Your Own Water Drum Storage Rack

Provident Principles and Practices
© David Edwards, 2008

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PRINCIPLES: LDS leaders have urged us to develop self-reliance and independence. They have encouraged us, to the extent that we are able, to produce our own goods needed to sustain life. (See, for example, Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, April 1976).

PRACTICES: In this newsletter, we discuss building your own water drum storage rack.

A filled 55-gallon water drum is very heavy. Here are some ideas that a good brother gave me for constructing strong homemade storage rack for orienting two water drums horizontally for easy filling and drainage. The rack is 31.75 inches wide, 42 inches high, and 32 inches deep. When building and using any storage rack, do so at your own risk . . . get guidance from a pro, if needed.

Wood:

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(4 pieces) 2” x 4” x 42” 2x4s for upright posts
(2 pieces) 29.75” x 36” x 1.25” plywood for sides
(2 pieces) 31.75” x 12” x 1.25” plywood, front and back, lower drum
(2 pieces) 31.75” x 6” x 1.25” plywood, front and back, upper drum

Fasteners:

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(20 items) 4” x 3/8” lag (screw) bolts for front and back plywood
(20 items) 4” x 3/8” hex or carriage bolts for side plywood

Container/taps:

(2 items) new 55-gal food-grade HDPE closed-top drums with bungs
(2 items) threaded water faucets or taps to put in lower bungs

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Filling a Drum. Open the top bung in one 55-gal drum. Connect the threaded faucet or tap in the lower bung to a clean hose. Open the valve on the faucet. Turn water on. Shut off water when you see the water level rise near the top bung. Turn off the valve on the faucet. Close the top bung.

Coming Soon: Dry Pack Canning at the LDS Mesa Cannery

Creative Storage Spaces for Food, Water, Etc.

Provident Principles and Practices
© David Edwards, 2008

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PRINCIPLES: LDS leaders have acknowledged that we may face financial or space issues as we strive to obey the counsel to store food and non-food items. However, they have encouraged us to store as much as we can, given our circumstances (See, for example, the message of the First Presidency, 2007, in All is Safely Gathered in: Family Home Storage).

PRACTICES: Finding space for storing food, water, clothing, and fuel can be challenging. Where possible, store food in cool, dark and dry areas. A dry basement may be ideal. Avoid garages (unless air conditioned) and attics. Consider safety issues. Place heavy goods on concrete, on floors over a concrete slab, or on floors sufficiently supported to hold the weight. Storage near support walls is best. Some storage-space ideas are given here. You can find others as you ponder and pray.

Heavy-Duty Shelving. Strong metal shelving designed to hold objects of great weight is available through wholesale warehouses. Make sure that shelving is put together properly, close to or touching the wall (you may need shims under the front legs), sturdy after being assembled, and immovable after being loaded. Carpenters or others with skills and tools can make similar shelving using plywood or planks and 2” x 4”s (but be wary of termites). Shelving can be placed in pantries, rooms or basements; along hallways; or under stairways (an entrance to the space may need to be opened up first). Used pallet rack can be employed in a garage. Curtains on rods can cover shelves.
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Basements. On-floor options: heavy-duty shelving, buckets, stacked boxes of #10 cans or flats of canned goods on pallets, 55-gallon water drums on mats, mylar bags in lidded metal garbage cans.

In Closets. Boxes of #10 cans can be stacked in closets up to an upper shelf or even to the ceiling, if sufficient floor support exists. A single layer of boxes of cans or cases of water topped by a mat can provide a surface on which to put shoes, located below a shirt or dress rack. 5- or 6-gallon buckets can be placed one or two levels high in a closet. Back-of-door storage may work in some closets.

Under Beds. Cans on flats or in boxes can be placed under beds or cribs. Bed mattresses can be placed on stacked boxes of #10 cans. You can place plywood with rounded corners and taped sides on top of a layer of two dozen or so 5-gallon buckets and place a mattress directly on that.

Rooms. Boxes of #10 cans can be stacked in corners near support walls, if there is sufficient floor support. Nightstands, end tables or coffee tables can be made of draped storage containers. A layer of #10 cans in boxes can support carpeted plywood panels that together comprise a raised floor.

Garages. 55-gal drums can be set on pads on the floor. Custom wooden racks can store water drums horizontally. Items that can withstand temperatures in a garage can be stored on used pallet rack or on heavy-duty shelving. Some use A/C in a garage to make storage of canned goods possible there.

Click on photos to magnify them and see details.

Credits: Heavy-duty metal shelving, wood shelving, garbage can, under-bed storage, and wall storage photos are used by permission from a .ppt presentation called "Why Should You Be Prepared" by avfoodstorage as found at
http://www.ldsavow.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=436

Other photos are from homes of members of the DM Ward.

