed Aqua Mira™ above; it’s what the military uses if that endorsement matters to you. Other brand names use the same technology and Iodine-based treatments are still available on the market as well. Iodine does have the drawback of not being effective against one fairly common nasty called cryptosporidium, which is widespread in public pools frequented by diaper-wearing toddlers. I’m sure you get the picture.
Also, bleach, which is acceptable for keeping stored water safe, doesn’t really have the purifying horsepower to treat suspect water, though in a pinch it’s better than nothing. And one drawback to all types of chemical treatments is that they take anywhere from 15 minutes to four hours to work, depending on the product and a variety of factors such as water temperature and clarity.
Light Treatment
The last type of readily available water purification is exposing the water to high-powered UV light. Portable UV generators, sold under the brand name Steri-Pen™, treat water by sticking a wand in the glass or water bottle for a short time. The pens do take batteries, and the bulbs have a limited life, so large scale purification is not practical, but it is a hassle-free and effective way to treat smaller amounts of water.
One last thought. Regard all untreated water as suspect, but if you have no way to purify and you have water that has a reasonable chance of being OK, it’s better to drink than to not. Dehydration will kill you long before most bugs will make you sick.