Every daylight savings time, I rotate my stored water. I empty out my containers, refilling them with, then add 7 drops of bleach per gallon.
* Edit * I've been asked before what the best survival book is. Honestly, it is One Second After by William R. Forstchen. It's probably the best description scenario that could occur.
It is not those regurgitated line drawings that everyone copies from Euell Gibbons, or rehashed rule of 3's survival books.
You don’t. You have RO at the point of consumption. At any rate, it’s our approach, we store 150,000L in a cistern over the winter and use it through the summer. An under-the-counter domestic RO system can be had for like $200, the membranes last about a year with our usage, and are like $15 a pop. Post-RO storage tank UV block too because I like belts and braces.
Non-potable just goes through the usual barrels full of sand and biochar, and doesn’t need further treatment.
The old stuff can be used to water house plants or your garden. If you have advanced warning of an event (e.g., hurricane), you can also fill up a large reserve 'just in time':
Hot water heaters don’t heat water enough to kill bacteria and also they’re absolutely disgusting inside unless you’re one of the rare 0.1% of people who drain it annually and replace the sacrificial anode when it needs replacing.
Cold water from the tap also doesn't kill bacteria, so the same common sense follows... boil it if you're unfamiliar with the source.
Don't drink it hot if you think you may have lead pipes.
It's not really disgusting inside, mostly just filled with sediment... which is coming from your water source anyway. Same story, filter and boil as needed.
Either way, much easier than maintaining potable water for the rest of your life for an event that might not ever happen. We haven't had such an event in my area for 100 years. In a pinch with a little boiling you've probably got something in the area of 40-50 gallons available this way.
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How do you keep the drinking water actually drinkable over any time period? Anything stored gets nasty.
Every daylight savings time, I rotate my stored water. I empty out my containers, refilling them with, then add 7 drops of bleach per gallon.
* Edit * I've been asked before what the best survival book is. Honestly, it is One Second After by William R. Forstchen. It's probably the best description scenario that could occur.
It is not those regurgitated line drawings that everyone copies from Euell Gibbons, or rehashed rule of 3's survival books.
I really like the daylight savings thing.
We've been trained to do this activity twice a year. Why not add a couple of more checkboxes?
I have a small checklist, but those are some examples.LOL, I often don't even bother to adjust my clocks for daylight savings time.
You don’t. You have RO at the point of consumption. At any rate, it’s our approach, we store 150,000L in a cistern over the winter and use it through the summer. An under-the-counter domestic RO system can be had for like $200, the membranes last about a year with our usage, and are like $15 a pop. Post-RO storage tank UV block too because I like belts and braces.
Non-potable just goes through the usual barrels full of sand and biochar, and doesn’t need further treatment.
You rotate it every ~6 months:
* https://www.cdc.gov/water-emergency/about/how-to-create-and-...
The old stuff can be used to water house plants or your garden. If you have advanced warning of an event (e.g., hurricane), you can also fill up a large reserve 'just in time':
* https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/waterbob-bathtub-liner-rev...
Many houses have hot water heaters, which IMO is plenty for most people and the water naturally gets replaced through normal use.
Hot water heaters don’t heat water enough to kill bacteria and also they’re absolutely disgusting inside unless you’re one of the rare 0.1% of people who drain it annually and replace the sacrificial anode when it needs replacing.
Don’t drink from the hot water tap.
Cold water from the tap also doesn't kill bacteria, so the same common sense follows... boil it if you're unfamiliar with the source.
Don't drink it hot if you think you may have lead pipes.
It's not really disgusting inside, mostly just filled with sediment... which is coming from your water source anyway. Same story, filter and boil as needed.
Either way, much easier than maintaining potable water for the rest of your life for an event that might not ever happen. We haven't had such an event in my area for 100 years. In a pinch with a little boiling you've probably got something in the area of 40-50 gallons available this way.
At the condo, I just rotate pet bottles. They are quite fimr for like a month, outside of direct sunlight.
And water can be always treated to make it drinkable again.