Finding Drinkable Water in an Emergency

Photo by thiagofest

One of the most critical needs in an emergency is a good water supply.  Your best bet is to purchase bottled water or prepare and store water beforehand in food-grade containers.  Cleaned and sterilized juice bottles work great too.  However, if you run out or your supply somehow becomes contaminated, look for these additional emergency water sources to sustain life:

Indoor Water Sources:

• Ice cubes from the freezer can be melted down to drinkable water.
• The water reserve in most hot water heaters holds 30-60 gallons of water that can be drained.  Make sure the electricity to the water heater is off first and that the drain is clean.  Open the drain at the bottom of the tank and turn on a hot water faucet at a higher level from the water heater to let air into the tank as water is running out.  Drain water into clean storage containers.
• Water pressure tanks are good though be careful if flooding has occurred and treat all equipment as being contaminated.  If the water is still under pressure in the take, it is probably clean.  Just clean the drain first. 
• Your toilet tank can be used for drinking.  It sounds gross, but inside the tank (not the bowl) the water should be pretty clean.  Water from the bowl could be cleaned and used as well, but only if you haven't used chemicals to clean it (so mine is out).
• If water to your home is turned off due to contamination, some water may be pulled from your house and shower pipes.  Turn on a faucet at the highest level of your home (an upper floor perhaps) to release a small amount of water and let air into the pipes.  Then turn on a faucet at the lowest level of your home (like a basement, or just your kitchen sink) and collect the water that comes out.
• Canned milk, bottled water, bottled juices, etc. are great.
• Distilled water is also good.
• Water from a water bed should be used only as a last resource since toxins or chemicals from the bed may have leached into the water.

Outdoor Water Sources:

• Swimming pool water is usually chlorinated and fairly clean if kept covered, but you should still boil or purify it before drinking.
• Rooftop water tanks are good.
• Private well water can be used for drinking, though be cautious if it has been flooded and treat it as contaminated.
• Fresh rainwater, dew, and water from condensation on cool surfaces can be collected.
• Water from streams, lakes, rivers, etc. can be collected to drink, but should be filtered first.  Be aware that using chlorine or iodine tablets will not get rid of certain microorganisms, such as Giardia.

Other Water Tips:

• If you hear of any contamination issue, shut off the main water valve to your home to keep the contamination from entering.
• Flood waters should always be considered contaminated.  If they touch any water you will drink or containers you will use to drink from, they need to be cleaned first.
• Boiling and purifying will NOT get rid of chemicals, pesticides, and heavy metals in the water, only bacteria.  If a water source has a funny odor or looks dark in color, don't drink it. 
• Sources go back and forth about drinking urine.  Some survival experts say yes, and some (including the U.S. Army) say no.  The idea to me seems ridiculous, but I suppose if you are desperate a whole new set of possibilities opens up.  The main basis for not drinking urine is that your urine is removing toxins, sodium, and other minerals from your body which will only make dehydration worse.