Water Storage and Purification Basics

Eric Vought
Ozarks Resilience Group, Springfield, Missouri, 22 May 2017

Abstract
This talk will cover basic storage and purification of water for disaster prepara-
tion, working through the following topics from small, immediate needs (72-hour
bag or I need to cook this meal and not die of thirst tonight) to longer-term,
larger-scale preparation as part of a whole-home resilience strategy.
Water storage on-the-go and field purification: treatment tablets, bleach/chlorine/iodine
and treatment tables, backpack or personal bacterial-grade filters, solar
distillation,(briefly) locating water in the field;
Storage in various improvised or purpose-built household containers;
Household or encampment water treatment, boiling;

Family-sized storage and treatment: grey vs black water and water cycling;
Work toward the use of whole-house storage and treatment: rainwater
collection and treatment, cisterns, tanks, and multi-hundred gallon food-
grade containers, (briefly) gravity and pumping for larger systems;
Effects of dehydration, water-borne diseases, and emergency treatment;

Basic water conservation techniques (the less you use, the less you need
to store or purify);

Contents
1 Introduction 2
1.1 Invocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Legal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Note on sanitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Personal: Field and On-the-Go 4

1
3 Family-sized Storage/Treatment 11
3.1 Treating more water at once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Water Cycling (Grey Black) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 Basic rainwater collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.4 Whole-house systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4 When Things Go Wrong 18

4.1 Heat-related illness and dehydration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2 Waterborne disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5 Water Conservation 21

6 Changelog 22

7 Sources and Reading 22

List of Figures

1 Introduction
1.1 Invocation
1.2 Legal
Copyright
The talk materials are distributed under under the Creative Commons Non-
Commercial 4.0 (CC-NC-4.0) license. Under the terms of this license, the
materials may be freely copied and used to create derivative works, as long as
proper attribution is given, and the use is non-commercial. Permission must be
obtained for any use not covered by the license.

Disclaimer
This information is offered in the hopes that it might be useful. Do not depend
on this to keep yourself alive without checking other sources and investigating
techniques yourself. Never wait until you are in an emergency to test your
preparation plans.

1.3 Acknowledgements
Cathleen Vought helped extensively with editing, compiling, and early mate-
rial. She was also instrumental in testing and trouble-shooting most of these
techniques over the years, sometimes in very rough situations. We co-taught
one of the first runs of a class like this at Prince-of-Peace Lutheran Church in
Springfield.

2
1.4 Overview
Water is life

Water is the most important survival resource

You can go weeks without food; only days without water
Water-borne disease can kill within 24-48 hours

Dehydration or water-borne disease can incapacitate quickly

Fact 1. 2 Alcohol alters mental state because it mimicks water in the body,
causing severe dehydration.
Water is one of the most important survival resources. You can live for weeks
without food, but only days without water. Waterborne diseases like dysentery
and giardia can kill within 2448 hours and can incapacitate quickly, making
you unable to help yourself in less than a day. Dehydration can reduce your
physical and mental capacity in less than an hour, rendering you less capable of
planning ahead or dealing with other emergencies. Many people in modern life
suffer reduced capacity from dehydration much of the time; you cannot afford
that in an emergency situation.

How much water do you need?

2 liters per person per day (minimum) to drink1

Family of four >= 2 gallons of clean water to drink per day
Add water for washing, cooking, brushing teeth, etc.

40 gal will provide basic needs for a family of 4 x 1 week

Do you have livestock? A garden?

Fact 2. A typical waterconserving family uses between 25 and 50 gallons of

water per person, per day for all uses. We have used just under 25 gallons per
day for a family of three.

How do you get (clean) water?

You must either:

acquire it as needed
store it ahead
1

8 oz 8 times per day or 8x8 rule

3
 purify/treat/recycle it

Sometimes you have to do more than one.

How do you plan ahead to do these things?

What happens if your plan fails?

What we will cover

Start with personal, on-the-go, and field storage/treatment

Improvised and purpose-built household containers
Family-sized storage/treatment, working toward whole-house systems

Talk about when things go wrong: dehydration, water-borne diseases, first

aid
Water conservation and recycling

1.5 Note on sanitation

There is an important side topic we touch on but which is too complex to
cover in this presentation: sanitation. The reason many waterborne-diseases
have been virtually eliminated in 1st-world countries (e.g. cholera) is because
of attention to urban sanitation, sewage treatment, and rural septic systems.
If contaminated water from sewage (see definition 6 on page 15, black water )
does not get out into the environment, it is less likely to come in to the water
treatment system. However, when sanitation is not done correctly or it breaks
down in a disaster, incoming water is more likely to be contaminated (say,
when sewage systems or waste lagoons overflow during flooding). This is why,
for instance, the Army Corp of Engineers has gotten very good at setting up
forward sanitation systems in combat operations and why proper sanitation
needs to be a focus in sustainable community, family resilience, and disaster
response.
There are online courses available which cover these issues in greater depth (see
section 7).

