Gaining Credibility and Staying Hydrated

The CDC has determined that the ZA may actually occur.  I don’t liken the CDC to the other GOONS, as the CDC actually seems to have its act together and actually helps people, so, in my book, the CDC is exempt from GOONS status.  I like their preparedness statements, but I think that truly, it doesn’t go far enough for preparation.

S.D. and I were discussing what we have, what we need, what is in the pipeline and what our plan will evolve into.  One of the things most immediately is the need for potable water.  As water is a fairly good heat sink, we will likely have water stored in the root cellar, so to ameliorate temperature fluctuations through the seasons.  As the ZA may happen before we get the cistern in, so we will have to take smaller steps prior to it happening.

Your water needs, per person, for consumption only varies between a half and a whole gallon.  As medical services will become scarce, avoiding dehydration at all costs will be paramount.  While the CDC assigns 1 gallon per person per day, that is for all cooking and drinking needs, I will encourage all to have 1 gallon per person per day for drinking only, and extra for cooking and extranea.

As bleach does go bad after six months or so, some people have turned to swimming pool bleach in powder form, which is used in minute amounts to purify long-term stored water.  The formula is basically: one heaping teaspoon of Ca(ClO)2of 78% (granular calcium hypochlorite) for 2 gallons of water.  This is your disinfecting solution (you’ve just made household bleach of sorts).  To then disinfect your drinking water, use one part of the solution you just made to 100 parts water to be treated.  Let the solution rest for at least a half hour before drinking it to let anything solid precipitate out.

The dry granular form of Ca(ClO)2 as in dry form in a sealed container, it will stay good rather indefinitely.  Once mixed into solution, it will degrade quickly (I estimate faster than household bleach), perhaps within a matter of weeks as opposed to months.  Only treat as much water as you would use for a couple weeks at a time.

While the gold standard of water purification is to heat it to 145 degrees for 6-10 minutes, after the ZA, fuel will very likely be in short supply and using it to purify water (instead of cooking pathogens out of what might be questionable food if you have to forage) could be addressed as wasteful.

Keep your health, stay hydrated!  Fight the zombie horde by outsurviving them!