Letter Re: Using Pipe Infrastructure to Your Advantage

Beneath many of our very feet are hundreds of miles of underground piping which utilized correctly can provide valuable resource in the event of a TEOTWAWKI situation.
Storm drainage pipe siphons rain water from urban areas into surrounding streams and rivers. Accessed through manholes and curb gutters water runs off the street into basins and concrete piping. (Concrete piping varies in size, however most urban areas use diameters 36” and upward.) In the event of a G.O.O.D. situation slipping into some form of drainage would at least allow stealth movement for a decent distance (remember water always flows toward the river). To access the storm drainage manholes may be bolted down, however curb gutters usually can be picked up freely, another method would be to crawl into an open culvert. Along with concrete piping many developments use underground retention facilities to temporarily hold water (so as not to over tax the drainage in the event of a flood. Underground holding facilities also allow a development not to dedicate portions of valuable property to open “ponds.”) An underground retention facility is usually composed of some form of greatly larger pipe included in the drainage system; for example a 36” drain pipe may run into several sections of 72” pipe or cistern with an overflow (usually under a parking lot as they cannot support building loads.) Under dry weather or slight water flow these areas are large underground structures that can be used as temporary shelter. JWR Adds: All the usual safety provisos on enclosed spaces, flooding hazards, noxious gasses, et cetera apply! This information is provided only for education purposes. Use common sense, do plenty of research, and use storm drain infrastructure only in an absolute disaster.

Underground water systems use force pumps and gravity to provide water to the consumer. In rural settings these pipes may differ widely in size but are usually composed of plastic or ductile iron (water pipe is usually blue plastic or black ductile, gas is yellow, green is sewer, pink is re-purified water used for irrigation). Usual rural water lines are 4 to 5 feet deep (older water lines may not be as deep) 5-15feet from the edge of pavement of say a rural road (5-15 ft is a wide generalization as easements can differ greatly, when in doubt look for a fire hydrant in some cases.) These lines can be located by looking for obvious signs of past construction, such as gaps in tree lines. In the event of a total TEOTWAWKI situation where drinkable water is scarce, low points in these water lines will retain water even after the pumps stop. Simply find a low point such as sag in-between hills, locate the line and dig. WARNING: Do not attempt this unless there is a major, long-term TEOTWAWKI situation. Some of these lines are highly pressurized. – N.B.