A nasty storm came through the Chicago area on Monday morning and just under 900,000 people lost power. The power returned slowly over several days, but unfortunately I live in a small neighborhood. Two of the houses got power back in three days, but seven of the houses - myself included - didn't get power back until the sixth day.

We learned a lot.

We have well water, and that was by far the biggest issue in three ways:

1. Toilets
2. Cleanup - showers
3. Horses - we have three, and they drink 15-20 gallons/day

We have an above ground pool, and this was a Godsend. We hauled 5 gallon buckets of water from the pool to flush toilets, but because we also have a sewer lift pump we had to be careful and watch the level in the lift tank. After six days the level rose, but not to the point of concern.

We also used the pool for cleanup. We spent a lot of effort skimming debris out of the pool each time to try to keep it as clean as possible. Swimming was sufficient to clean our bodies, but we found we needed to shampoo hair along side the pool - it worked. By day six the pool was getting cloudy, but clean (kept the chlorine tablet dispenser floating). Not sure if we could have gone much longer than six or seven days there.

Water for the horses was a huge issue. They drink a LOT of water. We had two 100 gallon troughs and two 50 gallon metal troughs. Luckily our township offered to truck water in for the horses. Our second option would have been to call the local fire department. People have a soft spot for horses.

Drinking water wasn't an issue - we just bought bottled water.

We ate out more than we normally would, but it was kind of fun. Our family did spend more time together. We tended to gather in the family room with the light of my son's Coleman LED lantern.

Eventually we would have had to take a trip to do laundry.

Most people around here joked that it was basically like camping.

The refrigerator and freezer contents were doomed after day two. We honestly didn't have a ton of food we were worried about and saw it as a good excuse to throw out old frozen food, though we bought milk on Sunday and had to throw much of that out. We used this as an opportunity to give both a nice thorough cleaning (using pool water).

The other thing that was an issue was that even though we opened up windows by night and closed up by day to try to keep the house cool, the house tended to hold heat in the upper floors. If we had a generator it would have been nice to be able to power a whole-house fan to suck out the hot air.

Things we didn't miss: lights (electric lanterns and headlamps did fine), TV (obvious), land-line telephone, recreational internet (we had it on my phone and at work). BTW, the internet WAS important to be able to view status and to contact local government folks to make sure we didn't get forgotten.

Mid-way I bought a generator (they were hard to find), but the thing we really wanted to power was the water pump, and to do that would have needed to do some hard wiring. In the end I only used it to pump out the septic tank. I am currently doing the planning to install a transfer switch so I can power water and other selected items using the generator.

By the way, we have a seasonal camp site in northern Wisconsin - about 5 hours drive, and might have just headed up there, but without running water for the horses that simply wasn't an option - we couldn't have asked a horse-sitter to deal with that.

Great report Ken.

One question on the use of the pool for bathing. In retrospect do you think that using the pool for bathing contributed to the overall decline of cleanliness of the pool water? Just a thought that it may of been better to take water from the pool then use it in a sink or small tub to get cleaned up? I know this would not as enjoyable as a real bath or a swim in the pool, but may of helped to keep the pool water in better condition?

sounds like the 04/05 hurricane season down here as to duration of outages....we had warning...a couple of the 5 day ice chests would have helped with the frozen food if you had forewarning on the duration of the outage...as Teslinhiker commented, I think I would have reserved the pool for a refreshing dip and water reservoir, and disposed of shower greywater outside...battery powered fans can really save the day as far as sleeping...while I have about 20 gallons of drinking water stored, I purchased a Sawyer .1 micron filter this year...a battery powered digital TV really helps relieve boredom ...solar heated garden sprayer for shower (can get very hot)

my future plan is to use my small 5 cu.ft freezer to be repositor of all the frozen food and as ice maker... and run it with a 3.5kw generator only as needed on dedicated extensiion (also charge the car batteries for the fans)....use the produced ice to keep the 5 day chests chilled with the non frozen perishable food

Good overview of the week!

I'm with Teslinhiker on keeping the pool clean. Fill a bucket or two, and take it to the bathroom or kitchen sink. After all, suppose the outage had lasted TWO weeks? The record around here is 17 days.

Re: horse water. Chlorine off-gases, even when just sitting. Since you did get a generator, would it have been viable to fill the horse troughs with pool water and run bubblers in them to dissipate the chlorine? I don't know about pool chlorine vs. household chlorine. But I do know that horses can be awfully fussy about their water.

Another option for horse water: buy one of those white, square, frame-enclosed tanks and put it on the pickup* and drive to a pumped source of water and fill it. Our local feed store has a well, and as long as they have power they give away water if you provide your own containers.
* I know it's against the law to NOT have a pickup if you own horses, so that's how I know you have a pickup!

