Circumstantial SHTF Training

\”Are YOU Ready?\”

Happy Wednesday everyone!

This will be a shorter post, since I am still smack-dab in the middle of repairs (almost done!). Since Friday, I have been battling a plumbing issue in my house. We have an electric well pump inside the house (actually pretty handy if there were to be a SHTF type situation), and we developed several leaks in the lines that made us lose prime to the pump, and the pump would keep running without water in it, severely heating up the enclosure it’s in and kinda scaring the bejeesus out of me. (I hear electrical fires are rough on houses.) Long story short, I’d fix one leak, and find another, than another, and so on.

Not really any fun whatsoever.

This created a certain interesting situation, where I could prime the pump and have running water for about a half an hour before the leaks caused issues and the pump would have to be turned off. This struck me as the sort of timeline a family might run into if there was a drought and subsequent water rationing, if the power grind went down and you could only run a generator for a few minutes a day, long enough for basic hygiene and water collection. Or, even, if there was another emergency and, like me, you just had a crappy plumbing issue. It happens to the best of us at the worst of times.

I was able to get my family on a pretty strict but smooth-flowing schedule for that period of time, with the kitchen sink being filled with hot water to wash dishes, while we took turns at speedy showers, and if necessary, threw a load of clothes in the washing machine. We’d fill gallon jugs so we and the pets could have drinking water, and be able to wash up and brush our teeth. I was able to drive to the lake (a two minute drive) to fill jugs up for non-potable water. We all played nice together and worked together, which gave me pretty high hopes in case a real emergency comes rolling down the road.

Things I learned, that could apply to water-rationing situations are: (I do realize that these are pretty much squarely in the “no shit, Sherlock” common sense realm, but sometimes you don’t think of these things until they hit a little closer to home.)

-Make a schedule. Having everyone on the same page and knowing the order things will happen in BEFORE the water starts flowing made things run beautifully. No drama, no fighting for the last few drops of water dripping from the shower head to rinse shampoo. Have a plan with what needs to be done (filling jugs of water, dishes, laundry, showers, watering gardens, etc.) and make sure everyone sticks to it.

-Make sure you have enough! My great dane/black lab mix drinks a BUNCH of water in these warm July days. Each person needs roughly a one to two gallons a day to stay hydrated (especially in summer) and clean. Have extra water in case someone visits, or you need to prime a well, or a water container breaks/goes missing.

-Collect as much as possible by natural means. We’ve been lucky enough to have a streak of two weeks of almost non-stop rain here in Maine, and the five-gallon buckets I had set out had a considerable amount of water in them. This is a bonus…the more buckets, the better! Dew and condensation can also offer a bit of extra liquid.

-Scout nearby natural springs and other water sources. - We found a nearby mountain spring that locals tapped and use to fill water jugs with lovely, clear water. The nearby 900 acre lake can provide copious amounts of water, though it will need to be purified or boiled before consumption. Streams, rivers, reservoirs, even swamps can be used for water collection as long as you are aware that the water will need to be prepared before it is potable.

-Women and children first. - I always let my lovely (and very pregnant) wife take the first shift in the shower, and take a couple extra minutes…it ended up being very appreciated. Also, I let my son jump in ahead of me to make sure he had hot water to get all the grime off him that young boys always seem to accumulate. yeah, I may have ended up with a cold shower, but the lack of stress from the others in the family was well worth it, especially in the less-than-amazing situation we found ourselves in. Yes, it wasn’t real hardship, but it was good training for when there will be.

Any tips and tricks you’ve found when circumstances found you in a close-to-SHTF scenario? Share them below!

Stay safe!

-TRW