Water…the Elixir of Life, By Crusoe
I spent this weekend attending the Gray Zone Summit (virtual) and found it to be time well spent. The guest speakers were solid experts in their respective fields and provided very timely information that was immediately actionable. One subject struck home, and I feel it is often overlooked, that is water. While out venturing on long distance trails it became immediately apparent that much of my day was spent figuring out how to conserve and find suitable water. The key word being, suitable. Every single time I filled up I quickly looked at where the next source was and made sure I had enough on hand to make it to that spot. Carrying extra water is miserable, but so is being thirsty or becoming a heat casualty. It was a calculated decision at every stop on how much water I started back up the trail with.
I am a proponent of the Sawyer Squeeze filter, not the mini or micro, and have filtered water out West with cows standing in it. This wasn’t my first choice, but when temps are in the 90s and this is the only source for miles then you must do what you must do. I recommend substituting the factory bags that come with the filter, as they are junk, and pick up either a 2L or 3L CNOC Vecto bag as your dirty water bag. With a twist tie and coupler, you can turn the system into a gravity fed filter and thus free up some time to do other things. I personally use (it is a thru hiker standard) 700ml and 1L Smart Water bottles as my clean containers. It is important to note that if you are expecting freezing temps, you must safeguard this filter within your pack and sleep with it at night.
In my home I use a Berkey filter as my everyday filtration system. It is bombproof and portable if I have enough time to pack all my gear to move to another location. Preparedness must be a lifestyle and it is a lot more palatable to your finances if you incorporate your preps into daily living. We all have a lot of shiny cool gadgets sitting on shelves, but this doesn’t have to be one of them. An extra bonus is there are fluoride filters you can attach that will also filter this waste byproduct that many municipalities add “for your health.”
My water is city sourced and is a severe preparedness limitation. During my area study I mapped out every stream, lake and river within a relatively close area that would be feasible to carry water from. This is not the most ideal situation, but it is one I am taking steps to mitigate. Another item I found useful are the Reliance water jugs that you can find at Walmart for about 16 dollars. I stack these 7-gallon jugs 2 high and throw a tarp over them while stacked next to the house. My goal is to have seven days of water for the family which will buy me enough time to execute my contingency plan via my area study.
Water security is critical, and a lot of people just take it for granted. It must be a priority and it is important that you take meaningful steps now while the faucets turn on to ensure you can meet your needs in a grid down situation.
Crusoe is retired from the Air Force after 30-years of service as a flight crew member. He spends most of his time thinking about the apocalypse and how to mitigate its effects. When not immersed in academic pursuits, he is often on a trail hiking in the mountains of North Georgia or reading with a glass of Irish whiskey and a German Shepherd by his side. Global travel enthusiast, history nerd, Appalachian Trail thru hiker, and recovering ultra-endurance athlete. He can be reached at [email protected]
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About the Author: NC Scout
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GUNS N GEAR
A Smart Gentleman. Not just because he’s using quality equipment. (Not bought and still in the amazon box *cough*)
He did an AREA STUDY of His Area of Operations to KNOW where suitable sources (note Plural one is none folks) of WATER is.
BTW filtering out water from cow poop watering holes is harsh but harsher still is Petroleum. Both clog the micropores of your filters but at least you can pre-filter out most organic poop. Petroleum not so much and it clogs and destroys filters.
I’m pretty sure NC Scout has said the importance of DOING an Area Study of your area for several reasons. Resources Water, old apple trees and such, hazards like a factory near your watering hole, a clump of Burn Loot Murder “Friends”, and places to rally around if burned out of your primary home-bugout location. MANY other reasons but DO IT for AT least the Rule of 3’s stuff.
I am a huge proponent of doing an extensive and enduring area study. It is hard to grasp your current situation if you do not understand it. That is a great point about filtering petroleum, when in PA I had to skip many sources due to mining contamination that there was no way my filter would be effective at pulling out contaminants.
Solid info , well done sir , water is life , whole military campaigns , expeditions, excursions, and cities and towns were once based on its locations , and like you have stated it’s taken for granted now but it’s importance is still the same, highly recommend everyone take advice from this man , and start storing water.
Thanks. Exactly my point. It is hard to understand how important water is with turning on a faucet as a point of reference.
Darn good read and readers’ comments here.
Can’t add much, ‘cept: do yourself a great favor:
Check out the storage of your POOL SHOCK crystals. RIGHT NOW! Had me quite a surprise with mine–AND I thought I covered all the bases with storage in Mason jars, which were stored in food grade buckets with Gamma lids, blah, blah….
Durn pool shock fumes MIGHTY corrosive.
Be safe, not sorry.
I store Pool Shock (calcium hypochlorite) in old fashion canning jars that have glass lids and rubber seals. Old beer bottles have a similar lid that uses ceramic instead. A modern version would be the newer reusable hard plastic lids with a reusable rubber seal, in either the wide mouth, or regular canning jar size. The ring, when tighten up as hard as possible, seals the jar. Even temperature extremes will not cause the seal to leak. Ideally poll shock should be stored in all glass containers that one would find in a lab. The glass stopper has no rubber seal to corrode. If all else fails, store pool shock in it’s original packaging in a heavy plastic container outside and away from anything you rather not see become damaged by corrosion.
