WATER SHORTAGE

Depending on conditions, a person can usually only last three days without potable water.

As the population of the country grows and more and more people congregate in metropolitan areas, the supply of water in many areas is becoming taxed.  Add a drought, natural disaster or terrorists attack to the mix and you could have a full-fledged water shortage.  In fact, water shortage or contaminated water is one of the results of many natural disasters like, hurricanes, floods, wildfires and earthquakes.

The human body requires a supply of fresh water every day.  Without a minimum amount of water, a person can rapidly suffer from dehydration and with no water a person can die in as little as three days.  Water helps regulate and maintain your body temperature, transports nutrients and oxygen, removes waste products, and moistens your mouth, eyes, nose, hair, skin, joints and digestive tract. The average person should consume about a gallon of water per day, but this varies depending on physical health, size, climate, etc. Added to this is the need to have an adequate supply of water for hygiene.  Good hygiene will help prevent illness, infections and other nasty conditions.             

Water Supply: 

The best possible scenario for a water source is a well with a hand pump but it is not likely that you are equipped with such a system.  Those of us that do have wells generally use electricity to pump the water to our homes.  If you do have a well, you must be aware of the fact that under some conditions, such as a flood, your well may become contaminated and unusable. 

Most people are connected to some type of city water service.  These water supplies can be easily damaged or rendered inactive during a disaster.  Therefore, no matter what your water source is, you should always store a certain amount of emergency water.

Even with a sufficient amount of water stored, you should consider how you will replace the water that you consume in case your supply is interrupted for longer than you anticipated.  Determine other water sources in your area and prepare to purify water in case you must resort to using water that is less than pure.  Also consider a simple water catchment system for collecting rainwater.

Purifying water:

It is dangerous to drink water from a questionable source without first purifying it.  Even if the water looks clear and is running over rocks in a stream, it may contain Protozoa like cryptosporidium, giardia, and parasites. It may also contain viruses, staph and bacteria.   

Boiling water for purification is effective in killing bacteria and viruses and is certainly a good survival technique as long as you have a fire and a vessel for boiling.  Most people think you need to boil water in excess of five or ten minutes but simply bringing it to a boil for up to one minute is adequate (three minutes at higher elevations).  Boiling water will make most water safe to drink but it will not remove chemicals, silt and debris from the water and will not improve the taste of the water.

Portable water filters are an excellent solution to purifying water from a questionable source.  They do not require a fire and can be used on the go.  A quality filter will remove up to 99.999% of protozoa, viruses, staph and bacteria.  They will also remove heavy metals.  The result is safe water that usually taste better. Adding a portable water filter to your bug out bag or other preparedness supplies is a real must.