Good morning from the mountain and how to make water clean enough to drink

Good morning from the mountain, I wanted to talk to you all about water as I read that our friends in the Ukraine are having a hard time with water at the moment.  Any time you depend on someone else to provide you something as important as water you will fail!  

Water which is so precious is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  How to find safe water is sometimes on of the most difficult things in the world.  Most bodies of water are contaminated whether they are in your country or the one I currently live in.  If it is all you have there are some simple cheap things you can do to remove the larger particles and render it safe to drink.  You can make a very easy filter system with a bucket of almost any size, however the larger the bucket the more water you can run through it at a time.  You will need holes at the bottom of the bucket for the water to go through.  Next you will need a few others things, sand, grass or straw, some pebbles.  If you cannot find a bucket a two little bottle will do, it will just filter less. 

First place sand in the very bottom, then larger sand or pebbles, at the top straw or grass, pour water through and you will see the water become clear.  You will still need to boil this water to drink it.

Do not do this with salt water, you will die!!! 

Gathering water from the air, will give you small amounts of water.  You need a piece of plastic sheet and a can.  Place plastic sheeting vertically with the ends coming down into the can, at night moisture will form on the plastic; it is a form of condensation, which will pool in the bottom of the can as water, you may not get much, but if you have no water it is at least some. 

Rain water if you can get it, will still need to be boiled, but should be used sparingly.

Here in Arkansas we have had periods of no running water, either because of weather or power grid failures.  If there is snow on the ground it is not so bad, as you melt the snow, but it is a lot of work.  I have used the filter method that I have described above to get water from a fish pond.  It works, and it will get you by.  

If you have no running water and need to flush a toilet, you will need about a gallon and a half of water to pour into the bowl to flush.  If very short on water you may need to apply the yellow fellow rule.  Which breaks down to:  If it's yellow leave it fellow, if it’s brown flush it down. 

In times where water is scarce, water from doing dishes, or bathing should be used to flush toilets.

I know it is all a bit much, but we have been there as well. 

Off to get my van fixed and pick up the new grain for planting…

Be blessed

Shekhinah