One of the first things I learned about survival was the “Survival Rule of Three.” I know I am quite the newbie, oddly enough I picked it up from a CSI rerun: You cannot survive more than: 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Later, I found out another one: you cannot survive 3 hours without shelter in extreme weather.
We need a lot of items but we have to prioritize of what to get first due to limited funds. Air and shelter are things we have for now, so we decided to concentrate on water this month. We are in the midst of hurricane season as well, and last hurricane we continued to have tap water, but there was a “boil water” warning for a couple of days.
One gallon per person is the guideline for bottled water, and we are gradually building up the bottled water stores to about a week’s worth for now. But we are running out of space so we decided to find other means to purify water.
There are many methods of purifying water. It will also depend on where the water is coming from. If it is tap water is unsafe, the recommendation is to boil for 10 minutes and let it cool.
If the water is muddy, you will need some way of straining the water such as coffee filters or a soft clean cloth, boiling the water and purifying the water with bleach or iodine. I read the proportion is about four drops of bleach per quart. If using iodine, such as 2% Tincture of Iodine, you will need to add 5 drops per quart when the water is clear. If the water is cloudy, add 10 drops per quart.
I keep both iodine and bleach in the house. Again, I am not an expert, just sharing what I have learned so far. I would recommend researching the various methods before deciding on which one best suits your family’s needs.
We wanted to have backup methods, so we also decided to purchase a water filtration system. Initially, my husband was thinking about the “do it yourself” method, but taking 2 five gallon buckets, stacking them together, drilling holes and placing a filter so water will flow through the filter from top to bottom. However, I knew this would take time to get all the materials together and I would prefer he concentrate on other stuff, such as making room in the apartment for supplies. Hurricane season is already here and I do not want to wait too long.
So we decided instead to buy one of the best rated water purifying systems, the Big Berkey. We got the Berkey Light 2.75 gallon Clear Purifier. This filtration system is known to get rid of both chemicals and harmful organisms. There is a short clip that shows it will even remove dyes in the water. Not affiliated with the company, we just felt this would best suit our needs. Plus, the unit is light and portable, in case we ever need to bug out.
The Apartment Prepper's Blog 
In the first paragraph, I believe you meant to put 3 hours without shelter.
You are right, thanks. Fixed now.
Just read this post… Two things that you can do to store water inexpensively. 1. Go to target, walmart, etc. and buy 5 gallon collapsible water containers from the camping section of the store, fill them with water, add 1/2 teaspoon of clorox bleach, and store in the bottom of the closet for one year. Very inexpensive at 8 – 10 dollars per water container. I live in an apartment, and have 35 gallons of water stored. Second thing you can do is google “water bob.” for about 20 dollars you can get a whole container that fits in your tub, and pre SHTF, you can fill it with water and should store almost 50 gallons of clean potable water that you can use if you have to bug in for a short length of time…
That water bob is neat, found one on Cheaper than Dirt. Thanks for the comment!
One thing to keep in mind is to rotate store bought water that comes in milk jugs. The plastic will not hold up to long term storage. I store my water in soda bottles. You can stash a soda bottle here or there and they do not take up much room. Or you can put them in the bottom of a closet and then put a board on top to make a new closet floor.
[…] are many water bottles that will purify water; I also wrote a previous article https://apartmentprepper.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/insuring-against-3-days-without-water/ on water purification techniques. I may also considering getting a Steri-pen which can purify with […]