gary north has state that one of the most critical parts of the doomsday computer program is missing - its water.

in fact, in almost NO threads, discussions, news articles, postings, etc .. do i read anything about what the effect of water shortages (caused by extended power and/or fuel disruptions) could be. without water you're dead, plain and simple. if u live in a city, i cant imagine what one would do. even in more rural areas this would be a catastrophic problem.

we're building a large cistern next to our house to prepare for potential shortages. it will be filled by ground water at first, but will then collect all rainwater from thereafter. not the greatest solution, but its a start.

-- Louis Navarro (lanny1@ix.netcom.com), December 06, 1998

Answers

Recently our town was without power and also water for two days. Water for consumption was trucked in from a town 30 miles away. Should Y2K bring down the power grid nation wide the option of trucking water in from outside is not there. Not a pretty thought.

Here is an option anyone can use to obtain water. Obviously in the drier areas of the country more barrels would be necessary. I will detail what we have done. It will work just as well with a garage in town.

We purchased 3 55 gallon food grade barrels. They will be placed inside the barn at the back side by side. Gutterring from the barn roof flows into a downspout cut short of the ground. An elbow of 4 inch PVC pipe directs the water into the inside of the barn and into a manifold made of PVC pipe. The manifold has four tee fittings. Each of the first three drops into one of the 3 55 gallon barrels. The fourth tee is made on the end of the manifold near the top. When all three barrels are filled with water the excess flows out the fourth, end tee and into a garden hose to drain outside of the barn.

In town I would do the same in a garage. I hate to answer stupid questions from neighbors. We also have two ponds and a creek. The barrel water is for drinking and cooking only. The above does not negate the need for a water filter, tablets or bleach.

Regards, Ed

-- Ed (ed@terraworld.net), December 06, 1998.

Good idea, if you live in a house. In mild climates, put some guppies in each barrel to eat the mosquito larvae.

Apartment dwellers, back to the drawing board.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 06, 1998.

My local water district has a web-site, perhaps yours does too.

Santa Clara Valley Water District http://www.heynoah.com/

They have a really neat map of the local creeks, rivers and resevoirs (for PCs only with plug-in). http://www.heynoah.com/adoptc/ adoptc.htm

A water supply facilities map can be viewed at: http:// www.heynoah.com/wtrsuply/images/scvwdhg.jpg

Im trying to locate info on the areas natural springs as well. Get to know the local water sources in addition to well water and rain water sources.

Links to other water oriented sites in California and beyond at: http://www.heynoah.com/otherlnk/wtrlinx.htm

Diane

(P.S. There is also a link to the Information Systems and Technology Local Government Year 2000 Resource Page (Association of Bay Area Governments)with lots of other links at : http://www.abag.ca.gov/ issues/y2k/Y2K.html)

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 06, 1998.

If and when I get my torpedo well bucket, I'm hoping to copy it and make a few for family. (Lehman's: don't worry, I'm not going into the business.) I may figure out how-to anyway. I think it's made out of sheet metal, with a float valve on the bottom(?)

-- Type r (Sortaplanin@polly.anna), December 06, 1998.

Ed: Nice to hear from someone who's got their thinking cap on. Everybody, get those mental gears engaged....Now!!!

-- Charles R. (chuck_roast@trans.net), December 06, 1998.

Here's what I have done:

I bought 12 x 55 gallon barrels, buried them to about 6" from the top. Yoked each together in series with 3/4" flex connectors. The first barrel is connected to the city water line to my house. The last barrel has a connection with a hose bibb. I run the water to my garden and yard through this hose bibb, thus having a constant fresh source of water in the barrels. When the city water goes off I have 12 x 55 gallons = 660 gallons fresh water for drinking, cooking, etc.

Also, over the months we have been saving all our 1 gallon jugs (we drink a lot of apple juice). Towards December '99 these will all be filled with fresh city water. Also have 10 x 5 gallon water containers fro a water company that we keep actively rotated with freah water. Also have a Katadyne water filter we can use if we have to.

BTW I am located in a temperate climate and use the garden hose bibb year round. You folks in the north will have to use another method, but it can be done. Perhaps as my last connection is to a garden hose bibb you might could run yours to your laundry sink inside the house/basement. It's an idea you might be able to adapt to your locality.

-- Joe (jba@there.com), December 06, 1998.

Type r,

I ordered a torpedo well bucket from Lehman's 9/5/98 & received it this past Friday. They are so swamped with orders I stopped trying to contact them by phone. E-mails also went unanswered. Good luck!

-- Bingo (howe9@pop.shentel.net), December 06, 1998.

Here is a link to a supplier of water containers and info. (www.watertanks.com)

a< href="http://www.watertanks.com">Water

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 06, 1998.

The url is: http://www.watertanks.com

Water

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 06, 1998.

In So. Calif. (San Fernando Valley for us) the water situation could be dire in all seasons except winter. It goes months without rain.

A solar distiller seems like an excellent idea. Although the model I'm looking at produces just 2 gallons a day, that is enough to get by for 2 people. The water it produces is pure. If you live near the ocean, then the ocean becomes your water source because the solar distiller can use it. (Seems like a good Y2K business opportunity here in So. CA actually, if things aren't too broken down to do ANY business.) We could use our swimming pool's water for a while, maybe drive to the ocean (20 miles) with barrels, but wouldn't count on being able to drive if no gas or martial law. Just some thoughts (underneath this is the thought "get out of the city"). DB

-- D B Spence (dbspence@usa.net), December 07, 1998.

Here's a URL where you will find plans for an easily built solar water distiller. Great project for kids doing homeschooling, by the way. Whip some up for sharing or barter.

-- Faith Weaver (faith-weaver@usa.net), December 07, 1998.

Here's a URL where you will find plans for an easily built solar water distiller--http://www.solardome.com/SolarDome84.html Great project for kids doing homeschooling, by the way. Whip some up for sharing or barter.

-- Faith Weaver (faith-weaver@usa.net), December 07, 1998.

If you're going to store water for a while, best to put a little bleach in it.

Plastic sheeting can collect rain. And you'd be surprised how much dew you can collect with a big sponge. Freshly distilled, ready to drink if nothing nasty's on your grass. You can fill buckets with it.

These are the solutions I'll be handing out to neighbors, and using to refill my stores. Also: a makeshift solar still, just a hole in the ground, clear sheeting with a rock in the middle (so plastic is pulled down in cone at 45 degree angle), and a bucket at the bottom. Gives you both distillation and filtering through the ground. Residual water in your pipes will help at the beginning. I've also thought about putting a big plastic tarp on the roof to collect lots rainfall without getting asphalt contaminants. And if you've got a neighbor with a swimming pool, maybe you can talk him into keeping it full for the winter, if climate is temperate.

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), December 23, 1998.