Water

This week we will be doing a water kit. After shelter, water is the next priority in any crisis. The simple fact is that we don't know how good we have it here in America. Our purified and most likely fortified water appears magically at the twist of a knob. Let's take advantage of it while we still can!

Water Kit

·         Heavy or food grade plastic bottles

·         Paper towels/ cloth

·         Large pot and heat source

·         Liquid chlorine bleach or tincture of iodine

·         Eye dropper (for this purpose only)

·         1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon (for this purpose only)

·         Permanent Marker

·         For a Solar Still: Shovel 

o   Clean container

o   Piece of plastic about 3 feet squared

o   Small rock or marble

o   Drinking tube (optional)

In an emergency, the average person needs one gallon of water per day for drinking and food preparation. If you want water for personal hygiene, washing clothes, sanitation, and other cleaning you will need at least twice as much. That is a lot of water! Since it would be virtually impossible for most of us to store the amount of water required, we need to learn to find water and make it useable. In emergency situations you should assume that all water is contaminated and needs to be purified before drinking or using it. The two scenarios to discuss are if you are at home or if you had to evacuate.

If you are at home:

You need to store water for these occasions. You can buy commercially bottled water or large drums for storing water if you have the space and resources. You can also bottle your own water for storage. It will take a long time to accumulate the amount of bottles you would need to keep your family hydrated so get started now! Containers made of heavy, opaque plastic with screw tops are best. Clear plastic juice bottles are okay, but not ideal. Milk containers tend to crack and leak over time and should not be used. Stored water often acquires an undesirable taste and appearance, so rotate it at least once a year and consider storing powdered Gatorade or other drink mix so children will drink it. Sometimes the flat taste can be eliminated by aerating the water; just pour it back and forth between two containers three or four times. Plan on re-purifying the water for use in an emergency if it is more than a year old. To lengthen the shelf life of water stored in clear containers, store them in black garbage bags. Home bottled water should not be stored in extreme temperatures. 

To store your own bottled water you need to first sterilize the bottles, then purify the water, label it, and finally rotate it.

To sterilize the bottles, wash them with hot soapy water. Rinse thoroughly. Fill the container about 3/4 full of water and then add 1/4 cup liquid chlorine bleach per 1 quart of water (this is still part of the sterilization process). Put on the cap and shake well, being sure to turn it upside-down to get the stopper too. Let it stand for 3 minutes. The same water can be used to clean up to five bottles. Finally, fill the bottle with purified water and label it with the date and "Drinking Water- Purified." 

 To purify water for storage or immediate use in an emergency, follow these steps: Strain the water through paper towels or a clean cloth to remove any dirt or other floating matter. Boil the water vigorously for five minutes (add one additional minute for every 1000 feet of altitude above sea level). More is better if you can spare the fuel for heating it. Or after straining add liquid chlorine bleach or iodine tincture.

Amount of Water	Amount of Chlorine Bleach to add:		Amount of 2% iodine tincture to add:
	Clear water	Cloudy water	Clear water	Cloudy water
1 quart	2 drops	4 drops	3 drops	6 drops
1 gallon	8 drops	16 drops	12 drops	24 drops
5 gallons	1/2 teaspoon	1 teaspoon	3/4 teaspoon	1 1/2 teaspoons

Mix well by stirring or shaking the container and then let stand for 30 minutes. If a faint chlorine odor is not present repeat the process and let it stand for 15 minutes. As liquid chlorine bleach loses its potency over time, it should be rotated yearly. If the bleach is a year old the dosage should be doubled. Two year old bleach is not reliable and shouldn't be used to purify drinking water. If you are not planning on storing it, only purify enough water to use in the next 48 hours to avoid recontamination.

There are sources of water already inside your home that you can use in an emergency once the water is purified:

·         Water drained from the hot water heater.

·         Water remaining in the plumbing.

·         Water dipped from the tank of your toilet (not the bowl, or if you use self cleaning agents and the water is blue).

·         Melted ice cubes if you have an ice machine in your freezer.

·         Liquid from canned goods (fruit, vegetables, tuna fish, etc. ).

·         Water from a water bed should not be used for drinking, but you can use it for cleaning purposes.

