All important water, the likelihood of a complete collapse of society and being self-reliant in the face of a shortage

  I am still learning how to make videos, there is a lot more to it than I thought, I was under the impression all that I had to do was aim and shoot. Not quite that simple, to catch a bird flying it must take years of practice, by the way, the camera shakes it appears as if I am toppling over behind it. Everything affects the picture, wind, shaky old guy, people walking by, dangit, I will catch on, I won't be a pro but I will get to the point that I know what all the buttons do. It's very enjoyable, I have coffee on the waterside deck most mornings, that's what drove me to video recording, something totally new happens out there every day, so I wanted to capture it. I think a lot about the water, I am a water person as well as a proponent of self-reliance, when I look at the water I am reminded that is our source of water if we should ever run out.

This is my emergency water source, I don't even think about what
the critters do in it. 

  My last blog was written about being ready for an electrical interruption lasting for a period of one week, I wrote a brief description of what my wife and I have planned if we are in that predicament. One week's outage is a long time for the power to be off, the cause of it would have to be a major natural disaster. I don't address social upheaval because it is my belief the likelihood of a battle of that size is extremely unlikely. Everyone has their own opinion and mine is I just can't buy into the idea that our social structure will collapse, most of the social uprisings I have seen in my life have been very localized. Take for example the Detroit riots during the 1960's, I was young, about 13 years old and those problems had me really scared. Detroit is a long way from Minneapolis where I was raised, but still, I had the idea that somehow it would affect my town. I guess that's human nature, many years later my daughter was the same age at the time of the Rodney King riots in Los Angelos. She was scared at that time as I was in my younger days, she was so scared I took her to work with me, the riots never made it to Fresno where we lived. I was in downtown Memphis on the second anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther Kings murder, there were 10,000 people in the street, we were trying to make our way through the confusion, it was uneventful, a relatively peaceful event. If our society did not collapse during any of the major events of the 1960's, I don't believe it will collapse now. During those days the people were highly organized, the Black Panthers, Symbionese Liberation Army, Weathermen, and the Students for a Democratic Society, plus all of the anti-war protesters. Then throw in all of the Civil Rights and Segregation marches and demonstrations, those times were a lot more precarious than what we are facing now. I just don't think our Government or our way of life is that fragile, so I am not an advocate for preparing for a long-term widespread social upheaval type of an event.
  I do however believe the possibility of a naturally occurring event having the potential to cause an interruption in our lives for an extended period of time. In my last blog, I discussed an electrical outage lasting one week, that is an extended length of time, I have been in one that lasted a few days. In this blog I want to discuss a longer period without electrical services, again I think there would have to be a major disaster for that to be realized. (Link to how to prepare for a long-term power outage) Wildfire is a real possibility, an Earthquake would have to be huge, tornadoes are more likely to cause a long outage along with Floods and Hurricanes, Blizzards in the North Eastern United States cause long outages every few years, still not predictably common. I realize the destruction does last for a long time, especially if homes need to be completely rebuilt, and if the infrastructure is destroyed. When my neighbor's houses burned down an insurance estimator told me it typically takes two years for a house to be rebuilt after it is destroyed. Even so, the human condition is attended to fairly rapidly, we have many agencies in Government and private non-profits who are quick in their responses. The possibilities still are there for an extended period where we will have to provide for ourselves, during a disaster no matter how "johnny on the spot", relief agencies are it still takes a while for a response. That response is delayed by the size of the disaster, and if there are others taking place in other areas of the country or our nearby world as happened last year. For us to depend on being "saved" by our government is in my opinion, folly, we need to take measures on our own to assure our own survival. (Follow this Link to FEMA's preparedness guide)
  It all takes on the same general scheme of things, I recommend no less than a 3 month's supply of food in the pantry, 6 month's supply would be the maximum for canned food. After the 6 month's dehydrated food should be relied upon, it has a long shelf life and it will not spoil. Canned food has a long shelf life as well however it does retain the possibility of the cans becoming compromised, and the number of dishes and clean up when preparing and consuming full meals from cans may become daunting. It would not be a problem if water were to be readily available, and that is where every catastrophic event renders down to, availability of water. Dehydrated food is prepared by adding hot or boiling water, there is no big pot of beans or lasagna that needs to be scrubbed clean, the hot water in the boiling vessel needs not follow up cleaning. There must be a water source available to satisfy our need, storing water for a period longer than a week is a major project, it's a year-round project maintaining the storage systems. 100 gallons of water will supply two adults with the minimum amount of water to stay alive for about a 2 month period, that is very little for hygiene uses. In fact, after the first week, we would have to begin "making" water, that is making it safe to drink, and use for preparing food.