I have used the 5 gl jugs for years but recently decided to opt for a big tank. I bought a 350 gl tank from home depot and set it on top of 4 pallets in my garage. The tank is about a 4 ft diameter and sits perfectly on top of the pallets so I can get a container under the spigot on the bottom for gravity feed dispensing. If you get a big tank make sure its light proof or paint it to prevent algae growth. I probably spent about $500 but this quantity would last a month or so for my family.
That is awesome! It is on the list to research further. My goal is to always look as inconspicuous as possible.
We’re a big fan of those large blue 7-gallon Reliance containers. We also stack them 2-up. We have our own Colloidal Silver generator and have added around eight oz’s of silver water to the water containers to keep our well water stored well. Thanks for the post, Scout. Cheers… “Salvation is of the LORD.” -Jonah 2:9c [KJV]
Oh! meant to tell y’all. The price for these big blue containers is cheaper at Wally World than Amazon’s prices.
Exactly. I couldn’t believe the price difference…must be factoring in shipping costs.
The old Katadyn is heavy, but it pumps it out quickly and enough for several persons within a reasonably short period. Pre filtering the water with many cotton layers is also very helpful for any filter system. If only for myself, I use a filter straw type that connects to the water bladder so I can grab and go if that is necessary. And I carry a metal container to boil.
If the water is particularly nasty, nothing sanitizes water better than boiling it. Even the most refined filters we normally can buy will not filter out viruses. If there could be a dead body in the water and there is known to be a pandemic in the area, boiling it is the only option. Chemical means require very small suspended particle sizes to be effective after a 45 minute wait. The risk is that larger particles might encapsulate a contagion and the wait time before consumption should therefore be extended, and extend more if the water is very cold as temperature does the effect the speed of the chemical reaction. Therefore prefilter it with at least 5 cotton layers if the water is muddy and full of other debris. If the water is still cloudy, wait twice as long, or several hours if cold when treating with a chemical of any kind. If nothing else is available and we wish to provide for a team or family, the Berkey water filter element, or other ceramic filter can be installed a plastic cylinder (I’ve used Tupperware spaghetti container with lid), or flexible heavy plastic water bag, or dry bag to house the filter and provide an adequately large reservoir that allows the filter to work. Just hang it in a tree. The Black Berkey is expensive, so other brands of ceramic filter might be a good choice and often filter out smaller particles than the Berkey so less cloudiness is in the water. Berkey is a faster filter as it filters to 0.9microns, just small enough to take out protozoa, and ameba that cause Cholera, and Guardia, that produces dysentery.
During earlier wars, dysentery was by far the cause of most of the combat ineffectiveness in the field. It can debilitate armies. Therefore I also carry veterinarian grade, Metronidazole, Doxycycline, and Azithromycin for that emergency. It can take up to 3 days after drinking bad water for it cause dysentery. If I have to drink bad water, or accidentally do so, I want to have the cure with me. If we need to be moving and cannot, it is a bad day.
Other Water Supply Considerations
Because few have solar power well pumps, or wells, there will be little water to grow food with. In low-lift situations the Dankoff Slow Pump can irrigate land adjacent to the shore that is no more than 50 feet higher in elevation with great ease, and without an expensive pump controller as it draws no more than 3-4 amps @ 12 Volts DC. with that lift. It is capable of much more, as well, as it can also pump water through whole building filters designed for 45psi or higher. My 3 stage filters are designed to filter out industrial waste and everything else. Without batteries, the Dankoff #1303 pump can deliver up to 1,000 gallons per day using only two 100 watts panels, and if used seasonally, it can do that without maintenance for around 10 years. With spare intake filters, brushes and pump head, the service life could be 20 years.
The pump is also portable, even pack able with the right fold-able PV panels, ithe 1303 or 1308 can produce several hundred gallons per day using only 50 watts, given a 30 foot lift. If you are in the woods for good, this could be a very useful pump. And can be moved to a neighboring property where a cistern can be filled. Or it can pump up to 450 feet in elevation (Mod. 1308, pump controller required), or several miles on more level ground. It is also ideal for a community garden, where river bottom land is irrigated. It can also be run off the battery bank of a large PV system, 24/7, producing up to 3,600 gallons every 24 hours. Roughly 300 gallons per acre of potatoes is required. One pump running 24 hours per day off a small 400 watt PV system, can irrigate 12 acres. That much acreage is enough to feed 20 to 30 families. That would be a sizable community garden. If you are interested, I recommend consulting with Thad at humboltsolarwaterpumps.com Awesome dude, and more knowledgeable than the current licensee and manufacturer of this pump, as he actually has been using them for many years.
Fantastic information! Thank you for sharing!!!
Outstanding report, T. R. Thanks kindly.
We put a “simple pump” atop our casing on our refuge property. Works wonderfully. The next consideration is the means to haul water in quantity from the casing to where you really want it. Five gallon NATO cans and a deer cart are one way. Looking into others
A Simple Pump has a retro fit kit that turns it into a PV (solar) powered pump, but it is spendy.