There are also sources of water outside your home, but they should be used for hygiene and not drinking or cooking.

·         Water from a swimming pool.

·         Water remaining in your garden hose.

·         Water in fountains or birdbaths.

Finding and decontaminating enough water to drink will most likely be a major problem. But just because you may not see water flowing freely in streams or rivers—nor find any in lakes or ponds—does not mean that there is no water to be found. Remember that water flows downhill, carves a channel of some sort in the earth, and that areas with a rich water supply have the lushest vegetation. However, this water is not potable (not drinkable) in its present state. It must be purified and filtered before it can be used for drinking purposes. Here's where you should focus your search:

Ø  The base of cliffs and rocks where abnormal amounts of vegetation are thriving.

Ø  Anywhere the ground is damp or muddy. Dig a hole in the ground 12 to 24 inches deep and wait for water to seep into it. If the dirt in the hole is moist yet no water is seeps into it, scoop up the mud; wring it in a cloth to force out the water. Catch the drops in a container, purify, and filter.

Ø  Arise before dawn, mop up dew from rocks and plants with a cloth, and wring it into a container. You will collect about a quart an hour. Remember to purify then filter it before use.

Ø  In arid areas, cut or slice the top off large cacti and mash the center or pulp with a stick. The pulp can be wrung in a cloth to obtain water. Carry cut slices of pulp as an emergency water source.

Ø  Tap a tree by drilling a hole about 3 inches deep and inserting a hollow stem or straw. Maples, birch, aspen, and white pine are best and produce drinkable quantities from February through April.

Ø  Throw a plastic sheet over the top of leafy trees and bring the ends together to drain into a container. This way you will catch evaporation and dew which will drain into the container.

Ø  Old campsites. Trails leading away from old campsites often lead to water.

Solar Still or Distillation: A solar still (or other form of distillation) is the only method of purifying water that eliminates both the physical and the microbiological pollutants at the same time. To make a Solar Still, dig a hole in the ground about two feet in diameter and about 18 inches deep. Place a cup or other clean container in the center of the hole. Cover the hole with a piece of plastic and place rocks or soil around the edges to seal the hole from outside air circulation. Place a small rock in the center of the plastic directly over the cup.

As the sun’s rays strike the plastic it will warm the soil, evaporate the water in it, condense it on the plastic and cause it to drip into the cup. A still of this type could yield about one quart of water per day. If necessary, contaminated water and even urine or other non-potable water could be added to the soil to speed the process. A drinking tube can be fastened to the drinking cup and extended to the outside of the still, but this is optional.

Two of these stills in operation in even the driest deserts will produce enough water for one person each day. Placing green plants, sliced cactus or other moist objects in the pit will increase the amount of water produced.

A couple more important things about hydration to remember: When water is limited, avoid salty foods—they will make you thirsty. If no water is available DO NOT EAT. Eating uses up the body’s water reserve in the digestion process. Never ration water! Drink the amount you need today, and try to find more for tomorrow. You can minimize the amount of water you need by reducing your activity and staying cool. When you are in extremely dry or hot surroundings, drink—whether or not you are thirsty—at consistent intervals. Eat foods with high water content.

this project took me weeks to do because when we moved we emptied out all the water from our drums and containers. it was just daunting! i realized about half way through that i should take a picture- at this point i had already filled one of our drums and done about 1/3 of the containers. i know they aren't ideal because they are clear plastic, but who has tons of soda pop bottles laying around? i finished at the beginning of October, about a month after i had started =o]

i filled the bottom shelf of our linen closet

 and then moved on to putting them under the kids beds. when there is no room left there i will put them under our bed. i put the ones that are lying down in plastic bags just in case, but i have stored them this way every place we have lived and never had a problem.

and here is our solar still and water purification kit. we also have various types of filters, but i didn't get a picture of them- sorry about that =o]

i don't consider this project actually finished since i didn't go out and collect water before dawn and filter it and purify it and drink it to see what it would really be like. or build a solar still and go through that process too. maybe after  holidays and i stop nursing caleb i'll get more ambitious. excuses, excuses i know. =o] i'll post about it someday once everything else is up. good luck!