Even if the water is filtered it should be boiled for 1/2 hour.

  The first concern is to have a water source if a person lives in a city, or a desert a standing water supply will be tough to find. I question whether in a major city if after the first-week drinking water would be a problem, I have faith the local authorities will be able to have enough to satisfy the population. If we take into account the recommended daily intake of water is 1/2 gallon for a healthy adult, in a city with 2 million people it would require 1 million gallons a day to satisfy the demand. That is a lot of water, it is in the cities best interest to get the water systems up and running as soon as possible. It's my belief if city residents have water supplies for a one week period, the government agencies will either have restored the water system or will supply the amount needed for the people. It will be a gigantic effort to do so, but most locals have an emergency response plan in place which covers this essential commodity. It's no secret water will be scarce during and after a catastrophic event, even with my comments placing ourselves in a position to be able to supply our own water is essential even in a big city.
  Those of us in a rural area may be faced with a more challenging situation, we will most likely be on our own for a substantial amount of time. A long duration especially if a large city is impacted and what the damages are if rural houses are still intact and suffering from a utility outage it may not be as high of a priority as a city that has lost most of their homes to a Tornado or Hurricane.
  Catastrophe's rarely come one at a time, with Earthquakes there is fire following and a power outage. Wildfire, always the power is lost, loss of all utilities, as a matter of fact, Tornados and Hurricanes invite flooding to follow, blizzards freezing, power outages and later during the thaw possible flooding. In our location for example if a major Earthquake were to devastate San Francisco I question how much attention would be paid to an island of people in the middle of nowhere. I don't worry about an influx of city dwellers overrunning us and demanding something, that won't happen, most of the people in the city will stay put. I believe in the case of a major Earthquake, I'm talking about 8 or 9 magnitudes, and the ensuing fires all resources will be taxed to the maximum, even so, I can't imagine the event lasting longer than a month on the outside. As a side note, the best way to escape San Francisco would be by water, it's possible to get several hundred miles away inland and the distance by way of the ocean is endless.

Water is important enough to stand in line for.

  When we lose our electrical service we lose our water, we are on a shared well, actually a series of wells but it's not potable water anyway so most people here have water on hand for a short period. For a longer length of time, the solution here and I am sure other areas as well is to have a water purifier with a hand pump. They range in price from $100 to whatever a person wants to spend, in my opinion, a hand pump made of stainless steel capable of filtering to 2 microns is the optimum one to purchase. They are in the $1500 dollar range, and it depends a lot on what the possibility is that it will ever have to be used. If water is not readily available in a creek, lake, pond, or river the purchase may not be very prudent, but if it is like on our island it is prudent to have one on hand. Even after the water is filtered it should be boiled for 1/2 hour then treated with unscented chlorine bleach. In some extremely isolated areas, a second well with a hand pump may be a wise investment.
  It always comes back to water, we can have all of the equipment under the sun, all of the food we need for years, but for a lack of water, it is all in vain. Prepare for water first, then food, but have both available, and plan to make water some way, without it we cannot survive very long.
  Thank you for reading and sharing my blog, give some thought to water and preparations for a one week period at least, a six month period is recommended plans for longer should be centered around dehydrated meals, and of course plenty of water. Thanks again, I hope this all makes sense.
jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com