Category: Water Storage & Filters

Diverters and Pre-Filters for Roof Rainwater Catchment, by Dim Tim

I have had this idea floating around in the back of my mind for some time now, and with all the posts on the subject here lately, I decided it was time to share it with everyone. I hope some of you find it useful. What got me started to thinking about this was a movie on DVD that I watched recently, titled Twenty Years After. (2008) It is about people that have survived a nuke war, the disease and death that follow, and the hope that humanity will still survive. It is not the best post-SHTF movie that you …


Letter Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater

Mr. Rawles- I sincerely appreciate your site and all of your efforts. In researching rain water collection recently, I came across a manual on rain water harvesting published by the Texas Water Development Board. While some of the data is Texas-specific, I found the overall information and descriptions of various harvesting systems to be extremely helpful. I suspect some of your readers may as well. In addition, I have received notice from the good folks at Safecastle that their next Mountain House [long term storage food] sale will take place between May 23 and June 5 and will include a …


Two Letters Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater

JWR: In response to today’s post, I would like to offer an alternate method to avoid going outside in the rain to flip the value after five minutes. Cut the down drain pipe into about 5 feet from the discharge elbow. At the elbow end install a blank over the opening. Drill a small hole in the blank, perhaps 1/8th inch diameter, and reattached the outlet ducting to a container to catch the runoff. At the above cut in the drain pipe, install a “T” and an ell to move the water downward into a barrel. [During each fresh rain …


Letter Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater

Jim There are simple old time solutions to the possible problem of collecting and using “polluted” roof gathered rain water. Add a splitter, (an upside down Y shaped piece of pipe), to the downspout before the pipe runs into your cistern or rain barrel. One side of the “Y” goes to your catchment, the other to the ground or drain. Add a simple flip value to the inside of the splitter. During the first 5 minutes of any rain, turn or flip the valve to run the water out onto the ground or into the usual drain. Once the roof …


Letter Re: Concerns About Toxicity in Water From Roof Catchment Rainwater

Mr. Rawles, I searched the forums to no avail on this topic. In the Pacific Northwest, a common roof setup is untreated wood shakes with copper ridge caps and flashing. The rain hits the copper which leaches chemicals onto the wood shakes to inhibit moss growth. On other sites I’m reading conflicting thoughts on whether this amount of copper renders the water unsuitable for rain catchment into a water barrel for vegetable garden irrigation or a cistern for human consumption. Some folks seem to think there is more danger from the concentrated nitrogen in the water (bird droppings, raccoon feces) …


Letter Re: Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency

Jim, I’d like to add an additional perspective on the letter on “Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency” — the conscious competence learning model. I’d like to pull back the shade a bit on why ‘just buying stuff’ and reading books isn’t going to cut it when the balloon goes up. Many folks are ‘buying things’, reading books, searching the internet with the thought that when the time comes, they will begin living the self-sufficient lifestyle in the country. The aforementioned letter points out the folly of this approach. I just want to take a step back and look at why …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Treating Pond Water

Hi Jim, I just got the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course the other day and love it. I also just finished the audio CD [that came with the course binder] and that was a great addition to the book. My husband has said ‘you can just boil water’ to make it available for drinking water, and I don’t think this is so. [In the course binder] you only speak of having water filters of various kinds. Can you tell me if water is retrieved from a pond how to treat it? Also, can you go into detail as far …


Letter Re: Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

James, The need for usable skills in tough times, goes without need for embellishment. The grand question is: which skills are the most valuable? In any situation the basic needs are obvious – food, shelter, and clothing. Choosing what I would concentrate on learning, became predicated on what I could do, and what the community could provide in stressful times. I moved some time ago from the gulf coast to Tennessee to retire and begin preparing for the coming events. I moved into a community which is pretty much self sufficient, mostly by religious choice. Livestock husbandry ranges from cattle …


Letter Re: A Source for Potable Water Storage Tanks

Jim, I enjoy your blog. Recently a few friends and I started to look for potable water storage tanks for long term storage. Most tanks either were not designed for long term storage or the retailer does not have enough information. (Ever since the bottled water cancer scare, the composition of the plastic has taken on a new importance.) Wanted to pass on to you a link to WaterTanks.com, a company that has really been great leading us through the process and willing to sell us 1 or 100 tanks. Our sales rep is James Opferman. We are going to …


Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire

Sir, I wish to inquire about hardening a home .I n a firefight, when in a “normal” home, shots would traverse the walls. Being a simple farmer here in southeastern Idaho I am a little concerned about the current turmoil and possible Golden Horde. I know that when I was in Rhodesia, we built earthen berms around the home like big flower boxes along with 2″x4″ mesh wire to stop RPGs. We also had built two perimeter fences and placed crushed white stone inside the two fences ([each] nine feet high). Also I am interested in how to pump water …


Bloom Where You’re Planted, by Gertrude

I write this to encourage everyone to begin preparing right now, whatever your financial situation and physical location in life. We are one of the many families that don’t live in a sparsely populated western state and don’t have a retreat that is fully stocked, off-grid and off-the beaten path. But we are very aware of the precarious situation that our country is in and we are trying as best we can to be prepared. Doing a little bit consistently every day will add up very quickly and you will be better prepared every day as you go along. Doing …


Solar Water Disinfection and Pasteurization, by Ariel

This article describes so me simple and practical methods for providing drinkable water in disaster situations. They fit with my motto: “Keep calm, and carry on!” According to the EPA, if you can’t boil water, you can disinfect it using household bleach. Do not use non-chlorine bleach to disinfect water. Typically, [when freshly-purchased] household chlorine bleaches will be 5.25% available chlorine. Bleach will kill some, but not all, types of disease-causing organisms that may be in the water. If the water is cloudy, filter it through clean cloths or allow it to settle, and draw off the clear water for …


Letter Re: Lessons from the January Ice Storm

Jim: The Ice Storm that just plastered Kentucky brought some reminders of just how bad things can get and how being prepared – in advance – is critical. Within a few hours, everything became coated with a half-inch to an inch of ice: roads, cars, trees, power lines – everything. Throughout the night, we heard crashes as our neighbor’s trees lost massive limbs. We knew it was only a matter of time before trees limbs (which are not properly trimmed back by our utility company in an attempt to cut costs) collapsed on power lines and caused widespread outages. In …


Letter Re: Colonial New England Community Blockhouses as a Historic Precedent

Hello Jim, Mosby’s description of defense tactics was common all along the frontier in the 18th Century including western Pennsylvania. As defense against indian raids, a small blockhouse was built on a farm in a central location. A spring [or shallow well] for water was a necessity. When news of local raids spread, people would gather as many possessions as possible and head to the blockhouse for the common defense. This is an instance where much can be learned from history. While these small forts where rarely overrun, the abandoned farms were wide open to burning and pillage. Destruction of …


Hurricane Lessons Learned and Some Advice on Getting Prepared, by Ken on the Gulf Coast

Sometimes it is not an option to relocate so you have to get prepared wherever you are located. I am located on the Gulf Coast 60 short miles from New Orleans, Louisiana. We were ground zero for Hurricane Katrina, so I have a first hand experience of what can happen I will describe some things that I did right and some things that I did wrong. We were unable to relocate to a place like Idaho as we had elderly parents who could not and probably would not relocate to a more appropriate survival area. My mother was born in …