2 Personal: Field and On-the-Go

Water on-the-go

Portable options buy time to solve bigger problems

Small emergencies are more common than disasters
You may not be where you expect to be when they happen

4
 Have to start somewhere...

portable containers
portable treatment options
how to find likely water sources
good habits

Portable containers

endless variety of non-breakable, water-tight, food-grade containers

stainless water bottles popular

Carabiner clips convenient for storage/deployment/carry

Soda bottles (1 2L/day)

Hydration packs (e.g. Platypus)

Backpacks may have pocket for hydration bladder

Make it easy:
If you have to stop to rehydrate, you will be tempted not to. Hydrate in
small, steady amounts.

Portable water treatment

Iodine, chlorine, or bleach

Treatment tablets (one and two-step)

Betadine/povidone iodine (4 drops per liter @ >15 minutes)2
Neither chlorine nor iodine at drinkable levels kill cryptosporidium

Filters (Is it bacterial-grade?)

Boiling, but a pain on-the-go

Sunlight (UV-A) will kill some contaminants (SODIS) but use cor-
rectly.
2 Some studies recommend 8 drops; double amount or contact time for cloudy, or cold.

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Iodine Allergy
If someone is allergic to iodine (or shellfish) do not use it!
Iodine tends to be more convenient for portable and short-term use. Prefer
chlorine or bleach for longer-term treatment and storage. Avoid iodine for
anyone with an iodine (or shellfish) allergy!3
One-step treatment tablets typically provide either chlorine or iodine in a
convenient, pre-measured amount. Note that iodine tends to corrode metal, so
metal caps on treatment tablets tend to have limited shelf-life. Iodine needs to
be stored cool and dark.
Povidone iodine (Betadine) is a liquid iodine solution found in most phar-
macies for first-aid disinfection. Many people already have it, so it tends to be
convenient. There is some debate on exactly how much is needed for effective
disinfection of water. Most sources say 4 drops per liter. Some studies say that
this does not produce enough free iodine in solution and recommend 8 drops
(see note in Deyo 2010 pp 55). Double either the amount of iodine or the contact
time if the water is cloudy or cold (<41F). Doubling the contact time allows
half the iodine (or vice-versa). Keep a table of treatment amounts and times in
your emergency gear (e.g. Deyo 2010 pp 54 or High Altitude Medicine).
Portable filters are a decent option, but good, bacterial grade portable filters
are expensive and slow in terms of the liters of water they produce. Survival
straws or water bottles can be found with built-in filters. Dysentary-causing
amoebas and diarrhea-causing protozoans are relatively large and easily filtered.
Bacteria are smaller, viruses tiny. Finer filters make safer water more slowly.
Bacterial filters do not remove chemicals or improve taste, but charcoal-filters
do not remove bacteria. For both, you need a multi-stage filter or multi-stage
process. Read the instructions carefully, practice using your filter, and follow
instructions for periodic disinfection: if you get it wrong, and contaminate the
wrong surfaces, it will do you no good.
Boiling is the classic method of killing bacteria, but it uses fuel and is not
very portable. One alternative is Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) which uses
a clear PET bottle (not PVC)4 , such as a washed soda bottle. However, you
need to follow instructions carefully and get 6 hours of good sunlight. SODIS
requires UV-A to work, which means you need direct light and bottles may not
be tinted. SODIS will also work with most clear hydration bladders.
You will want to think about treatment methods in advance and choose
your containers to make treatment convenient. Good hydration bladders, for
instance, make it easy to fill and chemically treat.

Basics of Chemical Treatment

3 People who have an anaphlactic reaction to all shellfish are typically reacting to iodine.

Some people who have a sensitivity to one kind of shellfish (say shrimp) may not have an
iodine allergy. When in doubt, take a different approach.
4 Check the recycling number. PET bottles have a #1.

6
 Kill pathogens in the water and leaves residual chemical to continue dis-
infecting

If not done correctly, will not be effective:

sufficient chemical, adequately dissolved

sufficient contact time
disinfect all inside surfaces

To improve taste, you may add vitamin C (ascorbic acid).