Additional info: www.byub.org/livingessentials/shows/15.asp;
http://extension.usu.edu/htm/faq/faq_q=465; Coming Soon: Dry Pack Canning at the LDS Mesa Cannery

Treating Suspect Water: Additional Methods

Provident Principles and Practices
© David Edwards, 2008

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PRINCIPLES: LDS leaders have asked us to obtain and lay up in store not only food but also other supplies that we may need in an emergency or a disaster so that we may live (See, for example, L. Tom Perry, General Conference, October 1995),

PRACTICES: Here, we briefly describe six additional water treatment methods and associated supplies that may help sustain life in an emergency. We do not endorse any particular product.

Solar Distillation (SD). Properly maintained swimming-pool water, if not otherwise treated, may be used for washing, cleaning, etc. However, most experts recommend against using it “as is” for drinking. But a homemade solar still ($300) purifies even swimming pool water. ~ 67% of the water is “wasted” but that can be used for bathing, etc. SD also works for brackish or turbid water.

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Reverse Osmosis (RO). Katadyn is the only company in the world that makes hand-operated RO units. RO can be used to treat many types of water. The Katadyn Survivor 35, often used by military forces and ocean adventurers, requires lots of arm power, but it can produce up to a gallon of clean fresh water per hour, even from seawater. One couple, the Butlers, survived at sea in a raft for 66 days, drinking only water treated by one of these units! Unfortunately, chlorinated water, as found in swimming pools, destroys membranes in the Survivor 35 and most other RO units; these cannot be used to treat pool water. 80-90% of water is “wasted”. These units are not cheap: ~ $1,900.00.

Condensation from Air. New machines running on electricity may condense up to several gallons of clean drinking water per day from humidity in the atmosphere, if relative humidity is sufficiently high. Relatively expensive, these machines treat air and water with filtration and/or UV light.
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MIOX. About 7” long, the MIOX Water Purifier by MSR uses 3V lithium-cell current, salt and water to electrolytically produce a solution of mixed oxidants, which is poured into water requiring treatment; it then kills viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Unit cost is $120-140. Batteries and salt need replacement after treating 200 L water. Shelf life for batteries is 7-10 years. Salt lasts indefinitely.

Steripen Adventurer. Treating up to 1 L of water at a time, this handheld, UV-based, battery- or solar-powered device kills viruses, bacteria and protozoa in ~ 1-2 minutes. It works only with clear, non-turbid water. Unit cost: $100 (battery) or $150 (battery/solar). Battery shelf life: 7-10 years.

Solar Disinfection (SODIS). A cheap and proven technology for water treatment used worldwide, SODIS kills pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and protozoa using UV light and heat from the sun. Water is filtered through a cheesecloth or cloth and poured into clean, clear 1-L or 2-L PET bottles and set in sunlight from 6 hours (on a sunny summer day) up to 2 days (cloudy or wintry days). Bottles are placed on a reflective metal or foil surface, if possible.

Photo of sun retrieved 17 July 2008 from www.swpc.noaa.gov/primer/primer_graphics/Sun.png

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Picture of raft is clip art modified in Paint.

Photo of people using SODIS retrieved 21 June 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Solar_power and used under GNU license.

Additional info: See results from a Google search on Humidity Machine Water; http://solar.nmsu.edu/publications/1437ISESpaper05.pdf; www.solaqua.com/solstilbas.html#stillop; http://www.katadyn.com/; http://www.miox.com/; http://www.steripen.com/; http://www.sodis.ch/. Next: Creative Storage Spaces.

Treating Suspect Water: Common Methods

Provident Principles and Practices
© David Edwards, 2008

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PRINCIPLE: LDS leaders have taught us that we may need to treat suspect water in an emergency or a disaster situation to deal with potentially harmful microbes. They have suggested storing agents for water-purification (See, for example, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Essentials of Home Production and Storage, p. 11).

PRACTICES: Harmful microbes may be found in water in natural water bodies as well as in some tanks, pipes, etc. If ingested live, these microbes can cause mild to severe or even life-threatening illnesses. You can minimize your risk of water-borne illness by properly treating suspect water. Water from rain, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and springs can be ingested after it is treated, so long as the water is not also impacted by metals, chemicals or radioactive particles. Here are some of the more common types of water treatment available to the average person.

Pre-Treatment. Pre-treat any water containing plant material, sediment, silt, insects, rust or other visible debris. Let coarse materials in the water settle, strain out debris from the remaining water through a coffee filter, cheesecloth or clean cloth, and collect the water, now ready for treatment.

