Home Improvement: Rainwater Harvesting

I've been quite busy these past few days doing some important housework.

We upgraded our water tank and retooled our old one for rainwater harvesting. The shiny new tank is connected directly to the water company's pipes and can hold up to 23 gallons. In case of service interruption, it is good enough for 48 hours of household needs. For drinking & cooking, we've got various filtration systems.


My Situation
In a tropical country such as ours, we are visited by about 18-22 typhoons per year. It also rains most of the darn time. With my new system, we'll never be thirsty!

About 3 of these storms would hit our city directly, and maybe just one or two of these would knock out electricity & water for 1-2 days.

Its only a minor nuisance. The time spent in the dark with family is a good opportunity to actually try your survival gear. Mosquito nets, monopoly, candles & lamps, food, extra water, and medicine will all be nice to have for that short period while the power company fixes things. 

Now once in a while something as big as Katrina or a screwed up nuclear plant would happen. A royal mess such as this would certainly put a strain on your life span. The living dead rising up to eat us all? I'm talking about that too.

This is where preparedness comes in. 

This is my old tank. It can hold 40 gallons of skyjuice.

The Strategy of Water Storage

Water is life. If you have a lot of it, you could stay barricaded at home for extended periods. WTSHTF, one of the worst things you could do is to bug out at a time of great panic. What most survivalists don't get is that bugging out can be extremely dangerous! If you've built a strong home defense, then perhaps it would be better to hunker down during the early phases of the crisis. 

Rainwater harvesting will definitely reduce the amount of time spent outdoors. Let me repeat: doing anything  outside the safety of your home is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Especially if thousands of walking dead are out there. With a good rainwater harvesting system, you have one less reason to go foraging.

If you need to drink your stuff, make sure you have a sure-fire means of purification. More on that later.

My home has a stone perimeter wall that is 6 feet high. I've got lots of food, ammo, medicine, and a box of monopoly, crayons & musical stuff for my daughter to play with while the world outside goes nuts. So there's got no immediate need to bug out because of the preparations we've made. If we must escape, my emergency map will do the trick.

Stay vigilant!

Survival Strategy #10: Long Term Essentials

Zombie Hunters need to go green.

Not the sickly-colored rot of the living dead.  I am referring to the fresh vibrant colors of Green Energy and recycling.  Pay attention, this is serious life & death stuff.

Most of us are fortunate enough to live in a first-world economy where everything is served on a silver platter.  We take many modern miracles for granted: the internet, electricity, cable TV, groceries, health care, WIFI, Facebook, your fancy little iPad, etc. Thinking about surviving is nonexistent because we're all too busy chasing our diversions.

Kiss all of this goodbye WTSHTF.

You're in for one salty pickle if you've never been outdoors,  learned to hunt or fish, learned how to collect & sterilize water, build a proper shelter, or planted & stored your own food.

And we're not just talking about you.  Think about your family.  If they're cold, hungry and without shelter, you have failed as a survivalist. 

Being prepared is more than stocking up on a few days of guns, ammo, food, and water.  You need to be capable of supporting yourselves for many years to come.

The essentials for long term survival:

I. Green Energy
When the power grid goes down, we'll need to learn new ways to harness energy.  With it, you could cook, stay warm, communicate, and do other things that would improve your chances for long term survival. 

Here are a few handy favorites from the Green Energy Insiders blog:

• Waste-to-Energy - Fertilizer and energy from your refuse?  Free energy is always great.

• Doggie Poop = Energy - In some cultures, you've got the family cow, pig or chicken.  Now your dog can help fuel your kitchen gas stove and contribute to the war effort!

• Solar Powered Homes -  If every home had these, the post-apocalyptic world won't be so uncomfortable! Take that Meralco.

• Green is Here to Stay - Everybody wins when more folks get with it.

Mr. Davis is a wizard.  What more would you need?

And I've found the wonderful Mike's World of Mike Davis.  Go check out how the untiring pursuit of his hobbies has materialized into real-world energy solutions.

And the man's also done some mighty fine cooking!  Wins big groovy points with the ladies 'coz of all his talents, I'll bet.


II. Rainwater Harvesting
The average human needs about a gallon of of clean drinking water per day, and about double the same amount for cooking and maintaining one's hygiene.  Water collection and conservation techniques will be a must.  Especially if you want to be a responsible parent and look after the needs of your family.

III. Food Preservation and Gardening
These will assist your family's daily need for nutrition.  In an extended crisis, foraging for food will be one of your primary tasks.  So knowing how to properly store what you've found and augment it with growing your own will be of paramount importance to your survival. 

Warning: Learn how to sterilize your food properly to avoid posioning.

There are serious health risks if you get this wrong!

IV. Summary

All of this may be too much for just one person.  The good news is that teamwork will go a long way.  You'll be amazed at how the different talents of each family member could attain sustainable survival.  

All we want is to never get caught unprepared.  There are more disasters other than a zombie apocalypse that are waiting to happen! As the head of the family, its your duty to make concrete preparations for their sake.

Get them involved today!