WSSC: WATER

RiderOnTheStorm

Been a while since the Weekly Survival Skills Class had an entry. I thought we could do Water next ........ I dont have much to contribue here, just hoping y'all have something. I will pose a few questions though ...

Water:
OK, we can survive on bottled stuff for a while (how long?) and maybe use the stuff in the water tank in the attic. But after that, we need to collect it and purify it.
Where is best to get it? Can it be collected from rain-fall? Is it safe to drink or does it need to be treated? How good is the stuff in rivers / streams? After ZA day there will prob be no industrial scale contamination of rivers / lakes.
How can it be treated? UV treatment is good (leave it out in the sun in bottles). Boiling it removes 80-90% of contaminants (I believe). Is this good enough? Are there home-treatments that can be done?

Is there any good sources of fairly large quantities of water that we could utalise (instead of the obvious streams / bottles-in-shops). Swimming pools? Olde water-pumps at the side of country-roads? Do farmers / firebrigade stations have large quantities stored?

take it away Z-forumers !!


*hope ScumLord done mind me posting the next thread in the series ;-) *

ScumLord

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

*hope ScumLord done mind me posting the next thread in the series ;-) *

I could have been dead, or turned, you where right to go on without me. Although I may have to hunt you down in some revenge pact, I probably won't be able to find the time (to lazy).

Ireland is covered in underground springs and if you head to the mountains you'll find streams that are pretty clean.

I have a spring on me land so I'm sorted.

There doesn't seem to be any nationwide map for spring locations but there is a better record of holy wells with some information about rough locations here http://www.holywell.seomraranga.com/holywellsireland.htm (although I'd say you'd need local knowledge to find them.)

ScumLord

Biosand filters are being used in third world countries to make clean drinking water very cheaply. They seem like the easiest way to filter water.

It uses a combination of good bacteria and sand to filter the water and can clean most contaminates. It looks like it takes some time for the system to get up to full speed as a layer of bacteria needs to form on the top of the filter it also looks like you need to feed the system constantly to keep the bacteria layer well feed.

Here are two guides for building the system, there are videos on Youtube if you search for biosand filter but they're not to in depth.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16157866/Biosand-Filter-Construction-Guide-Copy

http://www.cawst.org/assets/File/Biosand_Filter_Manual_Version_10_Sep09.pdf

As these are designed for third world countries it will be easy enough to source the parts which are basically sand, gravel, tubing and a bucket. Nature provides the bacteria automatically.

CIARAN_BOYLE

biggest worry with river water is contamination. How do we know that Zombie x wasn't killed upstream and that the water is not contaminated with that zombies blood. If contaminated will drinking the water result if becoming a zombie.

ScumLord

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

biggest worry with river water is contamination. How do we know that Zombie x wasn't killed upstream and that the water is not contaminated with that zombies blood. If contaminated will drinking the water result if becoming a zombie.

Depends how long the disease lasts outside the body, it's probably not too long. Once the disease dies off zombies could be relatively clean, in the zombie survival guide the disease was lethal to all other forms of life even the bacteria that breaks down the body that would make a normal dead body much more of a danger in the water supply.

Irish rivers are pretty bad for pollution from farms but streams would be largely unaffected. With human farming on the decline after the outbreak Irish waterways could clean up pretty quickly.

Micky Dolenz

Rain water harvesting is where it's at.

Simply re-dirvert a gutter down pipe through an upstairs bathroom window and into the bath, unplugging to control levels. Constant supply of clean water in this part of the world.

ScumLord

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Rain water harvesting is where it's at.

Simply re-dirvert a gutter down pipe through an upstairs bathroom window and into the bath, unplugging to control levels. Constant supply of clean water in this part of the world.

Many people still seem to filter rainwater. Your roof and pipes won't be all that clean, you'll have decaying organic matter in there which means bacteria and molds.

The biosand system would work very well with collected rainwater, especially in Ireland. Your supposed to have water running through the filter all the time to keep the good bacteria alive and healthy. You'll be pretty much guaranteed they'll be well looked after with it seemingly raining everyday in Ireland.

RiderOnTheStorm

Does anyone know how much water an individual would need on a daily basis?

Very Clean:
I guess a litre or two to drink, plus another for cooking / tea etc.

Not So Clean:
many litres (but on a less regular basis) washing clothes, dishes, automatic weapons, etc

Any Water Will Do:
(even more litres but on even less regular basis) Flushing toilets, washing blood & gore off the windshield of your Anti-Z vehicle

ScumLord

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

Does anyone know how much water an individual would need on a daily basis?

You get the majority of your water needs from your food, remember that just about everything is mostly water especially if your eating raw foods.

Very Clean:
I guess a litre or two to drink, plus another for cooking / tea etc.

A litre a day would be more than enough.

Not So Clean:
many litres (but on a less regular basis) washing clothes, dishes, automatic weapons, etc

That's river and rainwater which we have in abundance in Ireland.