Container Threads
Pay attention to the threads, cap (instructor will demonstrate).
When using chemical treatment, you need to loosely close the cap and then
slosh the liquid around, mixing your chemical and ensuring that you get the
inside of the threads wet with the disinfectant. This may include a vent, drinking
tube, or similar opening as well. Then, after the alloted treatment time, you
may close the cap tightly. If you do not do this, contaminated water from the
cap and threads will recontaminate the water once you think it is safe to drink.
If possible, remove the drinking tube and cap a hydration bladder before
filling and treatment so that they are never contaminated. After the water is
safe, switch the cap for the clean tube assembly. If your bladder does not make
it easy to do this, it is best to get a different bladder. Periodically flush your
drinking tubes, valves, and other parts with a light bleach solution and air dry.
If you do not like the treated-water flavor, there are several options:

Pour the water one or more times between clean containers. This will
oxygenate stale, long-stored water and it will evaporate some of the excess
disinfectant.
Add vitamin-C (ascorbic acid) to taste. You can get concentrated vitamin-
C at Mama Jeans (and probably other places as well). Two stage tablets
often include this as the second treatment stage. You can add lemon juice,
drink mixes which contain vitamin-C, or a pinch of salt as an alternative.
Heating water briefly to boiling will also remove most of the disinfectant.
The water will then be vulnerable in storage, but it may be a good option
in cooking with treated water.

7
 Use a charcoal-based filter like a Brita to remove the chemical. Some-
times you can find inexpensive water-bottles with built-in charcoal filters.
These filters will not remove bacteria, have a limited use, and usually need
to be activated by soaking and running a small amount of water through
them (follow manufacturers instructions).

SODIS
Definition 3 (SODIS). SOLar water DISinfection: Uses UV-A striking a closed,
transparent container to kill pathogens.

UV-A kills pathogens, but it takes a great deal of time (6 hours)

Must use transparent PET bottles, borosilicate glass, methacrylate plastic
No PVC
Must be shallow ; put soda bottles on their sides
Requires 6 hours of good sunlight (good weather)
Be careful to not contaminate threads when filling!
Can be scaled up

SODIS has been demonstrated effective at deactivating even Cryptosporid-

ium parva, which can be resistant to other methods, if used correctly. It can also
be scaled up to household water supplies. Fernandez-Iban ez et al 2012 describes
larger (25L) static reactors and cites their previous study with smaller PET bot-
tles. [Fern
andez-Ibanez, P., Gomez-Couso, H., Ares-Mazas, E., & Fontan-Sainz,
M. (2012). Evaluation of the Solar Water Disinfection Process (SODIS) Against
Cryptosporidium parvum Using a 25-L Static Solar Reactor Fitted with a Com-
pound Parabolic Collector (CPC). The American Journal of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene, 86(2), 223228. http://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0325]
Because the point of SODIS is to eliminate the need for chemical treatment,
you have nothing to disinfect your cap, thread, etc. You must either take
pains to ensure that these parts are not contaminated (e.g. fill carefully with
a funnel) or disinfect these parts in some other way (e.g. cloth with bleachy
water, boiling water). In any case, the method is extremely useful but requires
care and practice to get right.
Also keep in mind the possibility of solar distilation (Tom Brown 1989 pp
52; Deyo 2010 pp 91, or Build-It Solar).

Locating Likely Water Sources, 1

In settled areas, think about places where uncontaminated water might

sit:

Hot-water tanks (usually about 40 gallons)

8
 Toilet tanks (not the bowl!)
Bags of ice, coffee maker reservoir
Canned goods (e.g. water from canned veggies)
Fountain soda/beer is safe from many waterborne pathogens but not
good at hydrating
16 oz of soda /= 16 oz of water; if you drink soda, coffee, etc., you
will need more fluids

