A Salutory Reminder

[Tarrel]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23829047

Quote:California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for San Francisco 150 miles (220km) away as the blaze is threatening power lines that bring electricity to the city.

The city's water supplies could be affected if the blaze reaches Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies San Francisco with 85% of its water. The fire is burning some four miles away from the reservoir which serves some 2.6 million customers.

Two of three hydroelectric power stations serving the city were shut down.

A reminder of how vulnerable water supplies can be in an emergency situation. I don't know about everyone else but, for me, water is the vital service that is all too easy to take for granted. I remember images of the Tewkesbury floods a few years ago, when the army had to distribute bottled water from stations set up in playing fields due to a pumping station being flooded.

So, if the water supply was cut off without notice, would you be prepared?

[Scythe13]

Without notice....yes. But wouldn't have loads of water. I was thinking, yesterday actually, that I needed to up water storage. I'm more focussed on acquiring more water and purifying it. Having said that, it's no excuse not to store more water.

[Sunna]

i have to streams near my home and i can boil 2 pnts of water on my hobo stove in 20ish mins
not so near are the malvern hills with several springs dotted about on them

[Jonas]

There is a product called "Waterbob", a plastic liner that fits into a bathtub and will hold about 100 gallons of water. We have one of these for each of our two bathtubs. It looks like they run about £20 on Ebay UK. While it's not a long-term answer, were I living in San Francisco, both of mine would be filled now, just in case...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/waterBOB-Emerg...43b674171b

waterBOB Emergency Drinking Water Storage

waterBOB Features:

Includes siphon pump
Fits every standard bathtub
Stays within USFBA guidelines
Keep style packaging sealed in plastic
Constructed of heavy duty food grade plastic
Store up to 100 gallons of fresh drinking water

Every home should have one of these in their emergency kit. The waterBOB Emergency Drinking Water Storage Kit from Amazing keys will allow you to store up to 100 gallons of clean, safe water, or other liquids in this unique bladder manufactured from FDA food grade plastic. The Water Bob also includes a siphon pump to allow you to dispense the water as you need it. You will never be without clean water should an emergency like a hurricane or tornado arise. Stay safe and make sure you have a Water Bob on hand.

[Lightspeed]

Good reminder Tarrel.

Its all to easy to assume water is permanently available on tap.

Answering your question, yes, we can survive a temporary shut down, and being cut off long term would be awkward but not impossible.

Water independence is very much on our fix list ath e moment. Water filter now in permanent operation, new preparedness plumbing system installed two weeks ago and this week I am awaiting delivery of 2 x 1000L storage tanks.

Dry toilet now up and running as a fall back solution, but very useful if mains water is shut down.

Next on the agenda is rainwater harvesting. Later we'll look at getting our well water analysed, but we're not too happy about consuming anything from it as our mysteriously never-needed-to-be-emptied cess pit is a little too close for comfort!

[MaryN]

We have a large pond 12000 litres. Move over, goldfish!

[Highlander]

@ Jonas,... the `waterbobs` are great, but do you know that you can get a very similar item for your wheel barrow

[Jonas]

(27 August 2013, 22:23)Highlander Wrote: @ Jonas,... the `waterbobs` are great, but do you know that you can get a very similar item for your wheel barrow

Great - if I had a wheelbarrow...

[Midnitemo]

(27 August 2013, 22:23)Highlander Wrote: @ Jonas,... the `waterbobs` are great, but do you know that you can get a very similar item for your wheel barrow

there about £10, 80 ltr called h2go corny eh! i use em to carry water down the field to the horses. tough product as they last about a year of hard use , left in a rusty wheelbarrow outdoors all year round for the uv rays to ravage.

[LawAbidingCitizen]

(26 August 2013, 10:56)Tarrel Wrote: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23829047

Quote:California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for San Francisco 150 miles (220km) away as the blaze is threatening power lines that bring electricity to the city.

The city's water supplies could be affected if the blaze reaches Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies San Francisco with 85% of its water. The fire is burning some four miles away from the reservoir which serves some 2.6 million customers.

Two of three hydroelectric power stations serving the city were shut down.

A reminder of how vulnerable water supplies can be in an emergency situation. I don't know about everyone else but, for me, water is the vital service that is all too easy to take for granted. I remember images of the Tewkesbury floods a few years ago, when the army had to distribute bottled water from stations set up in playing fields due to a pumping station being flooded.

So, if the water supply was cut off without notice, would you be prepared?

One of the great things about having an emmersion heater (if anyone has one) is if the supply gets cut off, you have a whole tank of water that is already stored there. I would personally use this for cooking and maybe sponge baths, and any pre-stored bottled water for drinking, making your supply go further.

LAC