"Ema Nymton" > wrote in message
...
> On 8/27/2012 6:05 PM, Kalmia wrote:
>> Hurricane tip: fill a large, clean, trash barrel with water. and put
>> the lid on it. If you lose power, you can set this barrel in the sun
>> after the storm and at least not have to take cold showers. Don a
>> bikini, soap up a use this warm water to rinse.
>>
>> Filling the bathtub is for toilet flushing and maybe some hand laundry.
>> Even if you don't need it, you can use it for flushing later.
>>
>> For cooking, I fill clean, bleach-sanitized jugs with water. I keep a
>> collection of about 30 clean jugs on hand and sanitize at the beginning
>> of the season. Push to shove, I guess I could drink it too if desperate.
>> If I don't lose my running water, then I just dump the 30 gallons into
>> the washer and do a cold wash. Drought conditions mandate this, plus my
>> water bill.
>>
>> I've been without elec. for long periods, and I'll tell ya, I'll take
>> water over elec. ANY day.
>
>
> Good advice, thanks. After a hurricane, our water is seldom turned off,
> but you might have to boil the water before you can use it. We have a gas
> water heater, so we can still take showers. Our electricity has been off
> for 3+ weeks, though. That is the worst part, especially in August when it
> is 99 degrees outside.

I must admit that I can't see the cause for quite so much faffing around.

I live in the country and we supply our own water and only use or have acess
to what we store ourselves. This water is in the form of rainwater. On our
house we have at tank (USian is 'cistern' I think) that holds 5,000 gallons
and that is used for drinking and showering and clothes washing. We have a
garden tank that is filled from a bore that is used for flushing and garden
water.

We never treat this water in any way. During the 10 years of drought we had
here, our housetank ran out perhaps on 2 occasions and when that happened we
had to pump water up to the housetank from the 5,000 gallon tanks on either
the shearing shed or the machinery shed. These tanks have held rainwater
for years. It sits there untreated and unused till the housetank runs out.
We've never had any problem using it. But then it is stored in the dark
without any possibility of vermin entering the tanks and any excess inflow
just runs out of the overflow. Perhaps the overflow serves ins oem way to
keep it refreshed, but I'd have my doubts about that since if flow in at the
top of the tank and also flows out again at the top.