About the heat in the house: have you ever tried natural convection in summer? Open the windows on the sunny side of the top floor, open all connecting doors between the ground and top floors; open windows on the coolest side of the house ONLY on the ground floor. As the top floor heats up, hot air is expelled out those windows, and cooler air is pulled in from the lowest openings. A steady stream of cooler air should be moving upward through the house as long as the sun is shining.

Your septic: you could have run into trouble if the outage was longer term, right? What about the Humanure Handbook technique for disposing of waste? You already have manure, just build a horse-sourced compost pile and sandwich human waste in between the layers?

Meanwhile, here in WA, we've had TWO WHOLE DAYS of 80ºF so far this YEAR. Most days have been in the 60s, and half the days have been raining, and for the last few days, it has POURED. The peas like it, but the tomatoes don't.

Sue

I was in the same boat not to long ago one winter. Bad snow ripped threw and we ended up with no power for a solid week. With well water we ended up purchasing water by the 3 gallon packs constantly. The average toilet takes about 3 gallons to flush 2-2.5 gallons if your lucky. We were pretty much dead in the water for the first 3 days (Including the day of the storm) since our landlord didnt plow the driveway till then. We had no means for a generator either. My Cat who 150% hates being covered by anything such as a blanket ended up letting me piled um onto him like a cat nest and stayed in there all day pretty much for the week.

I honestly don't think the swimming fouled the pool water much. Most of the nasty came from the bugs and vegitation blowing in. Like I said, each day we'd spend a fair about of time scouping out debris. The lifespan this time was about the same as a year or two back when my pump broke and I went without a pump for a while. Back then we stopped swimming until I got the new pump.

I don't think the pool water would have lasted much longer than a week without filtration, even with chlorination, the suspended solids load was beginning to stack up. As I said, it was probably cleaner than using lake water (for this area), and personally I wouldn't have hesitated to put it through a backpacking filter (have several) and drinking it, but not sure my wife and kids would have been willing to do that.

We had contacted several horse vets and they all strongly suggested not giving the horses pool water, saying that a horse's gut can be pretty sensitive and that it just wasn't worth taking a chance on if other sources of water could be made available. We didn't want to risk one or more of them colicing (sp?).

Anyway, Sunday was wonderful with flushing toilets and air conditioning. Life is good, and we learned some important lessons.

We installed a diesel generator back in 1999, figuring that, if Y2K did knock out the power, it might be a while before they got it back on. Thankfully, that didn't happen, but we did have a big blackout during 2003 throughout much of the North East. I was very glad to have the generator then, or we would have been likely throwing out three refrigerators worth of food.

A buddy of mine just converted his house over to solar power. So far, his most expensive electric bill has been $3, but most of the time they send him money. He's also planning on buying a plug-in automobile, that way he can just charge it off the house. I thought that was a great idea...he would be in better shape than most if gas prices go crazy or if there is a major power failure.

yep 04/05 season hurricane wise 10 days no power camp stoves for coffee in the am frozen hot pocks and pizza bites on the bbq and 13000 gallons of pool water wasnt to bad but keeping kids entertained was the toughest...

I don't recall the question ever coming up, and I've never had to live with a septic system, so I don't know, but does using pool water with a septic system cause problems? Specifically, the composition of pool water is different from tap water, and it seems that too much pool water could significantly affect the complicated balance of microbes that a properly functioning septic system relies on.

Obviously, for most situations, short-term sanitation trumps the long-term health of your septic system, but I'm just curious what using pool water does (or doesn't do) in this case. Or, when the emergency passes, maybe some remedial work needs to be done on the septic system that people aren't aware of needing after using pool water to flush their toilets?

Actually, I thought of this question while reading about the question of giving horses pool water to drink--horses rely on gut bacteria more than humans (although not as much as true ruminants, like cows), and if the pool water wrecks that balance, it would seem that their digestion/elimination could be negatively affected, like leading to colic, as was mentioned.

You could always just get your septic pumped after the situation. A week without a toilet would be worth the money to pump it afterwords in my opinion.

Arney,

I believe that the of sheer dilution of flushed hyperchlorinated pool water to total volume already in the septic system combined with the organic load (and sun exposure) will dilute/inactivate chlorine levels found in pool water to levels that are not sufficient to significantly affect the bioload of the septic system.

Pete

I came across the same question somewhere, but regarding bleach used for laundry. The answer was the same as Pete's above, the dilution rendering it harmless.

Sue

One item to watch is whether you use stabilized chlorine.

Stabilized chlorine has cyanuric acid in it:
Link to Cyanuric Acid info

I have yet to find any health risk gotchas listed anywhere concerning exposure (including drinking) but once I read that the only way to get rid of it was to drain water out and refill the pool, I started using only chlorine.

I know the health hazards of pool chlorine, I haven't been able to find the health hazards (or lack thereof) for stabilized pool chlorine.

