30 Days to better Preparedness. Day 5. Water.

 I hope you had a good weekend and the break gave you time to feel on top of the challenges.  What you can't do, make a note, add things to a shopping list... plan it in and it will get done. 

Todays subject is water.  Mainly by luck this is one of my best areas.  When I started preparing we lived I the city so we were dependant on city water.   At that time I began to store drinking and washing water.   We stacked boxes of spring water and bottles.   I re filled any bottle that came through the house with tap water and stored those.  We added a rain water tank in our yard.  We did not have a huge space but they come in all shapes and sizes now and this meant we had a good amount of rain water at all times. 

When we moved to the farm it was a game changer.   For those not in Australia... farm houses have rain water tanks.  This is usually the main source of drinking water.  There are not water pipes out here.   The animals on the farm are watered by under ground water drawn up, once by windmills, now by solar panels that power a pump.    We are lucky that the underground water is pretty good and very good for stock, bathing, watering the garden and even drinking if needed.   However rain water is much better so we drink that.  It is beautiful.  When you wash your hair in rainwater it is so soft,  an added bonus!

We installed two additional rainwater tanks but there are tanks everywhere.  All roofs collect water, the cabin, the sheds, the shearing shed.  All have huge tanks to hold the water.   So we are totally "off grid" in this regard.   There is emergency water too, also underground, for fire fighting. 

If you see the tractor in the shed this gives you an idea of the tank sizes. 

We all have to work around what we have and where we are.   But I can tell you,  if something happens to interrupt the water supply it is very hard to buy water.  Also the price of a bottle of water goes up ten fold. Just like that!   People are also frantic.  You want to avoid that.

I planned what to do with no water for washing, bathing, drinking, cooking, animals... garden. 

Since not washing before bed would be my total nightmare (and not washing my hair) I purchased a tub.  It is kind of baby bath sized.  I knew I could not hope to bath but with one bucket of warm water I could stand in my tub, wash, pour a bucket of rinse water over my hair and feel clean.   Then that water would go on the garden or flush the toilet.    I had practice at this since the entire state of South Australia had a power outage.  So everything I did to that date got a good test run and my tub bath was actually wonderful.  Again people who go camping have good ideas on this.   There are good set ups for a shower that take a bucket of water or less. 

We are not just storing water we also need to think long and hard about making that water last.   Every drop becomes important.   I do not use paper plates and disposables but in a no water situation I would so I now store some.   I would also cook very simple meals and avoid too many items to have to wash up.  

Water is a very tough one as we can only store so much.  But at least make sure you could get through  a week or more.   It is no use having your pantry well stocked,  a way to cook and not water to drink or cook with.  

In the case of water that is doubtful as far as cleanliness goes and you were in. desperate situation then a good filtration system would come into its own.  Life Straws are a good investment also as they are a portable multi use thing that make water much safer.   The ability to boil water would be invaluable.  

If you are thinking you don't know where you would store water a couple of options are start looking at under bed space, bottoms of cupboards... water is heavy!   Many people these days have low beds that do not have the space underneath they one did.  Look at bed risers.  They give you that extra few inches that make your under bed space fantastic for storage.  If you have a cupboard full of empty canning jars fill them up!   If you know a hurricane or something is coming then fill your laundry tub, washing machine, water bottles, kettle and every container you can think of with water ahead of time.  There are devices called waterBob's  where  you can put in the bath to fill it.  This way the water is not a hazard and it is hygienic.  Also holds a lot! 

Tomorrow we will have a really easy subject to give you time to add some water to your preps and pantry.   

My opportunities also revolve around water.  With Spring and warmer weather in the air I have been out setting containers I have saved to good use as water troughs and bowls. I am trying to get many more watering points established.   If I see an old bath, tub,  bucket... anything that can be filled with water I have collected these to fill up.   I went out today to check on the lambs, they have grown so much!   When the weather is warm daily water checks are important.  When really hot that is twice a day.   I am also adding new sprinklers to the hen houses.  In terrible heat these have kept my chickens going when other people have lost theirs.  So it is long term but still this affects my supply of eggs and is very important. 

See you tomorrow for day 6! xxx