What I'm missing....

[china coaster]

I have a cistern as back up for laundry and bathing. It's quite involved to get cistern water safe to drink. I have three 6 gallon water containers that I rotate for drinking. We are on city water that tastes like crap (worse than Mt. Juliet water), so I filter it twice at the sinks and three times at the reefer. The best water container you can get is a bleach jug. They are already clean. just rinse them out. I have several that are three years old and been on the tractors left in the trucks and frozen. They will last for ever when kept out of sun light.

[RobertNashville]

I have a cistern as back up for laundry and bathing. It's quite involved to get cistern water safe to drink. I have three 6 gallon water containers that I rotate for drinking. We are on city water that tastes like crap (worse than Mt. Juliet water), so I filter it twice at the sinks and three times at the reefer. The best water container you can get is a bleach jug. They are already clean. just rinse them out. I have several that are three years old and been on the tractors left in the trucks and frozen. They will last for ever when kept out of sun light.

Humm...seems I just read something from the North Carolina water folks that said not to use bleach bottled to store water because of something they put the plastic for bleach bottles...I'll have to look again and I'll link to it if I can find it.

I believe there is also something in milk bottles that make them a poor choice for storing water...seems the one's that are recommended are soft-drink and similar 2ltr containers.

[Guest BungieCord]

Another vote for the Aquatainers. I keep four for each member of my household, enough for one gallon of water per day for 28 days. I change out the water every six months and stack them two-high (not the school-approved solution). Been using the same set about seven years and they've not leaked a drop. I might change them out for new ones just on general principles and because plastics all deteriorate with age.

[Guest Misterbehavin]

If you have a hot water heater in your home there is at least 40 gallons of clean drinking water.

[Guest mikedwood]

I like to have a weeks worth of bottled water around as well as some tablets and a Katadyn filter.

And great! I also have several gallons of the Kroger bottled water. I suppose I need to keep an eye on them.

[Oh Shoot]

...And great! I also have several gallons of the Kroger bottled water. I suppose I need to keep an eye on them.

I don't think there's any doubt they will eventually leak. The type plastic that milk comes in will too. Besides my own experience, vast numbers of reports of both on SurvivalistBoards and elsewhere.

On the other hand, I've actually had some 2 liter bottles outside now for about a year and a half. A few of them burst during the winter due to freezing, but the ones that froze and only swelled actually haven't leaked yet (probably the ones that weren't totally topped off) so I do believe those babies can last indefinitely as folks claim if stored out of sunlight and not allowed to freeze.

- OS

[hso]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, TN licenses water well drilling contractors. Here's the state webpage on it.

The Official State of Tennessee's Department of Environment and Conservation, State Parks Website

[Dolomite_supafly]

For filtering contaminated water just build a sand filter. I built mine for less than $20 and it will filter a tall glass of water per minute. It doesn't need to be replaced and only gets better with time. Mine was built using a 5 gallon bucket but you could build a larger version for more flow but for me and my family a glass of water per minute would be plenty to sustain us for basic living.

Initially a sand filter will only filter solids out. It will still have some pathogens for the first few weeks. After the schmutzdecke layer has been established it will filter all dangerous stuff out of the water and can be drank as it comes out. Prior to this you take the filtered water and put it into clear water bottles and place them in the sun. The natural UV rays will kill all pathogens in a day. Or you could just boil the water.

I have four 55 gallon drums for rain water storage. I also have several 15 gallon drums as well as seven 7 gallon water containers. We can collect rain water or gather water from a natural spring less than 20 yards from our house. We are also on well water so we can get water from that source as long as we can generate our own electricity.

A few biosand filter videos:

Dolomite

[ted]

your hot water tank can get you by for 1 month for 3 people

[Guest tedbo]

The water coming out of your water heater will more than likely need to be treated with boiling or tablets. I remember reading not too long ago that the water in the tank will be somewhat contaminated as warm water equates with breeding funk. I don't have the research fu to look it up at this time. I am trying to get ready for hay season.Stay safe!

[tnhawk]

I usually rotate my supply of bottled water but have still had leaks from some containers. Since I store them in the garage it doesn't cause any major problem.

[buck1032]

Here's what I do for our emergency water supply. I keep three 36 packs of bottles of water and I rotate that stock every two years. I also keep 6 gallons of frozen water in the bottom of our deep freeze. The ice is two fold, it keeps the food frozen longer in a power outage and if its longer term , ie 4 or 5 days, that will become our frinking water as it melts and the food in the freezer is cooked. Beyond that our first plan of action is cutting the water supply at the house to keep our toilet water and our hot water heater. Someone mentioned the contamination in the heater, that may be in issue if water isnt cycled enough through use. I havent thought about it though and will have to look into it.

On a side note I have never cared for the iodine tablets, as they have an expiration date on them. I have used and really like Polar Pure , Polar Pure Water Disinfectant , due to no expiration and it can also be used as part of your first aid kit.

