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Generally speaking, a person can live for about 3 or 4 days without water. How long a person can actually survive depends upon that person’s environment, physical, and mental circumstances as well.
In a survival situation, water is still one of the main elements required to fight another day.
In the United States, we have all become accustomed to having safe water to cook, clean, and drink on a regular basis. The Flint Water Crisis shows just how important water is. Further, there are organizations like the WWF that believe that two-thirds of the population will experience water scarcity as early as 2025.
I know that I can certainly take clean and safe water for granted every time I run the faucet, wash my clothes, cook my food, take a shower, or flush my toilet. With the exception of a post-hurricane situation, I don’t think I have ever considered safe water not being available. When there was some kind of “boil water” notice released in my area, it never lasted long enough to be a long-term concern.
Water Security
There are a few ways you can get water:
- Rainwater collection
- Knowing where sources of water are
- Knowing where/how to access groundwater
Rainwater Collection
Before getting into rainwater collection, please be aware that there are some states in the United States that have made rainwater collection illegal. Click here to see if your state considers rainwater collection illegal.
Even if you live in a state that hasn’t made rainwater collection illegal, if you live in an HOA, you may want to check if they have any verbiage on rainwater collection not being permitted by residents.
Setting up a rainwater collection system can be as simple as having rain gutters sending water into a 5 gallon bucket. In that case, it would include dirt, leaves, roof shingle gravel, and other “contaminants” to the water.
Therefore, you need to know how you plan to use the rainwater you collect before you setup your system. Further, it will help to know the rainfall of your area and your usage of the rainwater so you know generally how much you will need to collect. The rainwater collection unit may also require a filtration system or method of making the water safe for human consumption (if that is your purpose).
Knowing Location of Water Sources
Finding sources of water are as simple as knowing where the nearest natural or man-made water sources are. This can include oceans, rivers, springs, and other such water sources.
To find these, it is beneficial to have hard copy maps in addition to the digital formats, just in the event the internet or power isn’t an option.
Beyond this, it is important to know if the water is of good quality or not before you are in a situation where you may have to depend on such sources of water. In such a scenario, you will know the safety of such water sources before others and be able to dedicate your time to obtaining water from safe sources as others will have to figure it out in the moment.
It is also important to know if your water source is fresh or salt water, as they need to be handled differently in purification methods. In the case of salt water, the salt needs to be removed to turn it into freshwater.
For more on freshwater vs. saltwater click here.
Knowing how to access groundwater
Wells and water pumps are how groundwater is accessed.
I don’t see many wells, but every now and then you might come across a water pump. The places I have found water pumps has been in state parks which sometimes had campgrounds associated with them. Remember that it can take a few pumps to get water to come out of the water pump.
For more information on water sources in the USA, click here.
Click Here for water purification tablets you can get on Amazon.
Click Here for a LifeWater Straw you can also get on Amazon.
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(c) 2020 Disaster Survival Answers
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any means you’ll be able to remove me from that service? Thanks!
I have removed your email, so hopefully that will fix the issue.