Also, I keep my above ground pool covered with an opaque tarp except for when we swim. Cuts way down on amount of chlorine I have to use AND keeps a huge amount of crap from drifting down into the water.

Just a thought.

WB

WolfBrother, here is what the World Health Organization has to say about it: Melamine & Cyanuric Acid

Does anyone know anything about silver-copper ion generators for disinfecting swimming pools, in place of chlorine?

Sue

According to the FDA, cyanuric acid by itself is basically non-toxic. It is used in some places to disinfect drinking water, too, so I wouldn't worry about it in a properly maintained pool. It is not metabolized by the body and passes out through the urine.

Just don't drink that pool water along with food illegally spiked with high levels of melamine, like those bad batches of Chinese pet food and infant formula from a few years back. Combine the two and they precipitate into crystals in the kidneys and lead to kidney failure. Actually, the pool test kit for cyanuric acid does just that--contains melamine and you gauge the level of cyanuric acid by observing how turbid the water gets when they mix together.

When I thought about it, by not using a stabilizer, isn't it going to be difficult to maintain the proper concentration of chlorine in your pool because UV from the sun decomposes the chlorine so quickly? It seems like you would have a safer, cheaper and more convenient to maintain pool if you use the cyanuric acid.

When my kids were very young we had one of those small kiddie pools. In the hopes of keeping water clean longer I calculated how much Chlorox bleach to add to the water to get the PPM to the needed level, but didn't know to add cyanuric acid (called stabilizer at the pool stores). Every time I added chlorine it was gone by the end of the day. I repeated this day after day for a summer. I thought that must be what the pool owners did.

It was out of that frustration that I started reading more about pool water chemistry and then finally decided to get a "real" pool.

Be aware that most such residential systems provide no protection whatsoever against power cuts.
They use PV modules connected to the grid via a grid tie inverter, any surplus power produced is exported into the grid, and any demand in excess of solar production is imported from the grid.
Such schemes can be viable financialy, and they benifit the enviroment by reducing fuel burnt in power plants.

To protect against power cuts, you need an off grid battery charging system with a stand alone inverter, this is unlikely to pay for itself in terms of money invested versus power produced, but could well be justified as a disaster prep.

Anyone who believes that a standard grid tied solar system protects against power cuts should try a very simple experiment. Turn off the main circuit breaker, thereby simulating a power cut.
See what still works, allmost certainly nothing does.

Any friend or relative who believes that their new grid tied solar system protects against power cuts, should be asked a simple question "how big is the battery" the answer is normally "what battery"

I am not opposed to grid tied PV but it should be regarded as a money saving, enviroment protecting scheme and not as a disaster prep.

I am having trouble understanding your argument. Let us assume that a residential system uses enough photo-voltaic modules to generate as much power as is consumed on average (thereby creating a situation as you say, where excess power can be sold, or a power deficit can be filled by the grid). If I understand your argument correctly, you are saying that once grid-supplied power is cut, that "almost certainly nothing" in the house will work.

However, I don't understand why that would occur. The PV modules, in the presence of sunlight, are still generating power. Where does this energy go? This line of thinking conjurs up a couple of questions for me:

1. An alternative, stand-by form of power, such as a generator, can be substituted for grid power via a transfer switch. Why can't similar technology be used to switch the source of house power to the PV modules alone, isolating the grid?

2. Backup battery power is nice would be welcome in the event of a grid failure, especially at night. However, I don't understand why the inverter has to stand alone. Why can't a battery system be charged by the PV modules?

Grid tie inverters are designed to shut down in the event of a power failure. It's a protection feature that both prevents the power you generate from keeping the grid hot while technicians are working on it and prevents too much power draw from your system if the grid suddenly dies.

Therefore, in order to run directly off the solar panels, you either need a separate inverter setup designed to supply back-up power separate from the grid or a grid-tie inverter designed with backup power in mind. This is an added expense.

In my buddies case, he already had a transfer panel setup for a generator, which meant, basically, the only things he needed were a charge controller, a battery rack with disconnect, and an inverter that could tie into said transfer panel. Then he could run a solar charged battery back-up just like one would run a back-up home generator. Now, you could technically run directly off the panels with just an inverter, but it's not a stable power source.

In essence, it's two systems on one set of solar panels. The grid based system and the back-up system.

Most grid tie systems have no storage capability either, its a cost save, batteries and charge controllers and such are expensive.
Power usually goes out in a storm when there is a lack of sun.
I was looking at solar for a cabin on the farm and was researching and on differnet forums and some forums are very pro grid tie and anti sotrage, better to share the excess produced energy with others via the grid and not have bateries which will eventually need disposed/recycled and use resources to manufactur. They couldn't get past the fact that I wanted storage based rather then having to cut miles of trees down to run electric lines to connect to a rural grid which is down more than up in the winter. I don't hang out on that forum much anymore.

