WATER LOCATION AND PURIFICATION
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By Christopher Nyerges
[Nyerges has been teaching self-reliance and survival skills since 1974. He is the founder of the School of Self-Reliance. He is the author of 27 books, including “Urban Survival Guide,” and “How to Survive Anywhere,” which include extensive sections on water. More information at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]
URBAN WATER
Even in the most dire situation where your world is turned upside down, you need water. It is the most essential element for life. In the event of some urban emergency, water may, or may not, still be flowing through the pipes that feed the city.
Let’s explore where you might get your water in the city, and then we’ll consider a few water purification methods.
WHERE IS THE WATER?
Where do you find water in the urban wilderness? It’s there, obviously, because all the people couldn’t be there if there wasn’t any. But the streams and rivers and lakes are all too often cemented over, or in underground tubes. The water is there, but how do you find it?
GET A MAP
Begin by purchasing a topographical map of wherever you live and examine it for any water features. On your map of your area, study it for all the places where water might be captured or held. Reservoirs are everywhere, and these are potential sources of water, obviously. Also, study the area where you live on Google Maps. Look for water features, fountains, swimming pools, reservoirs.
Take a visit to your local reservoirs and see how easy, or difficult, it might be to extract some water. If there are several reservoirs near your town, go to several. It can be very easy to walk right up to these reservoirs, but not always. They may be fenced and locked, and some maybe hidden in plain view.
Reservoirs may or may not be a viable water source, depending on many factors. Keep in mind that everyone else in town might know about the reservoirs, so only expose yourself if absolutely necessary, and go to the reservoir with friends. Don’t forget the weight of water – more than 8 pounds a gallon. Do you have buckets for carrying water? Can you carry it all the way to your home?
SWIMMING POOLS
Closer to home, there are likely swimming pools in your area. You can do a google map search of your area, and presto!, you’ll see where every pool is located in your neighborhood. These will hold water for some time after a disaster, and the water can be used, even though FEMA does not recommend using pool water because of the chemicals added to the water. But you should still know where the pools are located and get to know those neighbors. You can filter and boil any water for consumption, and though that doesn’t make it 100% safe, it will get you through an emergency. And you need water for bathing and first aid too, so that water is valuable. And the closer to your home or base of operations the better, because water weighs about 8 pounds a gallon, and that can really add up.
FOUNTAINS
Ornamental fountains are another good emergency source of water, at least initially. These can be found in residential areas, public gardens, and even commercial areas. The more you know about your area the better. These may or may not be on a map, so you should always be alert to water features in your area, and mark them on your map.
IN AND AROUND THE HOME
Nearly every home has a water heater, and this is from 30 to 40 gallons of usable water. If you are wise, you drain a little bit of water from the drain of your water heater every few months. This helps get rid of settlement, and actually can extend the life of your water heater. But if you are like most people, you never do this and so when you turn on your drain to get water, nothing will come out! The bottom of the water heater is clogged with sediment, and you’ll have to shove a shish-ka-bob skewer, or a wire, up the drain to open it.
Other home sources of water include toilet tanks, ice cubes, and obviously any stored water at the home.
AROUND TOWN
Water features are common in many urban areas, though you’d have to purify it before using it.
There are also water spigots all throughout the urban areas, often hidden in plain sight. They are often under a ledge, or behind a little door, in business districts –usually a hose spigot that the business owners use to attach a hose and wash the front of their store. If you know where these are, you should have a silcock key to turn on the water.
There are also hydrants, and miscellaneous plumbing all throughout the urban areas which you should become familiar with. These might be related to irrigating lawns, and golf courses, or they might be the fixtures that control water going into a building. Some of these fixtures have points where you can easily access the water, and some do not. If you cannot determine this, bring a plumber-friend with you to see if you could access the water in an emergency.
Remember, if there is water flowing in the pipes, there is probably a way to access it, though you might need specialized tools.
INTERFACE
Most urban areas have streams, rivers, lakes, and maybe even springs scattered around town. Study your topographical map to learn where they are. If you must walk, then all water sources cannot be a long distance from your base of operations because of the weight of the water.
RAIN
Always be ready to take advantage of the rain, and be sure to put out your rain buckets. In the urban setting, your roof is your “collector,” and all the rain that hits that roof drips down to the gutters, and down to the downspouts. It’s easy to get 30 gallons of rain in a downpour.
The first water from the storm will usually be dirty-looking, full of all manner of debris washing off your roof, leaves, and bird feces. So if you did not keep your roof clean, let the first half-hour of rain clean your roof and then start collecting for consumption.
How do you process rainwater? Let it settle, and then carefully scoop it out of your bucket, cup by cup, and pour it through a fine cotton cloth. We typically put a funnel on top of our storage bottles, and lay a cotton cloth into that. The cotton helps to collect any fine debris in the water, and then you should boil it before use.
If your rainwater looks like dark tea, it might still be OK to drink if you really have nothing else, but you might consider using it for something else.
SIDEBARS
PURIFICATION METHODS
So you now have water under adverse conditions. You can’t be certain that it is potable. How do you purify it?
FIRE/ HEAT
Fire is your best way to kill all the biological contaminants that might be in your water. You just need a pot and the ability to get a fire going.
How long must you boil to kill all organisms? Since everything that gets you sick is dead at 160 to 170 degrees f., your water is good to go once you bring it to a boil. (There are some rare exceptions to this).
THE SUN. Yes, you can purify your water from the sun, and the water is purified by a combination of the UV rays, and heat.
You can actually fill up quart-sized glass jars and place them into the sun for a low-tech pasteurization. In general, about 6 hours in full sun was adequate for pasteurization. In this case, the UV rays sterilized the water.
FILTERS
There are many water filters which you can buy from backpacking stores or on-line. The “Cadillac” of water filters is the Katadyn, and they have several models. Another popular water filter is the Sawyer.
SIDEBAR
Extracted from Christopher Nyerges’ “How To Survive Anywhere” book.
WATER OBSERVATION RULE OF THREE
According to hydrologist Talal Balaa, always begin with three simple observations:
1. Does it look good? Is the water cloudy? Are there things in the water?
2. Does it smell good? Do you detect the odor of chemicals? Do you detect the odor of rotten eggs or vegetation?
3. Does it taste alright? Taste some with your tongue. Is there any astringency? Do you detect anything unpleasant?
If these observations have desirable results, then proceed to the bare-bones seat-of-the-pants method for water purification.
WATER PURIFICATION RULE OF THREE
Again, hydrologist Balaa gives us the following three-step process:
1. Filter the water through a cloth.
2. Allow the sediment and particulate matter in the water to settle.
3. Carefully scoop out the water, and boil it. If you have no way to boil the water, use chemicals. If you have no chemicals, use the sun.
