urban/suburban survival?

[burntmuch]

Lots of good points here. Ive been thinking about stuff that will work like said above eveb if s dont hit the fan. Windmill saves money, use water from sump pump for the garden, after I filled my 10,000 gallon pool for free Now if SHTF what about drinking water from the pool. Ive neen wondering aout that. Some plastic 50 gallon drums would come in handy. I live in a sandy area. When I filled my pool from the sump pump. I tested the water. It was clean as far as pool water goes but what about drinking Ive been thinking about a 50 gallon drum filled with sand with a spigot on the bottem for filtering water

[Chilachuck]

...Now if SHTF what about drinking water from the pool. Ive neen wondering aout that...

Uh,huh. Consider drinking water I've had my smelly butt in. You bet it's getting filtered.

(I tried using bath water for some indoor plants, once. The organics washed from my body started rotting a few days later and it took a week for the stink to fade after I removed the plants.)

Wiki has a good overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_sand_filter

Echotech has instructions related to this:

http://www.echotech.org/technical/technotes/Sand%20Water%20Filter.pdf

Echotech is well worth supporting, IMO, and here is a link to some of their literature related to this subject:

www.echotech.org/technical/technotes/

[don heath]

Living in Harare... A city where water supply to 90% of the city ended 4 years ago and having worked in maputo where piped fresh water stopped in August 1975... Both Cities function quite well. In both cases, the peasants have dug shallow wells. I dug one in my own garden when water supplies to the upmarket suberbs in Harare became erratic and I couldn't afford a deep well (borehole).  A pick and Shovel and three days of !"#¤" hard work and hey presto! water at 7m. This was at the end of our dry season (ie it hadn't rained for 7 months). Kept digging to make a sump and then cased it with brick. Not great, but provides at least 44 imperal gal (55 US Gal) a day, more than enough to flush the toilet, wash the cloths etc. Our yard had a large (1000imp gal) tank for storing water and when we got really desperate, I pumped the well water into this tank to supply the house. For drinking we ran it through a commercial filter and boiled it (we have small kids). Considering Harare last year was in the grip of a cholera chrisis... we were fine.

It is a heck of a lot easier to be organised in advance! Digging a well when you have cold cokes to hand and bricks and cement available is easier than doing it in a hurry when you have no other option! Also, a perminant water filtration device/system is more important than folks appreciate. Sewage gets to run down the roads and ditches (at least in Africa it does when the sewage plants stop working. The toilets still flush but the stuff just bubles out of the man hole covers at the end of each street.)  Over time this will contaminate the shallow ground water supplies- disease is a major factor and clean drinking water a scarce and rare comodity. Sure, you can boil it. A ceramic water filer is better, and if cared for has a virtually unlimmited life span. The activated charcoal ones make the water taste better, but they do block up....

[Chappers]

I was just feeding Arkady (our dog) looking though the funny combo of food they have in dog food cans then i came across beef and gravy, i  opened it. Thought to myself this kind of looks ok, long story short in such a situation when the shelves are starting to run dry maybe stocking up on some dog food might not go astray.
Im saying it would not be my first choice but sometimes it pays not to be picky. Who knows a tin a vegetable casserole might complement that pigeon?   

[bilmac]

Dog food may be the first thing to disappear. Folks are absolutely crazy when it comes to their pets. We went out to the lake on an ambulance run the other night and this old boy was having a heart attack but absolutely would not get into the ambulance until his freind came to pick up his dog.

[SHOOTALL]

Chappers , that reminded me of the joke where the guy goes to the doc for his check up , tells the doc he has been eating dog food and ask if it would hurt him . The doc says no . A few weeks later the doc sees where the man dies , he gets worried and calles the mans wife . He ask if the dog food killed him .She said no , a truck hit him while he was laying in the road licking his b--- !

[mannyrock]

Guys,

   I think if you check the labels on dogfood, you will find that the protein is ''crude protein,"  not really absorbable by the human intestine. It would not keep you alive for long.

  Instead, spend your money on bulk salt.  It is an absolute necessity to any rural or survival living.  In a short time, you could trade it for fresh meat or anything else you wanted.
 
  My order of grab for purchase in a grocery store would be:

   Dried Beans

   Dried Rice

   Bulk Salt

   Bulk Sugar

   Vitamin C tabs (or general vitamin tabs with C and B-12) and/or aspirin.

   Dried fruit.  (Apricots, etc.)

   Perhaps, dried powdered milk.

   Load it up, pay for it, and get the heck out.

   Hopefully, everyone else will be in the meat and produce section, or just trying to buy up bags of white flour, potato chips and dog food!   Also, forget potatoes.  Everyone will be trying to buy big bags of them.  :-)

 
Best Regards,

Mannyrock

[Arier Blut]

I have seen some posts about plastic drums. Blue drums allow light in which will allow growth of impurities in the water. If black drums can be found long term storage of water is more feasible in large drums. If not it may be advisable to paint the drums. Bleach can kill quite a bit, but iodine is better. It can still be found at livestock stores in bulk.

We are hunters so we think of sustenance through fur, fish and fowl, which is good. However, field guides will help out a lot since even the biggest cities have edible flora.
Insects or even more taboo sources will keep one alive if it comes down to it. Water, warmth, shelter and food are the base necessities. Protection from the bad guys will help you keep them and protect your family. Anything you have or can forage above those elements are luxuries. However, it is good to live with luxuries.