Preparing for Water Stores in the Event of a Pandemic
If things go bad, you may lose the ability to have water in your home the way that you’ve always depended on it in the past. In a pandemic, a water supply can suddenly become unusable.
The water supply can become compromised at any time. This is why you often see those boil advisories on the news. You need to be prepared by stockpiling water as soon as possible.
The water must be stored away from any direct sunlight
Warm water is an invitation for bacteria to grow and has the potential to make you sick. So you’ll need to keep the water stored in a cool area.
After you get your supply in, you need to look over it often to make sure it remains viable. Water can be stored in plastic bottles or jugs. Wash the bottles, soda bottles or any clear jugs and then fill them with water from your home.
You can also buy water barrels. These are 55 gallon barrels that are great for holding a large supply of water and you can find them online. They’re specifically for long-term water storage.
But you would also need to keep these away from direct sunlight. You can create a cistern for catching rainwater. What you do is position a barrel beneath any runoff areas of your home.
For example, you can place the cistern directly beneath your gutter pipe. Instead of the water going into the ground and getting wasted, it can be used for drinking or other water needs.
In a pinch, when you need a water supply, you can get it from rivers, ponds or lakes – but the water must be treated first before it’s safe to use. When you use water that you get or collect yourself, you need a filtering system.
The importance of water filtration
The filter can clear your water of bacteria and other pathogens that can make you ill if you ingest them. There are different kinds of systems you can get – ranging from the very elaborate to the very simple, such as filtering straws.
Boiling the water you need to use for eating or drinking kills pathogens as long as the temperature of the water hits about 215 degrees Fahrenheit. Chemical ways to purify water includes using iodine.
You can get these in tablets or crystals. But you need to be aware that iodine does not kill some organisms. So use these only in a case where you have nothing else to use.
Chlorine tablets are good to use to purify water and so is regular household bleach. If you use bleach, don’t use any brands that have additives. So don’t use scented bleach.
To make water safe to drink, put 1/4 of a teaspoon into every gallon of water you want to purify. So if you had a five gallon container of water you wanted to make safe for use, you would add a teaspoon of household bleach.
