Did you know that you can only go without water for 3 days?
Did you know that about 70% of the Earth's surface is covered in water but that less than 1% can be consumed by humans?
Did you know that you should have at least 1 gallon of water stored per person, per day, for at least 2 weeks? And that's the bare minimum.
On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel, paid us a visit and with her visit she took our electricity and along with it our ability to acquire fresh water from our faucets. We were left without electricity for an entire week, but thankfully knew others that had it, so off we went carrying containers to get fresh water for all of our needs. Let me tell you, that gets old real quick! After that I decided I would be more prepared. Now armed with an electric converter, a large 5 day cooler and several portable containers for water I felt more confident facing future storms.
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Since then many storms have come our way, and with each one I find another shortcoming in my preparations in regards to having water. I have spent numerous hours researching products and techniques that would allow me to get water as needed for my family.
Have you considered what you would do if you didn't have access to clean water for you and your family to drink, cook with, or wash with? If you unexpectedly lost electricity today how much water do you have? Do you have enough to get you through at least 3 days? what about 5? what about 2 weeks? This is a scary and all too realistic scenerio to think about, but you should think about it and you should be prepared.
There are so many ways to store water, from store bought, to refilling containers, to buying WaterBobs for your bathtubs, etc... What if you run out sooner than expected or a crippling storm hits and you need water longer than 2 weeks, then what? Before that happens you need to start thinking long term...where to get water, how to purify water, etc... Do you know how to get water from your hot water heater? Do you know where you could go to get water? Do you know how to purify water?
Don't wait until it's too late. Start now and be prepared. Better to be prepared than to be without! Also being prepared causes less stress during a stressful situation.
Make a plan and put it into action.
Starting today work on building your 2 week supply of water for each person in your household, learn how to get water from your hot water heater, figure out where you can go to get water if you need to, learn to purify water in more ways than one, learn other storage methods for water,and learn how to get water from your well without electricity. Practice what you learn, write down instructions (no electricity means no computers/phones/tablets), and encourage others to do the same.