That's the one thing that's kind of annoying about green technology. You have a lot of people in that field that are willing to trade a significant amount of overall practicality for maximum green environmentalism. When you want something outside of that, they often scoff at you, tell you what a terrible person you are, ect, ect.

A while back I was talking to some guys who are big into 'green' vehicles. I asked them about the Tahoe hybrid, as I was thinking of maybe replacing my old diesel suburban with it. All I got back from that was a lecture on how SUVs are the devil, how I should buy a prius instead, and so on and so forth. Not for nothing, but if I wanted a small car, I would have asked about a small car. I wanted to know about greener suvs, but apparently they aren't 'green enough' so they aren't worth talking about.

If anything, that kind of thinking only hurts their cause. Instead of helping to sway me towards something potentially more green, I'm still driving my 16 year old noisy smokey diesel.


Oh well, I guess that's my rant for today.

So just as you wouldn't plug a generator into an outlet to prevent harm to a lineperson, you wouldn't leave the grid tie active. OK, got that.



So a transfer switch is viable, but it turns your solar panels into a separate power source, not a continuous source that supplements the grid. To do that requires extra gear. Add a battery backup system and we're talking even more gear and money. By George, I think I've got it !

Thanks for the enlightenment.

Yes, as others post, no common grid tied system provides any backup power.
The grid tie inverter provides line voltage accuratly matched to the grid. It is required by law to automaticly shut down very quickly indeed if the grid connection is lost.

For backup power you need either a generator or a battery bank and off grid inverter, or ideally both.
The battery bank may be charged from grid power when available, from a generator, or from a PV system.

My ideal system would be a large grid tied PV system for the financial and enviromental gains, though it is useless in a power cut.
I would then install a large 12 volt battery bank with an off grid inverter for backup power.
This battery should be kept charged by its own dedicated PV module. This will keep it charged and replace any small or infrequent discharge.
After any deep or frequent discharge, this backup battery may be charged from grid or generator power.

In the event of TEOTWAWKI, then the PV modules in the now useless grid tied system could be re-purposed for battery charging.
I would advise against this for routine power cuts whilst times are normal. The grid tied array works at lethal voltages, and there are often warrenty issues involved in any modification.

What would you have done if you couldn't have gone outside to buy those things? It's not out of the realm of possibility in some places. People near Edmonton AB were stuck inside the last few days because of a chemical fire near them.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+...5762/story.html

again, if you haven't been there... a battery powered fan to provide some air movement to allow you sleep in a boarded up house should be a priority consideration...ear plugs in case your neighbors are running their generators helps...a battery powered digital TV, and a copy of Carl Hiaasen's "Stormy Weather" for leisure reading by the flickering lamp light..TEVA sandals and nylon shorts..welcome to sub tropical Florida

Ear plugs are essential as I found out during my BOB test weekend. I didn't bring them along. Even despite the noise of the 50mph gusts rattling the tent, the noise of what sounded like a herd of wildebeest spending the whole night in/at the edge of the loch was almost unbearable. You have to find out if anyone who joins your group actually snores (was in another tent about 10 yards away). The amphitheater effect of the bug out location didn't help either.

And yes I have been able to sleep through a Hurricane (without ear plugs) when I was in Cuba even though it was raining in the hotel room bathroom.


Edit - http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Wildebeest_sounds.aspx

Actually sounded like a wildebeast death cry + the wildebeast walk water combined all night long.

Absolutely, in any warm area a battery fan is important.
Good ones dont seem to be sold here in the UK I purchased from a USA ebay seller.

Ideally you need two, one to work from a car battery or similar, and one that uses disposable alkaline cells.

adam2...my small original is a two D cell magnetic base tent fan.. after 04 hurricane season purchased a larger one.... Coleman with a plug in port for 12v pack of D cells....a 12v plug adapter to cigarette lighter, and female cigarette receptacle to auto battery clips... that way I have a 12v tap...and more amp hours...3500w Honda and GoalZero panel just in case

Was it raining in the bathroom or were you in the bathroom while it was raining? Two different sets of challenges.

I second the call for earplugs, especially if there's a violent storm with weird noises, or if you'll be sleeping with someone you're not used to (That came out wrong) or WITH more than one snorer.

Battery powered fans are a great idea too. They can improve air flow and help lower or raise temps. I've got a couple of 2 X D cell ones that are designed to hold magnetically to a tent. They work great!

I did not know nylon could be made magnetic....

LOL! Smrte a$$!

Not sure about nylon, but my DW found out while doing what bears do in the woods that pine pitch on the @$$ makes cotton attract to the South Pole.

Place the magnet and a separate metal plate on opposite sides of the nylon. In the same spot. Not too far from the door, or you'll need two people or very long arms.

Sue