3 days.
The human body can survive, on average, 3 days without drinking water. After that short amount of time, a human's flesh begins to turn gray, organs begin to fail and brain function begins to shut down. You can stock up on all the food you could ever need, all the supplies required to start fire, and tools and equipment to build shelter; but if you don't have a stockpile of drinking water or a reliable source to get it from, you have 3 days to live.
Water is the single most important item needed for survival, and yet the most forgotten and most overlooked by many. Whether you're preparing for a few days with electricity or bracing for the apocalypse, put water right at the very top of your list.
But how much?
It is recommended to store one gallon of water for every person in your house, per day. Now you just have to decide, how many days do you want to prepare for? A good goal to aim for is 2 weeks. So for a family of 4, that's only 56 gallons.
Drums like these hold 55 gallons, to give you perspective.
So there you have it, you've got your 55 gallon drum of drinking water in the basement, and you're prepared, right? Yes, you are definitely prepared, but we want to be Wicked Prepared, remember? You need to be thinking beyond that barrel of water. But you can only stockpile so much water, so then what? That same family of 4 would need upwards of 1500 gallons to survive one year. That's nearly 27 drums. Doable, yes. But reasonable for everyone to do, not so much. And that's only for one year.
So what do you do when you run out of water?
Rainwater collection
Drinking rainwater may not always be ideal, but any source of water is better than nothing. Rainwater does have the potential of containing contaminants, and rainwater runoff from buildings almost certainly contains bacteria, but if boiled and/or treated with chlorine, it can be safely consumed in the event of an emergency. Screens, filters, and first-flush devices also help keep roof-water cleaner. Of course there are other options besides the roof from which to harvest rainwater, but we'll cover that at another time.
Lakes and rivers
Water from lakes and streams can very well contain contaminants as well, but again, if treated properly it can save your life. Take a look around to spot potential dangers in the lake or stream such as dead animal carcasses, farm land runoff, and standing water, before collecting. A quick moving stream with a rocky bed is cleaner and safer than a stagnant pond, so be sure to scope out all available options.
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| Dug well |
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| Drilled well |
Wells and Springs
Most likely more prevalent in rural areas, natural springs and also dug and drilled wells will definitely remain the safest source of water if tragedy strikes. Even during a power outage, you could still easily lower a bucket into a dug well to retrieve ground water. Drilled wells, which are typically deeper and are much narrower than dug wells, would require some type of hand pump and would be slightly more difficult to procure water from. And of course natural springs will continue to flow regardless of if the grid still stands or not. Seek these springs out now and note their location, that way you'll know where to go when your well runs dry, so to speak.
As you can see, it could be difficult to find a reliable source for clean drinking water in the event of an emergency. However, remember you can use all three of these sources to supplement the drinking water you have stockpiled. If a water source isn't completely safe for consumption, it may be ok for bathing or even for watering your garden. In fact, last year we watered our entire garden with rainwater collected from our garage roof. The system was gravity fed, which eliminated any need for electricity, making it a definite solution for keeping the garden going even if the grid were to go down. And gardening in this way helps us practice and refine these methods in case we need to depend on them some day.
The best bet, by far, is to keep as large of a stockpile as possible on hand supplemented by natural sources. We'll be discussing how to keep your stored water clean and safe in future blog posts, as well as different ways to contain it and also the best ways to treat water obtained from nature. So stay tuned!
And now for the REAL reason you've read through this entire post -
The Dorbert Diaries
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