What If You Instantly Had No Water?

As if the solar storm troubles of last week weren’t enough, we also discovered that we had no water Friday afternoon. Everything was working fine that morning, but then family members started complaining that we had no water pressure at all.

Seeing as though most people overexaggerate problems around here, I investigated the problem myself. After a single handle turn I was able to confirm that my family wasn’t entirely crazy. We had no water pressure whatsoever.

So, I did the sensible thing and called a higher authority – the local water company. They confirmed that there was a water main break and that they were working on it. But the lady was hard to hear on the phone, so I didn’t get an ETA on when the problem might be fixed. Not wanting to hear more complaints, I went to the library for a few hours. (Yes, that’s apparently how I deal with a crisis, lol.)

Thankfully, it wasn’t two hours or so until the problem was corrected. Crisis averted.

But what if it hadn’t been corrected so quickly?

We would’ve been fine for a while because I store cases of bottled water and several barrels of clean water even though I do my best to mess things up at times. Even so, I’m sure I would’ve panicked at least a little. I might have even gone to the store and bought every last case of water I could manage if I’d thought about it. But who’s to say others wouldn’t beat me to it by the time I decided to so?

One option I often recommend is that people stash a WaterBOB water bladder and fill that when there’s a possibility of water loss (something I discuss in my latest DIY projects books) but even that solution wouldn’t help in this situation. Only having stored water would’ve worked … or maybe rushing to the store.

Anyway, I just don’t think people understand how important water is to everything we do. Besides our ridiculous reliance on the power grid, water is probably first on the “must have” list of survival supplies. I know most people think about food (and sometimes firearms) when they first consider prepping, but water is far more crucial and does so much more!

Although I don’t recommend it, try going the entire day and night without any liquid consumption at all and see how you feel by the end. My guess is that you’re going to be rather unhappy. And while they say you can survive three days without water, that isn’t long at all. Hell, I can blink and miss three days the older I get.

The fact is that water should be at the top of your list of survival supplies, though there’s a lot more to consider. You should have water stored, possess the ability to collect more especially when it rains, and have a way to purify what you collect.

Of course, this got me to thinking about buying more black Berkey filters. But then I saw the price and decided there’s no way I’ll buy any more Berkey filters; $280 for a pair of filters is utterly ridiculous. So, I’m on the hunt for something different. I haven’t found anything I like yet, but I’ll let you know when I do. Probably.

My questions for you: what situation would you be in if your water stopped instantly? Do you have anything stored for such a scenario? How long could you last if you had to use only your stored water? Do you have pets covered? What if there are family, friends, or neighbors who need your help?

The honest truth is that I just hadn’t expected a sudden loss of water. I understood that if the power went out that we would still have water available for a short time because of the water towers that supply the community. I figured I could act faster than other people and fill containers, my WaterBOBs, buckets, and additional barrels that aren’t entirely clean.

But now it’s obvious that might not always be the case. The life of being a prepper is a nonstop battle, isn’t it? Sometimes I’d rather never have taken this way of life on to begin with. Ugh.