Just in Case (46 page)

Chlorine is nothing more than household bleach. Iodine is available in a 2 percent tincture at most pharmacies. I’ve chosen to store only bleach, because iodine lends an unpleasant taste to water and is good for treating only small amounts. However, iodine has its uses, particularly when it comes in the form of lightweight tablets that are easy to carry. So I’ll give directions for both methods here.

BLEACH METHOD

Use only plain bleach, without any fragrances or other additives. The chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) content should be between 4 and 6 percent. The chlorine content diminishes once the jug is opened, so buy only small containers and don’t open them until you need to.

Before purifying, if the water is cold, allow it to come to at least room temperature. If the water is cloudy, try filtering it, as described on page 157. Then add bleach according to the chart below. (If the water remains cloudy, you’ll have to use double the amount of bleach called for in the chart below.) Stir the bleach and water briskly and let it sit for thirty minutes. If the water is cold and/or cloudy, more time will be necessary for the bleach to do its work; let it sit for at least an hour. When the appointed time is up, the water should retain a faint odor of bleach. If you don’t smell bleach, treat the water again.

One note about water disinfected with bleach: it cannot be used to reconstitute powdered milk for yogurt or cheese making until the chlorine has dissipated, as the bacteria necessary for both foods won’t live in the presence of chlorine. If you leave the container open to the air, the chlorine will dissipate; the length of time this will take varies depending on the amount of water in a container and how much bleach you used to obtain clean water. Wait until all odor of chlorine has disappeared. I tried making yogurt with freshly chlorinated water, just to see what would happen, and ended up with some inedible glop. I have not tried to make yogurt with fresh iodine-treated water, but I assume it would not work either.

FLAVDRING PURIFIED WATER

Any water from a new source is an acquired taste that takes a while to get used to. If the water you purify chemically tastes unpleasant, you can add a powdered drink mix or a small amount of lemon or lime juice to taste.

IODINE METHOD

Iodine works to clean small quantities of water. You will need three drops of a 2 percent iodine solution for each quart of clear water, and double that amount if the water is cold or cloudy. Stir the iodine into the water and let it stand for thirty minutes. The bacteria will be killed, but the water turns a funny brown/red color and will taste a bit like iodine.

Iodine water purification tablets are available from sporting goods stores, but they are expensive. I would purchase them only for an evacuation kit.

IDDINE CAUTIDN

Too much iodine can be dangerous for those with iodine allergies, people with thyroid problems, and pregnant and nursing women. In these cases the iodine purification method should not be used.

MECHANICAL PURIFICATION

If you have reason to be very concerned about your water supply, you might consider a mechanical filtering or distillation system. They range from pocket-sized models designed to be carried in a backpack to larger systems intended for whole-house use. Each has different capabilities and drawbacks.

Portable water filters are best for use with evacuation packs. They are small, lightweight, and inexpensive. Typically they resemble water bottles with a filter mounted on the inside. The drawback is that the filter needs to be replaced after about 100 gallons of water has been cleaned. If you are using the water for everything from drinking to washing, 100 gallons gets used up in a hurry.

PDRTABLE WATER FILTER

Another portable option would be an ultraviolet-light sterilizer. This is a small, battery-powered unit that is submerged in a container of water. In ninety seconds a burst of ultraviolet light will purify thirty-two ounces of water.

Other mechanical filters are large and designed to be used at home, attached either to your faucet or your home water supply. They range in price from somewhat to very expensive, but having at least one faucet able to produce clean drinking water can be helpful. Then again, if the municipal water supply or your well stops producing, you might not be able to use one of these larger filters to purify water from other local sources, such as waterways and ponds.

REVERSE OSMOSIS FILTERS

Reverse osmosis (RO) systems were originally designed to process water in submarines, as they will render salty water safe to drink. Basically, water is drawn through carbon prefilter traps that remove sediment and chlorine. Then the water passes through a very fine membrane that removes minerals and impurities. Finally water passes through two more carbon filters that remove any lingering foul odors or bad tastes. These systems cost several hundred dollars and have a long list of replacement parts. It takes a couple of hours to install one, and it will take up a lot of counter space, but an RO filter will provide you with very pure water. The biggest drawback in my opinion is that an RO filter is hooked directly to your water line. If you have no water flow, it doesn’t work.

