Category: Water Storage & Filters

Partially Safeguard Your Well Pump Against EMP and Solar Flares, by R.L.

Those of us who at all remain connected to the main power grid run the very real risk of having no water following an electrical crisis event, whether man made or natural. That back up generator you intend to switch over to after a power failure will not fire up your well if the pump and/or the pump control box is already fried.   Unless you have not only food, but several thousand gallons of water in a buried cistern (with a hand pump) all the storage supplies in the world will count for naught within only a few days …


Do-It-Yourself Water Filtration, by Robert B.

Introduction: I’ve maintained a salt water reef tank for more than 10 years. The following is a improvised method that I used to process water to the point where it was acceptable for use with coral and salt water fish [before it is salinated] . Coral and salt water fish are very sensitive to toxic chemicals, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, and ammonia in some cases just  .02-20 PPM would be deadly to salt water animals, so filtration quality was key.  Improvised Water Filter Water Filtration and Storage On the run filtration Building a Water Filter Collection and Storage On the run filtration …


Letter Re: Storing Calcium Hypochlorite

JWR: Recently, a SurvivalBlog reader suggested storing Calcium Hypochlorite in ground glass-stoppered bottles that are inside of padded 6 gallon buckets. But would using a 1/2 gallon Ball [“Mason style”] jar and Tattler plastic lid be a workable alternative?    Thanks, – Stephanie   JWR Replies: Yes, that should work, since the Tattler lids are non-reactive. But keep in mind that if there is even a slight vapor leak, the metal retaining rings (“bands”) will eventually rust out.


Letter Re: Storing Calcium Hypochlorite

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James, Calcium Hypochlorite could be worth it’s weight in gold some day [, for drinking water treatment]. I’m very familiar with it because I’ve been a certified Aquatics Facility Operator for ten plus years and it’s a staple item for swimming pools. I’ve had Calcium Hypochlorite sitting around in it’s original shipping container (plastic) for several years, and have observed that the container will eventually turn brittle and break. Not a good situation, especially around some automotive fluids. I now store Calcium Hypochlorite in Ground Glass Stoppered Bottles that are inside of padded 6 gallon buckets. There is no metal to worry …


The Will to Act: Your Ultimate Bug-out Kit by R.B.

Section One The Bug-Out Bag is an icon of the preparedness movement. The principle is well known and agreed upon: we may indeed have to pack-up and take flight to a more orderly, less hostile environment, intelligently. This would be either in anticipation of a great upheaval of social order or in its aftermath. How we will face the situation and deal with it is our part to play. Bug-out is an emergency measure, supplying us with a three-day margin for action: decisive action, evasive action, survivalist action or other salutary maneuvering. You must make an informed plan for your …


Observations From Fence Building, by Mudflap

Over the past two months, my father and I have been refurbishing the barbed wire fence going around and thru a quarter section of excellent hunting, fishing and recreational land.  We lease the land and run cattle (steers) on it.  My father is a long time rancher and I am looking to learn the trade as part of my plans to better prepare for a rocky economical future in this county. Refurbishing the fence is part of the lease agreement.  That is “sweat equity” if I ever saw it.  The temperatures have been well into the triple digits with humidity, …


Letter Re: Berkey Light Water Filters

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: I purchased a Berkey Light water filter system last year in the spring with my tax refund.  The Berkey Light system is the all-plastic Berkey.  I also bought the plastic base offered in connection for the unit, for the convenience of it.  Just short of one year later. I noticed a leak at the bottom of the water spigot.  After dumping out the water, cleaning all the parts, I tried re-seating the spigot again, but the leak persisted.  Finally, I noticed a small tear in the plastic at the bottom of the hole for the spigot.  I …


Letter Re: Water Will Be Crucial When The Grid Goes Down

JWR: I live in a very rural agricultural area 50 miles from Memphis, Tennessee (a major southern city) and have some thoughts on the reality of a Golden Horde situation. This region has an abundance of water. However virtually all the potable water is electrically pumped from deep aquifers hundreds of feet underground. In a “lights out” [grid down] scenario this area might as well be a desert. The only available water will be ground water and in the south that will quickly lead to debilitating and or fatal diseases. In a matter of days the possibility of a Golden …


Resourcefulness: How to Survive Without Supplies, by L.W.

Be prepared. This is the core logic of the survivalist movement. We work to be prepared for a variety of situations, from the common natural disaster to outbreaks of disease to TEOTWAWKI. We conduct thorough research, create organized lists and plans, shop while scrutinizing the fine print, test the products we buy, and then carefully store it all away for possible use in the future. A great deal of control and independence is involved. These steps we take to prepare, at a minimum, provide us with a sense of comfort and security. They can also save lives in an emergency. …


The Art of Getting Home, by Shattered

So you have successfully prepped for every possible SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation, your house is completely off grid, you’ve stockpiled enough chow to feed you and everyone you know for three full years and you have amassed a huge arsenal of assault weapons and ammunition that is sufficient to put even your toddler in tactical gear, body armor and small arms for the next ten years of sustained combat operations. Everything should be good to go right? So you’re sitting at work in your suit and tie and TEOTWAWKI just pops off, maybe it’s a rain of ICBMs hitting major …


Letter Re: Storing Hypochlorite Bleach Powder

James: I have a possible solution regarding R.W.L.’s letter specifically the question of storage of dry calcium hypochlorite.  After reading the Forever Preps article I bought a container that is similar to the old-style canning jars with the rubber gasket and snap down lid with the wire bail/lever.  I’ve seen them sold as canister sets for holding flour, sugar, cookies, etc.  It is made of clear glass.  My goal was to find a container with no metal or plastic parts on the inside of the vessel thus no chance of reacting with the chlorine.  I periodically look around the jar …


Prioritizing My Prepping, by R.W.L.

First of all, a note of praise to JWR: thanks for all you do.  You’ve got an amazing reference blog site going here and are providing an immeasurable amount of help to your readers.  I stumbled across SurvivalBlog via a link in the comments section of another blog called The Deliberate Agrarian, last October. The link included the warning: “Just see if you can escape from the archives in less than four hours.”  Two weeks later, I emerged from the archives with blood shot eyes and was both enlightened and scared at the same time.  I had a lot of …


Letter Re: Beyond Outdoor Survival

James,     As someone who has taken multiple week-long backpacking trips in the Rocky Mountains, I noticed a couple of things in this article that I would like to address.  The first is the author’s advice on mountain shelters.  First of all, if you do decide to pick a cave for shelter please be aware that mountain lions are plentiful in the mountains and one may have already decided to make that cave its home.  I have literally walked within feet of a mountain line that was laying in its den in the middle of the day, a very unnerving …


Letter Re: An Antique Well-Drilling Blog

Hi James, I’ve been putting together a blog illustrating well-drilling methods and machinery called The Jack Line. Although I’ll cover early powered drilling machinery at some point, the emphasis right now is on hand-powered well drilling and hand-built drilling machinery. I hope people can find it useful. There is much more material to be added as time permits. – Jeff B.


Life Without Electricity in a Semi-Tropical Climate, by Lynn M.

We are preppers. I love reading the prep/survival books. There’s so much information out there and so many people involved in prepping now, there’s just no reason to not do it! We learned from experience that you can never be over prepared. Since 2004 I’ve learned how to store food for the long term, how to filter water (okay, I’ll give credit to my Berkey on that one), I’ve learned about bug out bags and how to build a fire with a flint, but what I learned the most from was living for more than two weeks without electricity after …