[East_TN_Patriot]

OK. Call me crazy here, and maybe someone mentioned this and I missed it, but...

If there was a disaster so massive that city water would be disrupted, it's very likely that the power will be disrupted as well. Well pumps typically run on electricity. How do you plan on pumping all of that water without power? If you plan on using a generator, that's another big expense, and then you have to store gasoline to keep the generator running. I think I'd rather just install a cistern and store some containers of water myself or buy some land near a water source.

[ProjectDexter]

we drilled a well, and have some big berky filters stacked up. We have also been looking into biosand filters for extreme situations.

As far as earthquakes go, if (when more likely) the Madrid fault line goes there is going to be a big time shaking going on here in Middle TN, as well as across the east coast. Preparation is key.

[monkeylizard]

Arizona brand tea (no, I don't think it actually meets the Southern definition of "tea") comes in some very thick plastic 1 gallon jugs. It's every bit as thick as a good quality gasoline can. I use them for water storage. I also use one to store old oil and gasoline to take it out to the Trinity Lane hazmat site. Sometimes it takes me a while to get enough used oil to fill it up, and it has never had a leak. If it can hold old gas and oil for a year, I think it can handle water.

[Capbyrd]

to everyone talking about pumps and electricity, thats what wind is for.

Aermotor Windmill Company Inc.- Economical Energy Wind Water Pump - Welcome

[whiskey]

My buddy in Florida put a hand pumped well on his hunting property for about 2000.00.

I think it really depends on how deep they have to drill to hit water on your place. A hand pumped well would be a great addition in my opinion. Especially if you can get it done reasonably.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Issue: Water source after an Earthquake.

Ok, IF the fault over in east Tn does go, I will miss the friendly tit-for-tat between Memphians and Nashvillians.

Point is this: City Water will be disrupted, depending on severity of the quake. Well water may ALSO be disrupted, depending on the severity of the quake.

So have more than one back up plan. Potable water for a week. Perhaps a well. (Cost vs viability in your area.) Collection capability, and filter capability.

Think of a collection and filter system that is fully portable. You may need to move after the quake.

One more thing. Remember the May 2010 flood of Nashville? We were one levee fail or over topping from not having water for months. We have 2 facilities for water purification. One was under feet of water, and the other was sandbagged to keep it running.

And yet one more thing: The Cumberland has barge transport, including deadly chemicals, and oils. A massive spill = no water for Nashville and surrounding.

[DaveTN]

OK. Call me crazy here, and maybe someone mentioned this and I missed it, but...

If there was a disaster so massive that city water would be disrupted, it's very likely that the power will be disrupted as well. Well pumps typically run on electricity. How do you plan on pumping all of that water without power? If you plan on using a generator, that's another big expense, and then you have to store gasoline to keep the generator running. I think I'd rather just install a cistern and store some containers of water myself or buy some land near a water source.

Okay… your crazy. But anyway... Don’t wells have hand pumps?

[Oh Shoot]

Okay… your crazy. But anyway... Don’t wells have hand pumps?

No, most drilled home supply wells don't, and you're not gonna retrofit your well with one in a hurry, even if you had a system on hand. Inexpensive hand pumps very depth limited, too.

Heck, you probably can't even use a rope drawn narrow well "bucket" like this

going down in there because water supply pipe and electrical cable (which electric submersible pump is attached to) generally blocks too much of the casing pipe. And you aren't gonna pull up that pipe/pump by hand in most cases either, need winch cause it gets heavy in a hurry and heavier the deeper or course.

Point is, if loss of power is main prob, generator is short term best solution, long term would be solar electric backup. But a handpump system, if not already designed in and functional is not gonna cut it on most all drilled household supply wells. It's not like you can just slap one on top of existing system and start cranking.

- OS

Edited June 5, 2011 by OhShoot

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

Well that's depressing.

[Caster]

Bison makes deep well hand pumps. Go ahead and buy one or two, they'll only set you back close to a grand each.

[Guest friesepferd]

a few cases of bottled watter will get you by a while, but they dont last long. they do make special pouches of water that last longer.

I would suggest some form of immediate water source such as these, and then get some kind of water purifier for a long term solution if need be. - assuming you are within 10 or 20 miles of a water source.. and it would be pretty crazy if you werent.

if really everything goes to hell, just pack up the necessary items and hike yourself to the nearest lake or stream.

Edited June 7, 2011 by friesepferd

[broylz]

i keep a couple cases of bottled water and 6 or 7 5G water cooler type bottles in my office for immediate use. i used to store water in reused 2L bottles but my wife didnt like the idea of them under the couch and beds when she was cleaning

i also have 6 55G rain barrels all set up on the backside of my house to stay hidden from plain view. these are primarily going to be garden water or non-potable water use for toilet flushing and such until i get a berky filter or similar.

lately i picked up a 275G food grade tote up in goodlettsville and tossed it in my garage full of city water. i will be adding a second one soon.

[ProjectDexter]

our handpump was around 1200 I believe, 350 ft down.