This past week, approximately 300,000 Americans were without water for over 4 days.

Water ban lifted for part of W. Virginia

In light of W. Virginia's water crisis, it is a perfect opportunity to ask the following questions:

How long would you're family last without a safe water source?

Short Term:
Do you have water stockpiled?

sterilized 2 liter soda bottles purchased bottles like Ozarka
food grade blue barrels (keep them off concrete to prevent leaching of chemicals)
hard plastic water blocks

Long Term:
Do you have a safe water source for collection and purification?

river, pond, stream
water well
rain barrels How to create a rain barrel

Remember, the recommended amount of water storage is 1 gal. / person / day. That is under "normal" conditions and is for survival consumption only. This ratio does not include bathing, cleaning, pets or livestock.

Purifying:
There are several methods. I'm not a member of LDS, but their information is very useful!
Link: LDS Drinking Water Guidelines 

Recently I purchased the Sawyer Point Zero Two gravity fed filter system. It's claims to filter bacteria as well as viruses. Viruses are not an issue in today's North American society, but should sewage treatment systems collapse, this could change. The ability to back wash the filter gives it an extremely long life of 1 million liters of water!



The Sawyer still has its limits. It will not filter chemicals, pesticides, or heavy metals. Therefore, we're adding this to our Ceramic filter system. It is our hope that these two filter systems will provide us the cleanest water possible without breaking our budget.