I am a bit of a newbie and have a question. I see people talking about storing lots of water. I have a Berkey water filter with 4 extra filters. I have a generator to run the well pumps. Here is my question. I have a 16 X 32 pool that is 6 feet deep...so lots of water there. Would you consider this adequate for stored water? Supposedly my Berkey will filter out the bacteria and chlorine so it is suitable for drinking or I could boil it if I had to. I think my husband would freak if I suddenly wanted to find a place to store hundreds of gallons of water...LOL.
Question about storing water.
- Thread starter mom21
- Start date
data junkie
Membership Revoked
I'm no expert, but it sounds like a good option to have available to you. Certainly pool water can be used for flushing and other chores. Chlorine evaporates, and I don't know what other chemicals you may have added that you'd want to remove before it is drinkable. Are your filters charcoal? Otherwise distilling the water would make it drinkable.
The only problem I can think of is as your pool is an open source, depending on your location which you have not posted, there may be a remote threat of the pool water becoming contaminated by radioactive fallout. In that scenario, I think you would just have to filter out the radioactive fallout particles, and then the water is good. Shane would know if a Berkley could grab that, and my guess is that it would, but that you would be at risk of exposure as you performed the process. Yet most likely the radiation would be at safe levels within two weeks anyway if I've understood what Shane's said about the grades of radioactive substances thought available with regards to terrorism threats (anyone correct me if I'm wrong), and so you may just need a two week water source that is not exposed but safely covered and stored away from the fallout. Then after the two week window, you could use your pool water.
The only problem I can think of is as your pool is an open source, depending on your location which you have not posted, there may be a remote threat of the pool water becoming contaminated by radioactive fallout. In that scenario, I think you would just have to filter out the radioactive fallout particles, and then the water is good. Shane would know if a Berkley could grab that, and my guess is that it would, but that you would be at risk of exposure as you performed the process. Yet most likely the radiation would be at safe levels within two weeks anyway if I've understood what Shane's said about the grades of radioactive substances thought available with regards to terrorism threats (anyone correct me if I'm wrong), and so you may just need a two week water source that is not exposed but safely covered and stored away from the fallout. Then after the two week window, you could use your pool water.
Topusaret
Deceased
Good question. I have a 7800 gal in-ground pool that I keep the chlorine level
@ 3 ppm. I would think the only real problem would be avoiding evaporation and keeping critters and debris out of it. Sooooo, I'm probably going to get a good cover for it soon and figure out a battery operated pump to get it inside the house, which is 30 feet or so away.
Anyone have anything else that should be thought of for pool-water comsumption that I haven't?
@ 3 ppm. I would think the only real problem would be avoiding evaporation and keeping critters and debris out of it. Sooooo, I'm probably going to get a good cover for it soon and figure out a battery operated pump to get it inside the house, which is 30 feet or so away.
Anyone have anything else that should be thought of for pool-water comsumption that I haven't?
Put fish in it and use it as an additional source of protein. After the chlorine and algae chemicals have dissapated, of course. The fish will live on the bugs and mosquitos that land on the surface. You can occasionally throw in some fish food if you want. It would be like filtering lake water. You can make some sort of catchment to replenish the water levels, too.
Mushroom
Mushroom
The potential for radioactivity would be my biggest concern, as well. Also, there is a chance of EMP taking out things like well pumps, generators, etc.
NOT a large chance, I don't think...but who really knows.
We have an artesian well which runs 15 gallons a minute of wonderful water. We've set it up so a few minutes work will divert the overflow into the basement... where we can then divert it to a drain that runs to the drainage system around the house. "Just in case", of course, we can't safely go outside and draw water from the well with buckets.
But... I still have enough water stored for the 11 people I would expect to be here in a major SHTF scenario. Essentially, one 4' X 18" 5 shelf unit full of 2 quart juice bottles. Yeah... it seems over the top at times.
