Plan for water supply

[Blowmax10]

First let me say thanks to everyone on this forum for indulging my Noob questions. There has not been a single person that has made fun of a single thing that I have had to ask

On that note

I live in a "small" city of 60,000 and have no ware to go if SHTF so my plan for an extended water source is a sump pump basin in my basement that always full of water

It fills up with ground water and running's from my AC and the dehumidifier

My plan is to boil the water if I ever needed to drink it and I'm wondering if that is enough - I have found dead mice in the basin before. I try to clean it out once a year as well as I can.

I was thinking if the time came I could sanitize it with some bleach just making sure to wash it out very well after wards

[610Alpha]

I would probably do a couple of things: 1 - boil 2 - filter 3 - might even distill the water but you lose minerals that way.

try it out sometime for a practice session of what it will take to have water.


Yeah the people on this forum don't flame from what i have seen, a few miscommunications but no flaming that i have seen. you will see some joking and kidding however that just shows we can still have a sense of humor while planning for the unexpected.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Aint gonna make fun, we need to show even more respect for each other because we may well be it someday
I would do what elittle says boil and filter and double up efforts on keeping them dead critters outta there, thats bad jujuj
Good plan too, I would keep that jewel quiet though cause "zombies" might wanna take it and I doubt if it makes that much

[Bull]

I agree and think try it out now, when you can go to the hospital if you get really sick or something. I'm about to go camping at "the hideout" this weekend and I'm trying out my new gear on the creek. I figure it's better to get sick and screwed up now when medical attention is available, than to wait until I don't have it and find out my plan is screwed. Could be wrong but it makes sense to me to try it out now so you can be more sure later. Things may obviously change between now and when TSHTF but at least you will have a gauge. Get sick now and you can write that idea off or know you have some refining to do.

[Klayton]

They already said a pretty safe way to go: boil & filter

But depending on the filter, you may want to add one more step> chlorine (bleach)

The method to my madness is, some baddies thrive in high temp, if my memory is correct these are known as "thermophilic bacteria" and still have a slight risk if you did not boil your water long enough.

I would do it in this order: Filter (ceramic preferred, but sand and charcoal would work), chlorine treatment (let stand for 30 minutes outdoors to allow chlorine to evaporate), then bring to a boil quickly, then let it cool somewhere (with a lid on it to prevent post treatment contamination)....

in a SHTF scenario, you might want to start with water from your water heater before using subpump water???

just my two copper pieces...

[Blowmax10]

Thanks

This is some really great info and Klayton is 100% right about using the water from the hot water heater and it is something that I'm sure most people don't think of

[biathlon]

Look here. http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com...b4e1e402380113
There is so much water up here and especially near my retrest it really isn't an issue for me but I do intend to get one of these. I keep several of the Katadyn backpacker purifiers around in different places because bleach tastes like s#$& and can take an hour or so to completely kill anything living in a contaminated source. Boiling is the last option because of the fuel used(also not a concern for me because of all the beetle killed trees up here). Have you considered moving? Is that an option for you? Good luck.

[Blowmax10]

Look here. http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com...b4e1e402380113
There is so much water up here and especially near my retrest it really isn't an issue for me but I do intend to get one of these. I keep several of the Katadyn backpacker purifiers around in different places because bleach tastes like s#$& and can take an hour or so to completely kill anything living in a contaminated source. Boiling is the last option because of the fuel used(also not a concern for me because of all the beetle killed trees up here). Have you considered moving? Is that an option for you? Good luck.

I would think that the problem with most commercial filters is that you need pressure for them - I have seem models with a pump and I would like to buy one

You are right about eating up fuel to boil water and that is a good concern

and no - moving is not an option

[Christian for Israel]

the big berky is a gravity filter. the pump units work too, but are better used with your bug out gear (even if you have no where to go you should have a bug out bag. you never know when you might be forced to leave due to fire, contamination, etc).

[Blowmax10]

the big berky is a gravity filter. the pump units work too, but are better used with your bug out gear (even if you have no where to go you should have a bug out bag. you never know when you might be forced to leave due to fire, contamination, etc).

I like it - Good point on the bug out bag

[ViennaAustria]

One question about filters here:
Stuff like the Berky or Katadyn, can they remove heavy metals?

If, eg, collected rainwater would be contaminated with Aluminium-Barium-stuff, would it be possible to get rid of that?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

One question about filters here:
Stuff like the Berky or Katadyn, can they remove heavy metals?

If, eg, collected rainwater would be contaminated with Aluminium-Barium-stuff, would it be possible to get rid of that?

http://www.berkeyfilters.com/berkeyfaqs.htm

Berkey purification systems do not remove the beneficial minerals from the water but they do extract harmful heavy metals such as lead and mercury as well as sedimentary minerals such as iron oxide. Therefore, the TDS (total dissolved solids) reading will not typically change much unless there are a lot of heavy metals or sedimentary minerals in the source water.

[Monel]

"Aluminum-Barium-stuff" ?

You have been researching Chem-trails?

[Klayton]

OK I will bite, where did the Aluminum-Barium come from????

[ViennaAustria]

Thanks Matt!

And since the question is there. The answer is yes to Monel, which would answer Klaytons question.
Not my intention to make it a topic, just to not drink aluminum ect.