Drinking Water 101

Water is a life giving substance! We are confident that life as we know it cannot exist without the presence of clean water. People are able to live weeks without food but merely days without water. Recent tests on the moon were designed to detect any presence of water, for eventual colonization would be impossible without it.

The earth contains plenty of water for us all. It contains 326 million trillion gallons of water, meaning we could each have our own 56 billion gallons. The average person in the world has a daily requirement of water for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs of about 13.2 gallons. Thus we have enough water down here to last each of us over 11 million years (not counting population growth)! And that doesn’t take into consideration its wonderful ability to be recycled.

Of course, this is a little misleading for not all (or even most) of this water on earth is in a useable form. 98% of the water on the planet is ocean salt water. Of the 2% of the planet’s fresh water, 1.6% is locked up in the polar ice caps and glaciers. Another 0.36% is locked underground in aquifers and wells. A mere trifle, just .036% of the planet’s total water supply, is found in fresh water lakes and rivers. This is still 392 million gallons each, but that isn’t much compared with the 56 billion gallons we could have. The sobering fact is that only about 0.007% of all water on earth (and less than 1% of the world’s fresh water) is accessible for direct human use.

To exacerbate the problem, this fresh water is not evenly available to the population. The average American uses more water taking a five-minute shower than the typical person living in a slum in a developing country uses in a whole day. Nearly one billion people lack access to safe water. Those 884 million amount to approximately one in eight people. Also 2.5 billion do not have improved sanitation, meaning they do not have a means to separate drinking water from waste water.

Major health issues throughout the world result from a lack of sanitary drinking water. As many as half of all people in hospital beds at any given time are there because of a water related disease. As a result, a child dies from a water-related disease every 15-20 seconds in the world, usually from diarrhea. That totals a staggering 1.4 million children each year. Children of the poor often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies continually. Think of it: 88% of the cases of diarrhea worldwide are caused by unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, or insufficient hygiene.

Polluted water brings death, but also an increase in disease, crime, birth defects, and decreased ability to concentrate in school. In other words, it results in major economic decline. An investment in pure water for a people, or in desalination of the sea, is an investment with big returns. On average, every US dollar invested in water and sanitation for a third world people provides an economic return for them of eight US dollars.

Some want the western civilization to feel guilty for taking a shower or watering their lawns. This is faulty thinking. Lowering our living standard in use of water only borrows their problems. America has sufficient good, clean water because we have learned how to preserve it and where to get it. Our response to criticism should not be guilt but better stewardship and an increased willingness to share our knowledge with others. When our water systems are conserved and maintained, America will continue to set a high standard for others to follow.

By: ThelmaMTA02

The Associated Press reported early October, 2009, that when Health Officials tested the quality of drinking water in public schools across the country, almost every school scored positive for the presence of heavy metals (lead), pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, nitrates, bacteria and other toxins. Contaminated water supplies showed up in all 50 states, big cities and small towns, almost without exception.

It has also been reported that more than 41 million Americans in 24 major cities have been drinking water laced with a cocktail of prescription drugs. Officials in Philadelphia alone discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or drug byproducts in their treated drinking water, including medications for pain, infection, high cholesterol, epilepsy, asthma, heart problems and mental illness.

Tainted water has become a silent epidemic, with entire populations, perhaps millions of Americans, drinking their way into long-term negative health effects as a result. World wide, 3.575 million people die each year from water-related diseases, according to Water.org. A landlord who rents out an apartment that contains lead paint can go to jail, yet nothing is being done by our public officials about lead, drugs and other toxins in our drinking water, which affect us all.

Can and should we really depend on the current government to provide us with one of our most basic necessities – pure water? — Only if you want to be at the mercy of a system which has repeatedly failed the people in favor of catering to large corporate and financial interests.

Where anarchists may rebel by conspiring to blow up a building or power plant to make a point, the most effective way for an individual to take a stand against a corrupt or inefficient system is through self-reliance. Unplug, and provide for yourself. One household, one neighborhood, one community at a time.

If enough individuals unplug, the system must change, or risk being made redundant. Unplugging requires accepting personal responsibility for providing you and your family with one of life’s most basic requirements – water.

“How do I secure my personal water supply”, you may ask?

The premier product on the market today for guaranteeing an independent water supply is the atmospheric water generator. This new technology condenses the humidity in the air into pure drinking water. No water source is needed. Just plug the water condenser in and it produces up to seven gallons of pure, clean drinking water every day – from the air. The water machine shuts off automatically when the reservoir is full so it is constantly replenishing itself.

Alternatively, a low cost and simple clean water solution is a counter top or under counter water purifier, which will filter tap water, well water or any other water source, to remove 99.99% of contaminates. There are easy how-to guides on making your own inexpensive water filter system at home.
The next step up would be a whole house system that can be attached to the incoming water pipe from the source so the entire household water supply is purified. You will really appreciate this system when you shower.

An additional bonus would be alkaline or ionized water and structured water options, which could be attached to pipes, be under the counter or counter top units. There are reports of some amazing health benefits associated with ionized and structured water consumption.

Other than municipal water supplies, well water is a good reliable water source, depending on the location and circumstances, although it should still be filtered.

Any house with a roof can be set up for rain water harvesting with a good catch and cistern storage system. Rain catch will provide a reoccurring water supply, depending on the weather. Make sure to filter stored water as well.

They best choice would be a home running on a solar electric power system, along with an atmospheric water generator. This would provide a constant source of energy and a reliable supply of water regardless of what happens on the grid.

This water and power combo is ideal for the most secure form of urban survival preparedness one may desire. With a supply of stored food and seeds to grow a backyard garden for the coming season, the basic necessities of life can be provided for – without government involvement or control – for an indefinite period of time.

By: ucan2win