Think creatively to use every resource available. Use questionable or dirty

water for dirty purposes. If you cannot bring yourself to drink from the toilet
tank, the dog will have no such objection. Use questionable water to cook with
or fill the car radiator. Use dirty water to flush the toilet. Well get into more of
this later, but start thinking in an emergency about how to get every possible
use out of every drop of clean water.
If area water supplies are low, there may be water sitting in some of these
sources. You can drain whole plumbing runs from the lowerst-lying fixture. If
power is out, ice will melt: make sure you contain it quickly.
If area water supplies are contaminated (chemical contamination, boil order,
fallout, whatever), anything that was connected to the main water supply may
be contaminated too. When you get the notice, it is best to shut the valve on
your hot water tank to isolate that supply. You can then use the drainage valve
to access the water. One water tank can get your family through for a week
(remember the 40-gallon figure above?). The toilet tank, as gross as it seems,
can contain clean drinking water in a survival situation. This is water before it
goes into the toilet boil, right? If you keep the tank clean and put your bowl
cleaner in the bowl (rather than a tank-treatment set-up), it will be free of nasty
chemicals as well. If you need to flush the toilet with dirty water, pour it into
the bowl to keep the tank clean.
Beware public taps and hydrants, especially in parks and campsites as these
are often contaminated: treat first.
Fountain soda contains levels of carbonic acid high enough to kill most wa-
terborne pathogens. In a situation where the local water is questionable, soda
(and beer) is very likely safe. Coffee and hot tea are heated and likely also
safe as long as cups, spoons, etc., are clean. Obviously, soda, beer, etc. is not
as good at hydrating the body. You will need to plan for more fluids when
depending on those sources. You also cannot brush teeth with soda, coffee, etc.
...

Locating Likely Water Sources, 2

In unsettled areas, water flows downhill and gets trapped in hollows and
depressions

You may need to treat water you find; sources which look fine can still be
dangerous

9
 Fresh rainwater and uncontaminated snow is usually clean
Water sources tend to be cleaner upstream;

walk banks to look for dead animals and other contamination

use all senses if it smells bad, dont drink

Grape vines and thistle roots can be sources of emergency water

Livestock water-supplies dot the region but will often be unsafe for humans
unless treated.

Finding water in a wilderness area deserves an extended training course on

its own. Understanding how water can be contaminated, what it can be con-
taminated with, and finding good sources is extremely complicated and even for
trained experts can come down to guesswork. It was actually a much easier task
in the 18th century before any number of invisible, tasteless, odorless chemicals
contaminated water sources. Tom Browns Field Guide to Wilderness Survival
contains a section (starting on pp 48), but I recommend as he does there: find
the best water you can and if you have the ability, treat it anyway.
If you have it, fresh rainwater and fresh, clean snow are gold. Rainwater
quality in the Ozarks plateau is among the highest in the nation and is far
superior to most of our groundwater. Keep in mind that snow is fluffy: it will
take a great deal more than a gallon of snow to get a gallon of clean water and
it takes energy to melt it.
An unexpected treasure for small amounts of water in the Ozarks are thistle
roots and grape vines. Thistle roots can be pried up (with a spud puller or rock
bar) and mushed for juice. Thistle roots can go down for fifteen feet or more
and can pull up good water even in drought. Grape vines are essentially long
water pumps. If you carefully cut an X in a vine at about shoulder height or so,
you will get a steady drip of clean water (this damages the vine, obviously). The
vine will often run this way for hours. Place a container underneath to collect.
Neither will yield much water, but they might keep you alive long enough to
come up with a better option.
Animals are different!
Just because animals are drinking water does not make it safe for humans.
Animals often have resistance to waterborne diseases which can kill humans.

Build good personal habits

10
 Get in the habit of having personal amounts of water:

backpacks, 72-hour kit, get-home bag

walking, biking, trunk of car
filled in kitchen or fridge

Store treatment supplies, check and replace as needed

Test treatment methods in camping or other activities before you need it
Think about how you would get water at work, school, stuck on highway,
etc
Think big, start small, work toward family-sized solutions

3 Family-sized Storage/Treatment
Improvised or purpose-built containers

Start household water storage small, and simple, and inexpensive

Just keeping a case of bottled water or a handful of pre-filled water bottles
can get you through an emergency

Do you get your filtered drinking water from a refrigerator? What

happens when the power is out?

Start storing slightly larger amounts of treated water in improvised or

purchased food-grade containers

(washed) soda bottles or milk jugs are a fine start

soda bottles (2 L) or 2L water bladders are a pre-measured supply
for 72-hour bags
PET bottles can then be reused for SODIS (<=3L)
4-7 gallon carboys: pick a size/shape you can move safely
Rotate supplies every 3-6 months (date them)

Household emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. If you have an electric
well pump and no power, your water will stop flowing. If your well bottoms out
in an usually dry summer, you will have a sudden crisis. If you are on municipal
water a spill or pipe-break may result in a boil-order because your tap water is
unsafe. If you have a plumbing problem, you may need to shut off the water
main while fixing it. Any supply of clean water you have will give you time and
space to deal with the main crisis.
Just this last week, a thunder-storm knocked out power for several hours.
Our well-water is questionable: it shows signs of ground-water infiltration, and

