Preppers’ PING!!
Water is still my primary worry.
Either I put in a generator that will operate my well (noisy... needs gas), a hideously expensive off the grid solar set up that will be a nice gift to someone if worse comes to worse, or a small diameter solar well/pump, which is prohibitively expensive to drill, and is also stationary.
Just a question. What is the usable shelf life of commercial bottled water? I could store/cache a bunch of that, it’s handy if bugging out (’cause I ain’t carrying a 30 gallon drum).
Also, even out here in the East Mountains, the limited waterholes will be traps, as they are easy to identify. Look up at the East side of the Sandias and if you see bright green (non coniferious) foliage, that is where the springs/acequias are. A regular neon sign, although some being a couple miles uphill make them a bit more remote.
I’m in no shape to hike the wilderness so I’m staying put with my water well and river full of fish.
We have a 65 gallon rain barrel for starters, and sufficient chemicals and filters to purify over a thousand gallons. Additionally we have 2 55 gallon garbage cans with lids.
In those cans are:
2 cases of water
1 roll duct tape
2 50 square foot heavy duty tarps
2 Aim and Flame lighters
50 feet of 250 pound test rope
10 chemical lights, assorted colors.
1 carton heavy duty contractor type garbage bags
2 5 gallon buckets with rubber seal type lids.
These take up very little space in our garage and cost less than $100.00. We will fill the cans and buckets with potable water in the event of an emergency. Add that to the amount of water we can put in our oversize double tub and we can have fresh water for over 90 days.
There is an old Mexican trick to make potable water from reasonably clean, but not potable water.
All you need is a big piece of limestone. You hone one side into a cone, then dig a well into the other side. When you put the impure water into the well, it takes a while, but reasonably clean, potable water drips down the cone into a container below. Here is a video of one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvwtpbMF3v0
The best part is that there is a lot of limestone in the world.
I have 30 gallons of Ozarka water in heavy duty food grade Ozarka jugs that stack on top of each other. Have a WaterBob to put in bathtub that holds 100 gallons. Have 55 gallon food grade barrel hooked to downspout diverter, have two kiddie pools to sit out when it rains. Have 15,000 gallon swimming pool. Have Big Berkey water purifier to run water through.
I like the Katadyn Hiker PRO Microfilter (for $70, claimed 200 gallon capacity) if you’re looking for water while traveling or the Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter ($245, claimed 13,000 gallon capacity) for long term purification in the woods or a remote area. Both are light, effective, and durable.
My plan is to stay home and if necessary purify stream water using a Katadyn, but preferably power my well pump from solar - and I have a spare well pump.
Search the interwebs for this: SODIS. Very inexpensive, very effective.
ping