Tag: water

Water

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comWater

Water is essential for drinking, cooking, washing, flushing toilets and laundry. People need a litre (about 2 pints) of water a day, just for drinking.

No Power – No Water

Depending on where you live, if the power supplies go down, you may have interruptions in water supply (if you live on a hill and water is pumped). If fuel supplies are restricted or chemicals cannot be imported, the water provided may not be of drinking quality.

Bottled Water

You may wish to store some bottled water in the house, in case supplies are interrupted. You may also wish to get a supply of water purification tablets in case the tap water is not of drinking quality. Alternatively, you can boil it, if there is power. You may also want to filter the water, using a sieve and kitchen roll.

It would also be useful to include bottled water in any emergency bags you make up in case you have to leave the house. Large bottles of water are more economical to buy, however, smaller bottles will be easier to transport in bags if necessary.

Other Supplies


If supplies go off, you need to plan what to do for flushing toilets (don’t flush for pee, only for the brown stuff). If extreme measures are called for, then line your toilet with a black plastic bin bag and dispose of it every few days. You may have to put off washing laundry and having baths or showers. A bucket is useful for carrying water. A washing up bowl is useful for washing dishes with a limited supply or if the power is off for the dishwasher.

If you have a garden, you could plan to store water in a rain barrel, for emergency use. A large water butt can hold 200 to 300 litres of water. This may sound a lot but just flushing the toilet may use up 70 litres per person per day for older toilets and half that for low flush toilets. For a two person household that means 70 to 140 litres of water a day, just for flushing the toilet. That would soon empty one water butt. If you have an older toilet, you can add a water saver to the cistern, to reduce the amount of water used in one flush.

Stay At Home

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comHome

For most people, staying at home is the easiest and safest option in troubled times and it is assumed that this is where you will be.

If you want to stay within your home and not have to go outside to get supplies, you will need to make sure you have enough stuff to last you for about 3 weeks at least, possibly even 6 weeks. You may not use your emergency supplies all the time, you may just need to call on them when there are shortages and then stock them back up again when fresh supplies come in. But isn’t it good to know that you will be able to feed yourself and your family and have some comforts if necessary?

Hopefully, any troubles will be over and supplies will be back in local stores again, within about 6 weeks, though there may be shortages and some items may take a lot longer before supplies are available whenever you want them.

Shelter

Your first priority will be shelter. But with Brexit, hopefully, this will be your own home and with any luck you will have your normal utilities, water, electricity and a cooking stove.

If you need to move out of your home, other preparations will be needed ahead of time, this is dealt with later.

Staying in your own home is the best bet in most cases but you will need to prepare in case any of the utilities (like water, gas and electricity) are interrupted, as well as store food that your family can eat: and store drinking water.

Cooking

How do you cook meals at present?

  • don’t – eat takeaways or eat out
  • electricity
  • piped gas
  • cylinder gas
  • solid fuel stove
  • couple of different methods

Your Plan

Think of how you could manage to cook if the power goes down, or the gas or fuel are delayed. If you have only electricity for cooking, for instance, you will need to think of another way of being able to cook. Maybe you have a coal fire? Maybe you need to buy a portable camping stove? Think about what you need to DO in order to be able to cook. Perhaps you need to stockpile some more gas cylinders or more coal?
What is the Plan……………………………………………………………………………….
When will you do this? ……………………………………………………………………….
What is the Budget? ………………………………………………………………………….