11
although it has always tested safe for humans, we do not trust it. We therefore
always treat our drinking water. At the moment, most of our drinking water
comes through a multi-stage filter in the refrigerator because it is convenient.
When the power went out, so did the spigot on the fridge. Because I routinely
pre-fill stainless steel water bottles, we simply took those down for water during
the outage and did not even have to touch the long-term supply. If we have
some warning of a potential water outage, we fill the Berkey-style bucket filter
we use in the field. Water bottles and a bucket filter will not cover showers,
clean clothes, or water livestock, but they get us further down the road rather
than generating an instant-emergency.
If you try to plan a whole-house water storage or filtration system at once
and set surviving a nuclear holocaust as your requirement, you will put it off.
If an emergency happens in the meantime, you will be unprepared. Do not take
the size of the problem as an excuse to delay starting on a solution.

3.1 Treating more water at once

Household carboys

Treating water in carboys is roughly the same as treating water in bottles

Decent carboys with built-in spigots and vents can run a kitchen or en-
campment when needed
Cleaner water (less sediment) is easier it is to treat (less chemicals, less
wear on filters)
Use less-cloudy water to treat for potable water, dirtier sources for other
uses
Pre-filter muddy water before filling carboys or using expensive filters

Sand-filter, settling tank (e.g. stock kettle), broad-cloth, even a clean

sock will work

Consider Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder for convenient emergency treat-

ment (we talk about flocculants later)

We have a 3rd-party handout with plans for building a household bucket-

filter using Berkey filters like the one we have for demonstration. A 2-4 candle
filter can produce drinking water for a whole household or encampment.

Commercial kitchen filters

Simple faucet filters such as a Brita can provide a convenient line-of-

defense against contaminated water
Filters that improve taste may not protect from pathogens: read labels
carefully

12
 Refrigerators often have filtration options for in-door water and ice
Pitcher-based filters can filter out treatment chemicals (charcoal) or purify
small amounts of water (bacterial-grade)
Berkey-type filters can provide water for a whole kitchen or encampment

Black-Berkey-type filters can turn pond-scum drinkable

Filtration takes time
Filters will foul with dirty water

Boiling

Used to be common most common method (boil order)

fuel intensive, but less so if used correctly:

just bring water to boil (>205F), and remove from heat;

do not need to boil for 10, 20, or 30 minutes
pressure cooker, canner, or stock kettle (lidded) will lose less water
home pasteurizer will do the job fine

You can can sterile water for, say, first aid use
Pour between clean containers to restore taste

The recommendation for contaminated water used to be that one must boil
the water for 10, 20, or even 30 minutes. This takes time, uses a great deal
of energy, and is absolutely unnecessary. Tests have shown that heating the
water to 205F will kill pathogens. This means that merely raising water to the
boiling point is sufficient. This is also why hot tea and brewed coffee is safe.
Raising water to boiling is not difficult on a campfire where boiling a significant
amount of water for 30 minutes is very difficult. If you run a woodstove during
the winter, this is a free source of energy for boiling water: just place a canner
or kettle on top.
You can can sterile water in mason jars the same way you would any canned
food, except you dont have to boil it for any length of time. Just set the jar
aside and wait for it to seal as usual. If it does not seal, just reheat the water.
(You can hyperpasteurize water in a pressure canner if you really want to, but
I dont know why you would.) Canned water (with or without saline) is useful
for first-aid or veterinary purposes such as irrigating wounds.
Push-button home pasteurizing units for raw milk will also work fine for
water.

13
Ultraviolet sterilization

SODIS uses UV-A from sunlight to disinfect

Can also be done artificially
Small or large inline household units

Remove (most) sediment first

Requires electricity
We have a small inline UV sanitizer leading into our refrigerator. Because
our well-water has very high sediment, especially after rain, we process in stages:

1. Pre-filter to remove major sediment

2. UV-A pass through small inline unit
3. Water passes into refrigerator
4. Refrigerator contains a standard household filter which removes common
contaminants, improves taste, takes out remaining sediment
The multipass option extends filter life. improves filtration speed (bacterial fil-
ters have slower throughput), easier maintenance, and saves filter cost over the
Black-Berkey bacterial-grade filters which were our kitchen solution. The bac-
terial filters are still available for emergency use, but the UV sanitizer actually
has modest power requirements which could be handled by battery. This little
refrigerator system is more or less a prototype for a whole-house solution.
Once again, this also leads back to our common theme: start small and
experiment before commiting to a larger system. Try different options and see
what best works for your household.

3.2 Water Cycling (Grey Black)

Water cycle definitions
Definition 4 (Potable Water). Water that is fit to drink with no further treat-
ment.