Boiling. An effective method for killing harmful microbes is to boil water for at least a minute. Downsides to boiling are (1) a heat source and cooking pot are needed; (2) boiling uses a great deal of fuel; (3) use of a heat source requires supervision; (4) heating water to boiling takes much time and cooling it afterward prior to drinking also takes much time, and (5) boiling makes treated water taste “flat”. The flatness, however, can be remedied by pouring water back and forth between two containers to aerate it. In contrast to some chemical methods, boiling will kill illness-causing protozoa such as Cryptosporidia and Giardia, found in some natural waters, tanks, pipes, etc.

Filtering Via Gravity. Use a gravity-fed 0.2-micron filter unit with an upper reservoir for suspect water and a lower reservoir for treated water. Most units filter several gallons per day, removing bacteria and protozoa but not viruses (uncommon in U.S. waters). You may also treat chemically.

Filtering by Hand Pump. Use a 0.2-micron filter unit. Back up, if needed, with chemical treatment.

Treatment Using Regular Bleach. You can treat suspect water by mixing 1/8th teaspoon (or 1/4th tsp if the water is cloudy) unscented 5-6% sodium hypochlorite per gallon of water. Avoid any bleach in which ingredients include chemicals other than sodium hypochlorite and water. Avoid surfactants, perfumes, and other substances. Let the solution stand for 30 minutes or more. This method kills viruses and bacteria but not protozoan cysts.

Treatment Using Water-Purification Tablets. Only one type of water-purification tablet is EPA registered as a purifier, effective against protozoa, viruses and bacteria: Katadyn’s Micropur MP1. For cold, dirty water, treatment time is four hours. For warm, clear water, treatment may occur in 15 minutes (see www.equipped.org/watrfood.htm). (For info only: we do not endorse any product.)

Notes: Up to 8% of people respond adversely to iodine, once widely used to treat water. Hydrogen peroxide is hazardous, not recommended for home use, at high concentrations (>8%); at lower ones, it fails to treat water well.

Photo of protozoan Giardia lamblia retrieved 13 July 2008 from www.nih.gov/news/research_matters/october2007/images/parasite_l.gif

Photo of pot and boiling retrieved 13 July 2008 from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/pictures/wcsublimationpot.jpg

Picture of pouring water back and forth retrieved 13 July 2008 from www.epa.gov/OGWDW/faq/images/emerg_image3.jpg

Picture of bleach bottle retrieved 21 June 2008 from http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/floods/pdf/flyer-keepfoodsafe.pdf

Additional info: www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06704.html and www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1494/build/g1494.pdf

Next week, more on treating suspect water.

Finding Emergency Sources of Water

Provident Principles and Practices
© David Edwards, 2008

PRINCIPLE: LDS leaders have asked us to organize ourselves and prepare "every needful thing" (D&C 109:8) so that we and our families can be ready for an emergency or a disaster (See, for example, President Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, April 2005).

PRACTICES: If you do not have access to ordinary stored water, you may still have access to emergency sources of water. While untreated natural water may contain harmful microbes, such as Giardia, you can use water from rain, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and springs that is not affected by metals, chemicals or radioactive-particle contamination if you first strain the water and then treat it effectively (as we will discuss later). You can also find “hidden sources of water” at home.

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Hidden sources of water are described at several Web sites, including a Red Cross site linked to from http://www.providentliving.org/. These sources, discussed below, may require treatment.

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If you learn that water or sewage lines may be broken or that something else may harm the quality of the public water supply, shut off the main water-supply valve to your house immediately so that water that is potentially contaminated will not enter into the pipes of the house.
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Water in the hot water tank. To prepare to use water from your hot-water tank, shut off the gas or electricity to the tank. Let the water in the tank cool, so that it cannot scald you. Put pans or other containers under the drain. Turn on a hot water faucet somewhere in the house to let air into the line. Open the drain, and allow water to fill the pans or other containers. Discard any water with rust in it. Treat the rest. Do not turn gas or electricity to the tank back on while the tank is empty.

Water in pipes in a two-story house. To get water left in pipes, open a faucet on an upper floor to let air into the pipes, place containers under the lowest faucet in the house, and open that faucet.

Frozen water. You can use meltwater from ice cubes or ice stored in containers in your freezer.

Water in the toilet tank. Use uncolored water from the tank, not the bowl. Treat it before drinking it.








Water in canned fruit containers. Each canned fruit container contains water within the syrup.

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Storing water in bathtubs and containers. If you suspect that water supply will be compromised or turned off shortly, you can collect clean water in bathtubs and containers that you can use for washing, etc.

Update: most experts do NOT recommend drinking water as is from swimming pools. Reverse osmosis with pretreatment by activated carbon to first remove chlorine may be a possible treatment option. On the other hand, clean, properly maintained swimming-pool water may be used for clothes washing, cleaning and hygiene.

Sources for last two images: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/history/8460v.gif and www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/250r.jpg

More info: www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf and www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_91_,00.html#water

Next week, treating suspect water.