"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
> Farm1 wrote:
>> "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.
>
> I have read about such cisterns but I have also read that they can be
> loaded with bacteria. It's a good thing we don't have to depend on rain
> water here. We'd be very thirsty!

I guess they could become full of bacteria of there was access for vermin,
but I've lived where rainwater in such tanks (cisterns) was the main source
of drinking water for many decades. I've not heard of anyone becoming sick
from drinking it or washing their teeth in it whereas I do know of multiple
alerts to boil any water for drinking and teeth cleaning from a number of
municipal supplies.