14
Definition 5 (Grey Water). Relatively clean waste water, such as from kitchen,
bathroom (not the toilet), and laundry cycles. This water can be reused or
recycled with little or no treatment for landscape irrigation and other non-
potable uses. Also called sanitary water.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/gray-water.html
Definition 6 (Black Water). Water polluted with food, animal, or human
waste.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/black-water.html
The defining characteristic of black water (sewage) is that it is contaminated
with fecal matter, although dead flesh (raw meat) also renders water entirely
unfit. Black water must be thoroughly treated as sewage, through multi-stage
treatment. Your home septic system and leach field turns black water slowly
into grey water that can be released back into the environment.
The problem with fecal mater (other than the fact that it smells bad and
is disgusting) is that it contains pathogens like E. coli. Escherichia coli is a
coliform bacteria which occurs normally in human and animal digestive systems.
In humans, it can only safely be in the lower digestive system. If it gets back
around to the upper digestive system, it causes potentially deadly disease. Some
animals have absolutely no problem with E. coli in their upper digestive systems.
This is why your dog can safely eat very disgusting things but you may not.
But this means that anything which is not black water can be used for
some purposes and can be treated to turn it back into a potable water supply.
For instance, grey water can be used to water plants or irrigate a garden. If
you redirect your wash water, either during a crisis or routinely, you can avoid
sending it to the septic system and save water from your potable supplies. As an
example, you can use rinse water from dishes for the next batch of wash water
and then use it to water plants or flush the toilet. A shower can readily supply
irrigation water. People also use grey water in aquaponics systems to produce
garden plants and fish. Grey water can also be cycled through something like
a Berkey filter to make it potable. (Strain and filter the sediment, dirt, and
food particles first to extend filter life!)

3.3 Basic rainwater collection

Collecting rain

Pots and shallow pans work fine

Keep away from potentially dirty overhangs
You can also collect from tent, tarp, rain fly, roof but:

15
 Cleaner surfaces are better
Discard the first few gallons as it will be dirtier
Preferably send through pre-filter such as cloth, strainer, sand-trap
hang weight on grommet to direct water flow

Drums and large commercial carboys (e.g. 200-500 gallon food grade) can
store water for emergency, animal, garden

Commercial rain barrels have useful features

Treat and store
When my wife and I were first married, we camped for most of a year on
acreage near Drury, MO with the intent to build (which intent was abruptly
changed by birth of a premature daughter). Among other calamities, the all-
year spring went dry for the first time in living memory that summer. When
we did get rain, it was a deluge all at once, resulting in flash-flooding but no
real relief to the drought. We got very good at collecting water off of the tent
and rain flies, storing it in 50-gallon plastic drums. We would fill four of them
in one rain and start filling every other container we could find. A hand-water
pump moved water out of the barrels as needed as we began hand-digging the
cistern and deepening the spring-hole. We then used every drop of grey water
for irrigation. This was all a much better alternative to moving water down the
steep 800-foot driveway by 7-gallon carboy (dont ask what was wrong with the
car...).
Old abandoned cisterns and prarie multi-blade windmills/water pumps dot
this region. These were primary farm water supplies. Well get to cisterns in
the next section.

3.4 Whole-house systems

Many ways to do it

Amazing variety of ways to tackle the problem

Some considerations apply in any larger system:

How much do you need?

How do you efficiently treat much larger amounts of water?
Where do you store it?
How do you get it from storage to where it is needed?
How do you get adequate pressure for household needs?

No reason not to use mixed methods and let it grow organically

16
How much?

As above, take 25-50 gallons per person/day as a base amount

If you are using smaller household methods, you will have measure:

What is the minimum water you must have?

Use crisis mode (living from carboys) as your baseline
Now start trimming further by conserving/cycling water
What would you like to be comfortable?

How long do you go without rain? (See tables.)

Tables are great, but stick a raingauge outside...

Now, how big is your roof? (Deyo 2010 pp 82)

Dare To Prepare (Deyo 2010) pp 83 has household water budgets with per-
fixture estimates. See also http://waterbudget.sustainablesources.com/
.

Treating much more water

Whole-house filtration systems and installers in area

Big limiter is sedimentation; sediment degrades treatment

If your rain-collection is dirty or well-water is muddy, treatment more
expensive
As above, pre-filter input: gutter screens, roof-wash, sand-filters, etc.

