How much water do you use every day?

Drinking water is essential... as over one hundred thousand people are finding out right now on the island of Oahu.

Context: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...se/8932814002/

TL;DR: Water for nearly 100k people on the Navy's water system on Oahu is contaminated with JP-8. A fuel storage facility that sits just a few hundred feet over a major aquifer leaked thousands of gallons of jet fuel straight into the water system back in Nov. People could literally hold a lighter to their kitchen faucet and watch their tap water ignite - and there are many videos that show exactly this.

Fast forward to Jan.... The water is still undrinkable and for some completely unusable for showers, cleaning, laundry, etc.

So here's the big question: What is your plan for safe drinking water? How much water do you have stored in your house? How long will that last you?

The water in our house is safe for showering and good enough (as far as we can tell) for laundry and washing dishes. Many people cannot say the same. Our family (2 adults, 3 kids 9 and younger, and 2 dogs) has been consuming pretty consistently ~3 gal of water every day.

This is obviously a unique situation, but what would you do if your town lost access to safe water for 2+ months? I think *most* natural disaster type situations wouldn't require more than 2 weeks of water, but do you have enough drinkable water available?

On Honolulu, you should be worrying about how much cereal/milk you eat, since they each cost an arm and a leg.

Buy a bag or 2 of all natural charcoal, along with a bag or 2 of beach (fine) sand . You can make your own reverse osmosis system, with the sand and charcoal, after crushing it. Fairly labor involved.

Or you could buy one. IF you went the buy it way and no one has any on da island. I'd be happy to order here and drop ship it, to you.

Lower budget , minimal plumbing needed
https://www.amazon.com/Countertop-Re...s%2C129&sr=8-7

Counter top. One of the many, but good flow rate
https://www.amazon.com/Waterdrop-Rev...9&sr=8-12&th=1


Then there's the time consuming, plumbing required under counter units.

https://www.amazon.com/iSpring-RCC7A...09&sr=8-6&th=1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arbol

On Honolulu, you should be worrying about how much cereal/milk you eat, since they each cost an arm and a leg.

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well, they're likely talking about adults, so that shouldn't be a huge issue

Carnivores, eh?

On an Island, in the middle of the Pacific, that doesn't have much pasture land.

https://youtu.be/VKNoJ2BzSRU

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arbol

On Honolulu, you should be worrying about how much cereal/milk you eat, since they each cost an arm and a leg.

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Also real considerations.... all jokes aside. EVERYTHING is expensive here.

For now, we are getting water delivered from the other side of the island (different aquifer) for about $150/mo. We are also getting about 6gal every day in free bottled water, although that will likely end soon once the Navy and the HI DOH declare the water supply "safe". Most filters won't remove petroleum type contaminants, and getting a high quality filter out here is expensive and comes with a 2-3 month wait.

Again, I bring this up to stir some thought for all of you: do you trust your water supply? Do you have options if something goes wrong?

From my perspective, there are macro and micro water discussions, which relate to survival and preparedness.

I've been to Maui, and love Hawaii in general. Pretty much paradise on earth.

But I live in Aurora, Colorado, as I am getting older, and feel like I need to minimize my efforts to sustain myself.

While I have (city) water, I am sure it could be better. For some reason I have to clean out my faucet and remove black gunk from it, periodically, Dunno what that is.

I'm also close to food, with two grocery stores, within blocks.

In an emergency for water, I would be looking to travel to Cherry Creek, or Aurora Reservoir, and I am about equidistant from each.

I've recently heard that washing dishes by hand, uses more water than the dishwasher, so I am currently enjoying putting all my dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and taking them out a few hours later, sparkling clean.

I hope your water situation clears soon! Water is a staff of life.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Also real considerations.... all jokes aside. EVERYTHING is expensive here.

For now, we are getting water delivered from the other side of the island (different aquifer) for about $150/mo. We are also getting about 6gal every day in free bottled water, although that will likely end soon once the Navy and the HI DOH declare the water supply "safe". Most filters won't remove petroleum type contaminants, and getting a high quality filter out here is expensive and comes with a 2-3 month wait.

Again, I bring this up to stir some thought for all of you: do you trust your water supply? Do you have options if something goes wrong?

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After today we will, once the drill another well for us. The original one when tested before purchase said will require a new well, sooner, than later. That one is at 200' with a level down around 150ish.

The new one will hit water then go another 100' deeper. So we'll have 2 producing wells . Aside from those. We also have 5 - 275 gal totes for rain water. along with 5-5o gal ones in other areas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

Buy a bag or 2 of all natural charcoal, along with a bag or 2 of beach (fine) sand . You can make your own reverse osmosis system, with the sand and charcoal, after crushing it. Fairly labor involved.

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That would be an activated charcoal filter. Reverse osmosis uses a membrane that has holes small enough for water molecules but only just and requires pressure to opereate and a drain line

Also note things like micron ratings and absolute rating are two different things.

To answer the title question 110 gallons lasts 2 weeks for 1 person. A bit more when it's hot out or I'm doing dirty work requiring more frequent showers.

I remember watching a video where several of the water filtration systems were tested. The results were pretty surprising on how well they worked. I do remember the best result was the Zero water pitcher. Which actually lived up to its name. So I picked one up and tested it myself, and it really did get the TDS to 0 ppm.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0ioX6GSz0