Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

I think you'd need to put it through a filtration system first, then boil it and then use the water purification tablets and let it stand for the recommended length of time. Water from water buts not only might harbour bacteria and wildlife due to the time it's been standing but contains all sorts of contamination from the roof of the building it's been collecting water from. Better to over egg the pudding and do all things to make it potable than risk illness at a time when medical help might not be available.

GreyQueen

craigywv wrote: »

Good morning , question, see if we did get water shortages can i go to one of my 3 water butts and scoop out the water , boil it and drink it? Is this enough to make it safe. I also have water purifacatio n tablets do i boil and add these? Whats the best way to do it thanks x

Hi craigyw, the answers aren't straightforward.

The quality of the water in your water butts will be dependant on several factors; the cleanliness/ contaminants on the roof it drained from, and in the guttering and downpipes. Which itself will vary if you are urban (I think you're urban?) or rural, and what industrial pollutants may be in the rain.

Then there is the issue of the container itself, what is that made of? My lottie water butts are food grade barrels, f'rinstance. Then there's what may have fallen into the butt, assuming no lid, such as bird poop, and and other debris? And also how stagnant is the water? Are insects breeding in it? Do you draw it off regularly, or is it sitting festering? And what is the temperature like, is it summer or winter?

You would really want to filter the water first, for debris. If you don't have a water filter, you can improvise with clean textiles, such as teatowels, teeshirts, tights, things like that. This should get the debris out.

Then you can boil it. Or treat it with purification tablets as per their instructions. Or treat it with Milton Liquid.

Boiling won't make water contaminated with chemicals potable. It will concentrate chemicals and may cause fumes to arise which could affect your health. Boiling also requires fuel in some form, which you may not have.

My great-grands on one side lived at an isolated cottage with no water supply. There was a pond in the garden, which was used for household water but not drinking, but potable water was carried home by my great-grandad in earthenware jars from wherever he was working, in the pony cart, and strained through several layers of muslin.

Lot of work. But they raised 11 healthy and long-lived kids in that cottage.

If the water supply is iffy, err on the side of extreme caution and be very wary about water quality. Getting it wrong can reduce a healthy person to a wreck hitting the toilet from both ends, to be vulgar. For the old, the very young, or the already poorly, it could be a killer.

happydays89

We went to Aldi yesterday and they had reduced all the Halloween stuff to 20p each,well worth buying and putting away for next year.We managed to buy 20 glow in the dark torches (9 led) they come with 3 aaa batteries,they were 20p each,worth a look if your passing one.

mardatha

Craigy I'd only drink bottled water and use the stuff from the butts for washing and cleaning.

GreyQueen

happydays89 wrote: »

We went to Aldi yesterday and they had reduced all the Halloween stuff to 20p each,well worth buying and putting away for next year.We managed to buy 20 glow in the dark torches (9 led) they come with 3 aaa batteries,they were 20p each,worth a look if your passing one.

:T Brill idea. I was thinking about this time last week that it might be worth checking out Halloween (and later Xmas) themed paper plates/ bowls/ cups if there were any going for pennies. If the water is down, you can save some hassle by switching temporarily onto paper platery.

Have just mended a shirt with a 3 inch bit if bias tape saved in the stash, the whole quantity of tape was bought for pennies at a boot fair, and this wee bit was left over from an earlier project, and has now found its role in life. I absolutely love mending things, it makes me happy in a strange sort of way.

Ach well, I never pretend I'm normal on here. I do a bit, IRL. If someone not a close friend were to want to discuss prepping, for example, I would be all vague and not have any idea about it at all.

I very much like people to underestimate me nearly all of the time, it makes life so much more restful if you just want to be left alone to get on with your own stuff. Let the whizz kids whizz away for all I care.

I always have a nagging worry that someone in authority will discover how much I enjoy my simple life and try to put the kibosh on it.

Softstuff

GreyQueen wrote: »

If the water supply is iffy, err on the side of extreme caution and be very wary about water quality. Getting it wrong can reduce a healthy person to a wreck hitting the toilet from both ends, to be vulgar. For the old, the very young, or the already poorly, it could be a killer.

Over here rather a lot of people have water tanks rather than a purified town water supply. I've contracted giardia a couple of times from this (it's a pretty common cause of it over here) and having a delicate stomach, it takes generally more than one dose of pretty strong antibiotics and a few weeks to get over. As we are now, we take water bottles from our purified town water supply with us if we're going anywhere like that. In the event of having no option but to use it, I'd boil. And maybe boil again.

On the subject of people thinking you're odd, I've found it more beneficial to happily accept and promote the idea I'm eccentric. You get away with far more like that . My halloween goodies are esconced in a safe place for next year (purchased at 75% off - they'll entertain my friends kids). And I've just retrieved my Christmas box (cards, decorations and whatnot) from a relatives garage. People who know me well fully anticipate this kind of behaviour from me now!

I shall be cutting my own hair tomorrow and celebrating my own nuttiness.

GreyQueen

Ooh, giardia, have heard of that. Nasty stuff.

I'm not sure about eccentricity, though? I thought the prerequistite for eccentricity was a certain degree of solvency? As in, I think I may be too poor to qualify as a genuine eccentric and may just be Odd.

Gonna take my odd-self up to the library and see what's what, part of it is open on Sundays, how good is that? My council tax £££ at work, and I spend so much of my net income on the bliddy council tax, I like to get my money's worth.

I have met normal people but I'm not sure I trusted them; they must have been hiding something, don't you think?!

jk0

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

That's interesting on the machine we use when we stream in Firefox (OH preferred browser) it's constantly buffering but with Chrome no problems.

I suspect this depends on the operating system. I agree, I'd certainly expect YouTube to work perfectly on Chrome, as they are both Google products, but maybe Chrome isn't quite as compatible with Vista as Firefox.

jk0

craigywv wrote: »

Good morning , question, see if we did get water shortages can i go to one of my 3 water butts and scoop out the water , boil it and drink it? Is this enough to make it safe. I also have water purifacatio n tablets do i boil and add these? Whats the best way to do it thanks x

Ooh, no Craigywv. Toilet flushing only my dear. Think of the number of birds that crap on your roof.

craigywv

lol jko that thought had crossed my mind also goodness knows what else! thanks for all who answered . so I shall bear in mind what I have been told. see I asked my oh there now did he think boiling it would make it safe and was told oh yeah boiling kills everything so its not just me was thinking that, maybe more peeps also think boiling kills all...........will be informing ds when he returns from carboot sale too. thanks again xxx