As a start-up for this new water forum I would like to have your feed back about what you would do if there was no water in your city for several weeks? What would be the consequences and what kind of palliative measures could be taken?

-- Daniel Cormier (dcormier@parousie.com), June 22, 1998

Answers

As a pool owner, I have an ample supply for most hygenic purposes. Assuming power is available. Drinking water on the other hand would need to be stored

-- Bill Ringland (bill.ringland@autodesk.com), June 23, 1998.

We'll start with location. Alaska. Melt (and boil and/or filter) the snow. We'll have several feet of it by then. [unless the weather pattern is strange enough that we don't have any accumulated snow]

If we have electricity, many homes will have water anyway, they're on individualized wells. I don't know the percentages of those on a city water system vs wells, but it is potentially lower than usually found in the lower 48.

-- Roxanne Reid-Bennett (rox@tara-lu.com), June 24, 1998.

We are attempting to address this very issue with the city and have included this possibility in our Y2k work shops.

First the personal water preparedness based upon the number of individuals and their needs.

Second, the type of containers and filtering methods to have 3-6 months supply of water.

Third, the possibility of assisting the local water districts with the acquiring and distribution of water.

Dave Jones

-- Dave Jones (dfj@fea.net), June 24, 1998.

An inconvenience only. We are surrounded by lakes. We would have to purify the water certainly either by chemical treatment or boiling, but a shortage of water is not a problem or even much of an inconvenience for those of us that live on 1,000 mile shoreline lakes. And that is just one of three large lakes in the area. Not so fortunate those city folks!

-- Russ Kelly (russ@russkelly.com), June 24, 1998.

Do not have any miracle answers at this time, but I joined the formum because I am doing some research and will share as time goes on. In my opinion, water is as important as power and food. It is in fact the number one subject on my list as I progess throught the planning stage of 2000.

-- Donald K. Leckie (dkleckie@worldnet.att.net), June 25, 1998.

FINDING SURVIVAL WATER / purifying

================= solar h20 purification print out

1.) Dig a wok-like hole in the ground in the sun; 2.) Mid-way down the slope, excavate a depression; 3.) Line the depression with a liner (plastic, canvas) to retain contaminated water 4.) Place a clean, wide-mouthed, receptacle at the base (vortex) 5.) Place a tube into the receptacle for extracting the sanitized water running up and past the top edge of the excavation 6.) cover (close) the entire pit with a piece of translucent plastic, weighted down in the center to create an "inverted" funnel. 7.) The sun heats the enclosure, evaporating and separating the water from the contaminants onto the interior of the plastic cover. Condensation flows down to the receptacle for collection.

-- Greg Benesch (gbenesch@earthlink.net), June 25, 1998.

I have located a GREAT research doc on this topic -- very useful -- and will gladly send it to all who ask. It gives many specific ideas for water sources, assuming the faucet is dry.

-- Greg Benesch (gbenesch@earthlink.net), June 25, 1998.

Of course this would be a serious problem. I do have my own water well and I do have a 2.5k generator (no gasoline stock at the present, but me and my neighbors could at least have drinking water.

-- Gene Tyner, Sr. (tynergsr@ionet.net), June 25, 1998.

I live in the earthquake prone desert called Los Angeles. Specifically, I live in Northridge which lost power for about 17 hours and water for 6 days starting January 17, 1994. I have always kept a supply of drinking water in the house sufficient for two people for two to three weeks.

Sanitation water would be a problem and we would probably have to resort some form of portable toilet and bury the effluent in the ground in post holes or something like that. Either that or we could carry water from the water hazard on the local golf course for that purpose.

We have sufficient water for health and cooking

-- Bruce McCormick (R.Bruce.McCormick@prodigy.net), June 25, 1998.

As an individual, I will be storing enough drinking water to last 3 months. We are currently purchasing a small farm with a large lake which is now used for irrigation of gardens etc. This lake will provide water for washing and other non-drinking functions (such as watering of the vege patch). Our swimming pool will be our backup supply. On this property we are establishing solar and wind generators also to take care of emergency electrical requirements.

-- Lorinda Panton (lorinda@merrion.com.au), June 27, 1998.

Because we live in Calgary Alberta and the weather will be fairly cold (probably -30 C) we are albe to freeze barrels of water and keep it outside. I plan on purchasing some hiking purification tablets to use of the defrosted water. The water will be frozen in barrels and stacked inside our garden shed. This will also enable us to keep our frozen meat frozen. We are hoping that this will carry us over until the power and therefore water is restored. I plan on having 2+ months worth of water stockpiled.

-- Rhonda Viau-Caron (rhondaviaucaron@aec.ca), June 30, 1998.

Are we talking about Canadian communities or American communities?

-- Westall Parr (wparr@sympatico.ca), August 05, 1998.

We would be hauling water from small lakes nearby for flushing and drinking purposes. Our plan for drinking water is to simply filter what we need through Katadyn Siphon Filters. These are Swiss-made 0.2 micron ceramic filters for removing the usual living organic nasties. They also have a "Combi" unit that has a charcoal filter and ceramic filter with a pump handle. These would be better if you knew that there might by chemical pollutants in your supply. Either filter would last longer if you prefiltered the water through a homemade bucket sand filter.

-- Hedge (hedge@bluegrass.net), August 20, 1998.

We already store purified water. We have filled a black plastic 50 gallon drum for this purpose. We also clean out and refill 2-liter mylar bottles (old soft-drink bottles), and add 3-4 drops of Chlorox to discourage any algae growth. All told, we have over 100 gallons for 3 people stored this way.

Note: Don't store water in used milk jugs. The water will taste like sour milk. Those jugs also allow odors to permeate into the water from whatever is surrounding them.

-- Ryan (Esquire@Hotmail.com), September 14, 1998.

I do live in a city in Southeastern US. We are in the landscaping business and have a 6000 gallon Koi pond behind our office. We have a lot of biofiltration and the water is crystal clear. With no electricity the water circulation stops.

Assuming there is no city supplied water and forgetting the fish for the moment the water has no ammonia in it, no nitrate, but considerable NITRATE.

With boiling would it be safe to drink? Also theoretically, with out boiling it or treating in some other way would it be safe to drink?

-- Jack McNeary (jmcneary@arborman.com), September 17, 1998.