Use a settling-tank, speed sediment-removal with flocculants (e.g. ferrous

sulfate or alum)

Definition 7 (flocculant). a substance added to a suspension to enhance ag-

gregation of the suspended particles (Dictionary.com)

Larger storage systems, pressure

Generally-speaking, cistern, tank, or tower

Ponds or moats can provide extra cushion, especially for livestock and
irrigation
Ponds do not have to be above-ground; you can make underground caches
for garden and livestock!
Cisterns keep consistent temperature, easy to fill; take energy to empty

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 Tanks keep water pressurized
Towers use gravity to empty (1 psi/2.31 of lift), take power to fill (also
more engineering)
Less power to lift water from cistern than well

4 When Things Go Wrong

4.1 Heat-related illness and dehydration
Heat/dehydration related injuries

Dehydration can affect mental and physical capacity within hours

Dehydration can occur outside hot weather, say dry, cold, windy weather
Body sweats to cool itself, but loses water and electrolytes

Electrolytes (e.g. salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium) required for mus-

cle and nervous-system function
Heat injuries:

Heat cramps
Heat exhaustion
Heat stroke

Heat Injury Definitions

Definition 8 (heat cramps). muscle spasms brought on by over-exertion in

extreme heat (CERT)
Definition 9 (heat exhaustion). occurs when an individual exercises or works
in extreme heat, resulting in looss of body fluids through heavy weating. Blood
flow in skin increases, causing blood flow to decrease to vital organs. This results
in a mild form of shock.(CERT)
Definition 10 (heat stroke). is life threatening. The victims temperature con-
trol system shuts down, and body temperature can rise so high that brain
damage and death may result. (CERT)
These definitions and the following discussion are taken from the Treating
Heat-Related Injuries section of the Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT) Disaster Medical Operations (DMO) Unit. It is highly recommended
that anyone interested in disaster preparedness take the 21-hour, 9 unit CERT
Basic course (usually free), a First Aid/CPR course, or both. The CERT course
provides a basic level of competency in key areas of disaster response.

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Heat Exhaustion

Cool, moist, pale, or flushed skin

Profuse sweating
Headache
Vomiting, dizziness, nausea
Exhaustion
Will affect judgement! (watch each other for symptoms)
Body temperature is near-normal, but can develop into heat-stroke

Heat Stroke

This is a form of shock- organs shutting down

Life-threatening
Hot, red skin
No perspiration
Victim may say they are cold
Changes in consciousness
Rapid, weak pulse, rapid shallow breathing, feverish (up to 105F)

Heat-Injury Treatment

Slow, steady hydration to prevent, rotate time in direct sunlight

Take the victim out of heat and place in cool (not cold!) environment
Cool slowly: wet towels or sheets, cool bath (not ice)
Give victim water slowly (approx. glass/15 minutes)
Gatorade or similar at strength, Pedialyte, dilute pickle juice, etc
Fluids too quickly will result in nausea and vomitting
If vomiting, cramping or losing consciousness, do not administer food or
drink- alert medical professional immediately

At the point where the victim cannot take fluids by mouth, they will require
(at least) IV fluids and professional medical attention. Failure to stabilize the
victim may result in permanent neurological damage (or death). Watch victim
closely (monitor vital signs, prevent them from choking on vomit, etc) until help
arrives.

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4.2 Waterborne disease
Waterborne Disease
Definition 11 (Giardia). any flagellate of the genus Giardia, parasitic in the
intestines of vertebrates. (Dictionary.com)

Definition 12 (Cryptosporidium). any parasitic sporozoan protozoan of the

genus Cryptosporidium, species of which are parasites of birds and animals and
can be transmitted to humans, causing severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea (
cryptosporidiosis)/ (Dictionary.com)

Definition 13 (E. coli). A bacillus Escherichia coli; a bacillus normally found

in the human gastrointestinal tract and existing as numerous strains, some of
which are responsible for diarrheal diseases... (Dictionary.com)

Symptoms and Treatment

Dehydration and diarrhea; can disable and kill, especially without assis-
tance
Most giardia infections actually non-fatal but can become chronic
Normal Treatment:

First get access to clean water and electrolytes;

Generally speaking, antibiotics and antiparasitics (see a doctor)
Giardia actually quite difficult to get rid of permanently as it encysts
to protect itself

Emergency treatment (no doctor, life and death)

bitter alkaloids from roots of rose family (e.g. blackberry, raspberry)

can help diarrhea; strong decoction (per Tom Brown)
Walnut-hull extract reputed to kill giardia but cysts remain and in-
festation will recur
Clove (e.g. as capsule) reputed to kill cysts
Small amounts of vinegar in water can supply electrolytes (e.g. sekan-
jabin)

(See also the note on sanitation, section 1.5.)