TABLETDP WATER FILTER

TABLETOP WATER FILTERS

If you want a water filtering system that is very effective, requires no electricity, and can be used anywhere in your home, with any water supply, consider one of the large units such as a Berkey or Katadyn. The unit will hold several gallons of water and can filter up to four gallons of water per hour. Each filter will purify up to 60,000 gallons of water before needing to be replaced. There is no installation: The units simply sit on a counter. They are big, over two feet tall, and heavy, weighing up to twelve pounds, but for home use, that may not be a problem. They cost several hundred dollars.

WATER DISTILLERS

In distillers, water is boiled in one chamber. The steam rises, leaving behind dead microbes, heavy metals, and mineral salts. The steam is condensed and the purified water collected in a storage container. With a good distiller you can purify sixteen gallons of water in twenty-four hours.

The distiller can be used anywhere, as it requires no electricity, but it does require a lot of fuel to keep the water boiling. A distiller will cost several hundred dollars but requires no installation and can be packed away when not in use.

Obviously, a mechanical water purification system is a big-ticket item, and you will want to do your homework to find the one that works best for your particular situation. However, as water woes worsen throughout the world, ensuring a supply of safe water must be a preparedness priority.

GARDENING

A
DISCUSSIDN DF GARDENING
may seem out of place in a book about crisis planning, but having the ability to produce food in or around your home puts you that much closer to the goal of taking care of the needs of yourself and your family in good times and in bad. And that’s really what family preparedness is all about.

A backyard (or windowsill, rooftop, or patio) garden will not substitute for all trips to your local supermarket, nor will a garden alone meet all of a family’s needs during a crisis. However, learning to grow at least some of your own food will go a long way toward reducing your dependence on a food transportation and distribution system that cannot function without electricity and fossil fuel. My goal is not to be totally self-contained but rather to organize my home and property to be as self-reliant as possible in a crisis, whether personal, local, or global. I grow vegetables and fruit to eat fresh in season and to can, dry, pickle, or otherwise preserve for longterm storage. I also have a small backyard greenhouse for starting seeds and growing cold-tolerant vegetables for winter use, and every sunny window in my house is home to something green and edible.

It is October as I type this. The first frost has claimed the last of the green tomatoes, but I have jars of sauce in the pantry, baskets of green tomatoes wrapped in newspaper ripening in the cellar, and in the greenhouse, cherry tomato seedlings that should start to produce fruit during the short, bleak days of January, just when we need it most. Bruce has moved the four dwarf citrus trees from their summer home in the greenhouse to a sunny indoor spot in front of the French doors. The greenhouse brassic as are nearly large enough to harvest and I expect to eat those until early spring, when the spinach and peas take their place. The cellar is brimming with cold-storage potatoes, onions, squash, and apples.

Over the past few years, we have begun to eat more locally and seasonally. What we can’t grow ourselves, we purchase from local farms and orchards. I occasionally miss strawberries in February, but I believe eating this way will save money, energy, and possibly a family farm. It also means that I have food in my larder no matter what happens with the weather or the economy.

I do have one word of warning: gardening is addictive. Once you experience the pure pleasure of eating a ripe tomato, warm from the vine, it becomes nearly impossible to endure one of the little pink golf balls that passes for a tomato in a supermarket in December. In terms of preparedness, I much prefer the sight of a cabinet filled with the fruits of my own labor than any number of cans of food of questionable quality.

FINDING SPACE

Take a look around your home. It is amazing what productive gardening space you can find, even if you live in a city or have only a postage stamp of a yard. Maybe you could grow some plants in containers on a sunny porch or patio. String beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers all do well in containers, as do many types of lettuce. Cherry tomatoes and strawberries will produce all summer in hanging baskets. Colorful peppers and berry bushes can be a part of your summer landscape. Dwarf fruit and nut trees take up very little room while producing large amounts of fruits and nuts in just a few years. A simple trellis can support several pea plants with a crop of pole beans to follow. An herbaceous border can set off flower beds.

SMALL-SPACE GARDENING