I know that in some areas of the U.S. the water pipes date back 100 years to a time when the protections we know today did not exist.
I worked in a hardware store for a time and it was not unusual for owners of homes built during the Victorian era to bring in lead water pipes for replacement. Many of them skipped straight from lead pipes to PVC and skipped both copper and galvanized applications that had transpired during their lifespan.
In many cities the water lines are 100+ years old and allow the seepage of ground water and chemicals into the drinking supply.
This water begins transit at the water plant in good condition, then becomes polluted in the lines on the way to your home.
Over here we are having some trouble with the inability of the water purification systems to remove hormones from the water. The presence of birth control chemicals in some of the river communities down stream from heavily populated areas is causing lowered birth rates and reduced sperm counts in the male populations.
We probably should switch to beer!
In the UK many of the old victoria water mains are cast iron, and can crack due to earth movement, resulting in a high percentage of water being lost through leaks.
The water companys are pathetic at replacing them with plastic and are constantly being fined by the government.
Our water is chlorinated and we usually filter it for drinking also the supply pipe is lead. The supply company publishes an analysis of the water but it is rather ambiguous.
With this heatwave we have now, we are already being told to have showers instead of a bath, not to wash our cars, and not to use hosepipes.
Our waterbutts are are emptying fast as we water the vegetables and fruit trees, these waterbutts would form our emergency water backup in an event.
We have 120 litres of potable water in jerrycans, so we definitely need more, within a mile from our home is a natural spring, so i need to get a couple of syphon pumps, as the one i have has been used for petrol.
The two 900 Ltr tanks we re'sited a few weeks back are full.....we have a few 100 gallon tanks given us not set them up yet .....one good plus living here is the spring/well its NEVER run dry in 35 years the stream however has been dry for 3 weeks and i mean dry that is a first.
We had 50mm of rain last week so I am in good shape.
The lake is still there and has not gone down an inch.
BTW, that lake provides treated water for around 50,000 people and not just ditch water for me to fish in.
The drought is now getting on for two months, we do not have an official hosepipe ban yet we are just asked to save water (it does not help when the authorities loose 25% or more through leeks).
Our potable water is kept in jerrycans as we don’t have room for IBC’s (these would not be OPSEC anyway in our street) but we do need more storage.
We definitely need another six 20 litre jerrycans and i’m sure i can find room for another waterbutt, that will help a lot to extend the time we could hunker down should it be nesessary.
We have two 1000 litre tanks on our allotment , both almost empty now . We’re getting by with the help of allotment neighbours who aren’t on a water meter . Still I’ve not known it to be this dry for this long . If it wasn’t for the neighbours We’d have to resort to the local river with Jerry cans . Forecast thunder for tonight so hopefully the tanks will get a much needed re supply .
Yep we have a similar forecast overnight ......and heavy rain and the risk of gale force winds in the next day or so .....flooding next i expect .
At last today we have had some rain with much more to come tomorrow.
The trouble with our house is the sand faced tiles on the roof act like a sponge and it takes a few hours of steady rain before it starts to fill the waterbutts. Now the rain is starting to trickle in, hopefully tomorrow’s rain will fill them. The pond is filling nicely.
I think i will experiment with a tarp on the patio tomorrow collecting rain, it could be a useful experience.