On 8/27/2012 7:22 PM, Farm1 wrote:

> 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.

Heh, I like the word "faffing". My family had a 300 acre farm outside of
town, we had a water well with a windmill, an enclosed tank and a fount
that was on ground level to water the livestock, they also had a lake to
supply them with water. We never treated the water at the farm, either.

We live in the city, with city water, this is what worries us. The
public water supply loses pressure when the electricity goes out, making
it possible for contaminants to enter water lines.

After a hurricane, we can take showers, flush toilets, do housecleaning
(who wants to?). Hurricane season, arrives when it is hot, 99 (F) or 38
(C). We also have a home office, and we need our computers. We can
survive without power, but we can not earn a living without it.

Becca