[ibwaldo]

I am trying to come up with my water plan and I am stuck between two ideas:

1) Store 275 to 550 gallons of water in 55 gallon drums. Cost would be $250 for 5 drums and the needed supplies + $45 for each additional drum.

2) I have a small stream just across the road from me. I could get a couple of smallish containers to get the water from the stream to the house and then do a course filtering through some sort of filter (I'm thinking a bed sheet) and then filter through a Berkey water filter into a 55 gallon drum for storage. Cost would be $550 give or take using a Crown Berkey with 4 filters including the smaller containers and the 55 gallon drum.

My thought for getting the Crown Berkey with 4 filters as opposed to a smaller less expensive one is twofold. It will filter water at up to 13 gallons an hour and that should allow me to make a 55 gallon "batch" of water in less than a day and I live in Utah where there is a high concentration of Mormons. They are very diligent at storing food. If needed I could swap my clean drinking water for food.

Right now I am leaning towards option 2 for several reasons:
* Option 1 has a large storage footprint
* Option 1 has maintenance involved with water rotation and cleaning of the drums.
* What happens when you run out your stored water
* Option 2 eliminates the problems I listed above and would allow me to help out others and that could prove to be beneficial to my family as well

So, what are your thoughts? Am I overlooking something? Is there a better plan that would be less expensive and still have the benefits I see with option 2? Thanks for any insight!

 

[PolsVoice]

if you have access to a reliable water source that isn't dependent on someone pressurizing a pipe and sending it to you, option #2 is ideal. Less space, less hassle, less expense.

What feeds your "small stream"? a spring? Runoff? If so from where? Has it ever run dry during drought? If it has, do you have regular enough rain for collection. Option #1 might be preferable if the water source is unreliable.

 

[Mudinyeri]

Diversify. Do both. That way you're prepared if the stream becomes so polluted that you can't adequately treat the water or if you run out of stored water.

 

[theg33k]

Definitely a combination of both. If you live in a dry place lean more towards storage, if there's a good chance for fresh water nearby then lean towards filtering. For example, I live in Florida and there's seemingly water every quarter mile in every direction. So filtering is priority 1 for me. If you live in the middle of Nevada? Storage.

 

[Bonehead]

I fully agree to do both. I would also do some testing of the spring water to see what it is before you plan to survive by drinking it. test it several times a year and see whats in it. if it has a strong fertilizer run off you need to plan for that and make sure your filter system can remove it. early summer and mid summer will probably have the most fertilizer but there could be other things as well.

 

[Groo]

has that stream EVER gone dry?

 

[AwPhuch]

has that stream EVER gone dry?

Actually....yes

 

[slugger6]

Diversify. Do both.

Definitely a combination of both.of Nevada?

I fully agree to do both.

My thoughts as well. Hedge your bets and employ a combination of both methods.

 

[AwPhuch]

P.S. When in doubt..you can filter the big stuff out of water...then get it about 160-170 F and it will be safe to drink

Google Solar water Pasteurizers
http://safewatersystems.com/sunray_1000

 

[Bonehead]

P.S. When in doubt..you can filter the big stuff out of water...then get it about 160-170 F and it will be safe to drink

Google Solar water Pasteurizers
Solar Water Pasteurizer|Solar Water Purifier|Solar Desalinator - SunRay 1000 Solar Water Pasteurizer

heat will kill bacteria but what about chemicals? pesticide... fertilizer... whatever else might be in there.

 

[Ruaerikoholic]

Do both, when you leave to go to the stream your putting yourselves, and others in dangers.

Also incase your water storage is compromised you can use the stream, of course you can do both to replenish the sources, and your could always use a system like this for bartering.

 

[motorsporting]

Both! I have a handfull of gallons, bottles, an electronic purifier, and a few bottles of those purifying tablets. Remember, you can always boil water, and sit it in the sun (UV rays) for 3 days.

 

[1TONPSD]

Both, but if you are only gunna do one then go with filtration.

 

[saltair]

I have a (spring fed) stream behind my house that also catches farm land runoff after a heavy rain. What type (make) filtering system will purify the fertilizer and chemical pollutants?

 

[ackks]

I'm with everyone else, do both. There are a lot of variables which could render that stream unusable. Water is one of those things in an emergency you can never have too much of.

 

[ibwaldo]

I believe you are all correct in thinking both is the way to go. I have only lived here for a month, so I have no idea just how reliable the stream would be over the long haul. I think I will start looking for a bulk water tank instead of doing a bunch of drums.

 

[iCreek]

I opted for both, but store cases of bottled water and rotate them around every few months. Our source is a natural spring and it is underground and we have a pipe that goes to a cattle waterer. So my plan would be to take 5 gallon water jugs down to the cattle waterer and collect the water staight from the pipe. We also have a well and I guess there are mechanical ways of retreiving waters from the well shaft?