Onset of diarrhea may be within a few hours to weeks after contamination
depending on parasite. Some people do not have symptoms from giardia or only
mild symptoms, but can still pass it to others via fecal-matter contamination
(poor hand-washing habits or by introducing it back to water supply). Diarrhea
can be accompanied by strong, potentially debilitating cramps and pain. The
combination of cramps, pain, and dehydration is what can cause an unassisted

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victim (or group of victims) to be unable to help themselves and die of the
dehydration. In the past, entire settlements have been wiped out by transient
water contamination. Waterborne-diseases and poor sanitation have killed more
soldiers throughout history than enemy action.
The first step in treatment is to get the victim away from contaminated water
and get them clean water, supplementing with electrolytes (e.g. Gatorade,
Pedialyte, even small amounts of vinegar in water, sekanjabin syrup/posca).
Curing will likely require a visit to a doctor for antibiotics or antiparasitics
as appropriate to the particular disease. Giardia can be difficult to get rid of
because the protective cysts resist antiparasitic treatment. If active parasites
are killed but cysts remain, infestation will recur. It often takes a prolonged
course of treatment to get rid of all active parasites and cysts.
When there is no doctor, the victim cannot be gotten to a doctor, or the
victim needs to be stabilized long enough to get to a doctor (e.g. wilderness
situation), there are some options. I was trained in wilderness survival situations
(e.g. Tom Browns school teaches this) that bitter alkaloids from, for example,
roots of the rose family, can be used to ease the diarrhea. A strong decoction
is made of fresh or dried roots and given a cup at a time, several times per
day. Tea of raspberry leaf, motherwort, or other (non-posionous) astringent
leaves are a secondary option as are decoctions of thistle, dandelion, or chicory
(a common coffee substitute). Obviously, herbal treatments require knowledge
to use effectively. Giving a diarrhea victim the root of the wrong plant and
poisoning them will not help.
For actually removing the infestation, a course of walnut-hull extract to
kill the active parasite (in apple-cider vinegar) and cloves (to kill the cysts) is
reputed to be effective. Herbal medicine, however, is beyond the scope of this
talk.

5 Water Conservation
Some thoughts on saving water

Reduce water used in cooking;

Use water from one process (e.g. cooking greens, heating vegetables)
as input to cooking rice, etc.
Canned vegetables and tuna water may also be reused in cooking

Cycle rinse water to wash water to garden or toilet; divert grey water with
separate plumbing
Consider aquaponics for grey water recapture
Grey water can be tanked for later use; tanks will need periodic clean-
ing/maintenance
Low-flu sh toilets save water but can be unreliable

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 Temporarily save water from bath or shower in emergency (bail and bucket
for other uses)
Dishwashers can be very water-efficient
High-efficiency front-loading washers

6 Changelog

0.3 First complete draft 2017-05-21

1.0 Draft for presentation 2017-05-22\
1.1 Post-presentation edits and feedback, heat-related illness material

7 Sources and Reading

Resources
Deyo, H. D. (2010). Dare To Prepare (3rd ed.). Pueblo West, CO: Deyo
Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved from http://daretoprepare.com
Brown, T. (1983). Wilderness Survival. New York, NY: Berkley Publish-
ing Group.
Build-It Solar - Water Conservation Projects (DIY plans)
Eric Vought, Pages From An Ozark Herbal (2nd ed, draft manuscript).
https://www.scribd.com/doc/51838055/Pages-From-An-Ozark-Herbal-2nd-Edition-Draft
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Basic Training. A 21-
hour, 9-unit course in disaster response for CERT volunteers. Periodically
taught in Greene County, sometimes at the Greene County Public Saftey
Center; This author is a certified-instructore and the Lawrence County
Sheriffs Auxiliary will do periodic trainings (usually in and around Mount
Vernon) for our volunteers and open to the public. A CERT certificate in
any county or from any certified instructor is good in any other.

Online Courses
Introduction to Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage Coursera,
5 weeks: https://www.coursera.org/learn/water-treatment
Water and Wastewater Treatment Engineering: Physicochemical Tech-
nology EdX, 5 weeks: https://www.edx.org/course/water-wastewater-treatment-engineering-ts
; goes into detail of technologies used in urban water treatment, including
flocculation, different types of filtration, etc. Larger scale but provides
extensive background.

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 Note: I have not personally taken either course. Generally good experi-
ence with Coursera content but very bad experience with platform and
support. Better experiences with EdX, but content may be more mixed
quality. Let the buyer beware.

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