But oddly enough, it's one of the preps we've used more than almost any other... when the well pump went bad and we had to work on it.. grabbed a bottle of water and set them at every sink. When the power goes off, we don't want to run the big generator (it runs the whole farm) all the time. So once chores are done and the milk is cool... no water in the house. Except for the convenience of fresh bottles available any time someone wants a drink.
With your preps, you probably don't need to store a ton... but maybe 5 gallons per person (enough for 10 days of drinking water if you were very careful) wouldn't be a bad idea.
Summerthyme
NOT a large chance, I don't think...but who really knows.
We have an artesian well which runs 15 gallons a minute of wonderful water. We've set it up so a few minutes work will divert the overflow into the basement... where we can then divert it to a drain that runs to the drainage system around the house. "Just in case", of course, we can't safely go outside and draw water from the well with buckets.
But... I still have enough water stored for the 11 people I would expect to be here in a major SHTF scenario. Essentially, one 4' X 18" 5 shelf unit full of 2 quart juice bottles. Yeah... it seems over the top at times.
But oddly enough, it's one of the preps we've used more than almost any other... when the well pump went bad and we had to work on it.. grabbed a bottle of water and set them at every sink. When the power goes off, we don't want to run the big generator (it runs the whole farm) all the time. So once chores are done and the milk is cool... no water in the house. Except for the convenience of fresh bottles available any time someone wants a drink.
With your preps, you probably don't need to store a ton... but maybe 5 gallons per person (enough for 10 days of drinking water if you were very careful) wouldn't be a bad idea.
Summerthyme
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
Pool water is great for flushing toilets, bathing, washing dishes, and so on. But for cooking and drinking it's very problematical. The chlorine is not the problem, the other chemicals you might have added are.
Even with a good quality carbon block filter it's mostly unknown as to whether or not it's really filtering out the questionable chemicals.
.....Alan.
Even with a good quality carbon block filter it's mostly unknown as to whether or not it's really filtering out the questionable chemicals.
.....Alan.
We have a cistern in the cellar of our 200 plus year old house farmhouse that is gravity fed from a spring box located on our property which is used for all of our gray water. The spring box also directly feeds our main kitchen faucet, two outside faucets and the downstairs bathroom faucet, by passing the cistern. I have been wondering for a long time if this is a long term viable water source, and would it be safe from radio active fallout? Should I still be storing water?
Any opinions would be much appreciated.
Sorry mom21 for the thread hijack
Any opinions would be much appreciated.
Sorry mom21 for the thread hijack
Nope. We have a floater that I keep chlorine tablets in. Then about once every month or two, hubby checks and adds in a few gallons of the liquid chlorine you get at the pool store. I never understood why people have so much trouble with pools. Ours is clear and clean and never ever had a problem. We've lived here for 4 years and had a pool at our other house for 3. Did the same thing. Never cloudy or green. We do have a auto cleaner that runs across the bottom every day or two for about 4 hours. But no chemicals.
Topusaret
Deceased
I know what you mean, mom21. I never have trouble with my pool...drop a couple of chlorine tabs in once a week, and done. Clean the filter once a month.
I've added a total of 1 1/2 cups of muriatic acid to keep the ph correct over the past year, but it must be pretty diluted in 7800 gollons. I think I'll get a solar blanket for it that goes edge to edge, and then get a tarp big enough to cover it with a couple of feet overlap for TSHTF and take my chances. I have other water stored, but this seems like a highly usable source here in the desert in an emergency if I can solve the debris and critter problem.
I've added a total of 1 1/2 cups of muriatic acid to keep the ph correct over the past year, but it must be pretty diluted in 7800 gollons. I think I'll get a solar blanket for it that goes edge to edge, and then get a tarp big enough to cover it with a couple of feet overlap for TSHTF and take my chances. I have other water stored, but this seems like a highly usable source here in the desert in an emergency if I can solve the debris and critter problem.