Accessing and Purifying Water During an Emergency

Leonardo da Vinci said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.”

How true! It is essential to life itself. Without it there would be no trees or flowers, rivers or lakes, snow covered mountaintops or oceans. Most importantly, there would be no “us” because humans need water to survive. In fact, water comprises 60-70% of the average human body, or the equivalent of fourteen gallons of water.1

In other words, each person is carrying almost three 5-pound buckets of water around each day. Equally important is the fact that the body has a low tolerance for water loss, and loses as much as 3 quarts every day through normal biological processes. On a typical day, a person sweats, urinates and breathes away the equivalent of three-quarters of a gallon of water or as much as 10% of their body weight.

Clearly, people cannot go long without water, which is precisely why it is important to know how to get clean drinking water on any given day, in any kind of situation.

Given the number of natural and man-made disasters occurring in the world on a routine basis, understanding how to find and clean at least one half gallon of water each day in order to survive is critical. Unfortunately, most people are often at a loss as to 170 Gallons a Day 3 how they can access drinkable water if it doesn’t come from a tap.

In terms of survival, water only comes behind finding shelter during an emergency. If you have shelter, then water moves to first place. Since some kind of shelter is usually available, accessing clean water is a top priority.

In the following sections, the world of survival water in an urban setting is explored in detail. If you live in the city or suburbs, this book will be an invaluable source of information on meeting your long-term fresh water needs if disaster strikes.

You will learn about typical water contaminants, methods for collecting water, steps for emergency urine recycling, and how to purify water using a variety of natural methods. By the end of this report, you will know how to obtain enough clean water to survive on a daily basis during a disaster by taking advantage of any available water, no matter how contaminated.