"Hey, Mom, somebody at school said eggs come from chickens before they come from the store -- is that true?"

Uh.... where does tap water come from? I mean HOW does it get here? I know this sounds dumb (small voice), and I know we have several town wells, and I am assuming it is pumped somewhere along the line. Here is my small town (one traffic light) we have our own town water system. If the power goes off, we still have water. But how? Under what circumstances would we NOT have water, assuming that lines are not interrupted?

Matt's post got me to thinking about NYC without water. He said when the power went out, they still had tap water. But how?

Short sentences, small words please. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I know you guys know the answer to this!

Sue

In my pockets I carry a SAK rucksack, a 3LED AA light, a 'bullet' space pen, kershaw chive, 20' paracord, bandana, two large zip ties, and a zippo. Around the neck I have a CRKT Hawk K-AT with a red Princeton Pulsar II and an aluminum vial with strike anywhere matches. In my wallet I have a couple small zip ties. To this I generally either add my Maxpedition Thermite, which has a ton of stuff in it, or - if I don't feel like carrying all that, then I take my Altoid kit which is in a compass case. In that I have water purification tabs, tinder etc - around the tin is about 10' of paracord and in the bottom of the compass case another SAK (TY generous ETS member). I'm probably over bladed and over equipped to start fires - but I dislike being cold. I can envision likely scenarios, even in an urban environment, where I would want to be able to start a fire. I live in the north. Freezing doesn't appeal to me. I carry a few fishing items in both the thermite and the altoids kits, but it's minimalist - I doubt I would ever need those items for fishing. The one item I intend to add is a whistle to my neck rig since I'm almost never without that. I have a whistle in the Thermite, but it's to big for the neck rig (modified Fox40). I'd like to add one to the Altoids kit, but it needs to be flat and small. Yes, I do double up (triple up) items I think are important. And besides... I'm a gear junky....

Matt,

Interesting thoughts. Some things to consider:

1. Yes, I could also go 24 hours without water -- but not in top form. And in Summer, it would be no fun.

2. Yes, there are many stores to get things at, some are 24 hour, but everyone else will also be in these same stores stocking up on water, tools, non-pershiables, etc.

3. Yes, I could walk 25 miles today, but not if its night, storming, with bridges, closed/full/disrupted.

Use caution when predicting what the new conditions might be based on what is true today. I like to consider how I/ my kit would hold up in a "worst-case". Not just a power outage, but a power outage during a storm at night.

Hope this is helpful,

Teacher RO

Susan,

I am sure there are other public water systems that operated differently, but here are two that I am familiar with:

You may notice in your community a tall standing water tank; the size is likely determined upon local needs, finances and the size of the pumping station. The way many of them work is, during the night when electrical and water usage is at it’s minimum, pumping stations will pump water up into these large water tanks/towers. By pumping the water into these tanks/towers, the water has potential energy via gravity to pressurize the water distribution system in your community.

If the electricity was out for any significant period of time or there was no electricity at all, the other way water could reach a home/business on public water system is if a reservoir was located higher then the city/town it was supplying water and then again via gravity water would be funneled into the distribution system.

Pete

Omitting items? Not me. For the urbanesque setting, I'll add a mini pry bar, multitool, eye and ear protection, a heavy set of leather work gloves, a dust mask, extra cash, and more water purification tabs...

M

What kind of scenario do you have in mind? I work 2 miles from where I live, so I reckon I could walk home. I have loads of stuff at home. When I am further away I carry more stuff on me. I'd also be willing to ask for help, whether from friends who live near-by, from the police, or from strangers. My town is not prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados or volcanoes. If my town did happen to be hit by, eg, a terrorist nuke, there are plenty of other towns near by. England is a densely populated country.

Anyway... for me the biggest difference is the knife. In the wilds you may need to do a lot of working with wood, eg building a shelter, carving tools or splitting logs for a fire. In the city we are surounded by buildings, tools and combustible material. A small knife is still useful, but screwdrivers and other tools are more important. Also, of course, there may be legal issues. So I don't carry a big fixed-blade knife in the city.

Fire starting, well, I'm surrounded by houses I'm not going to die of hypothermia. I'm also surrounded by people and half of them smoke so carry ciggarette lighters. I do carry my own fire making but that's more for convenience and back-up.

For water purification, you can always boil it. There's no shortage of pans. Most houses will have a reserve sitting in their pipes and hot water tanks, and more in their central heating systems. I supplement that by stock-piling bottled water at home.

I add, money and a mobile phone - one with internet access. Multitools. There is more emphasis on light (through fear of being stuck in a windowless building in a powercut).

Well I guess it all depends if you want to just survive or survive in style. I guess where you live is also very important. There are some bridges and few tunnels that would allow me to leave NYC. If by any chance something happened in the city I have to make a decision if I want to go back to Brooklyn, regroup, reorganize and than make my way out OR leave immediately from the city as I stand. Now I know that if I went back it will be close to impossible to get out due to limited capacities of the roads. Now if I left I would be seriously under prepared but that would be for almost everyone short of people who carry their BOBs in their car. Personally I would rather stay at my place, regroup, connect resources with my friends and work out of my hospital. I only consider evacuation as a last resort.

Now also if I’m aware that there is a happy ending at the finish line I’m willing to push my self much further than if my ending was uncertain. Example: I wouldn’t mind getting wet, soaked and cold if I knew that there is hot cup of soup and dry clothes waiting for me at the end of my 25 mile trek. It doesn’t matter that the cup would have to be prepared by me but the knowledge that I’m going to the safe place will be strong enough motivator. Now if during the same scenario I was stuck in the middle of nowhere I will be very cautious on how to distribute my energy and how much abuse and tear my body can take.

I also understand that people will hit the stores in case of water/food shortage than I will rely on my house stash. Also that water purification tablets that I will have on me won’t do much. 24 hrs without water on a hot day is uncomfortable but not impossible. This also brings me to the case above. I’m willing to push my self faster if I know that there is a pint of high quality H2O waiting for me at home versus not knowing where my next cup will come from.

I think the lack of fire gear and water purification simply comes down to this - "where would we use them?" I know here in NYC there is almost no natural water sources left - a few lakes in the big parks, but that's about it, unless you are in the FAR outer edges. And for fire - they just don't see a place - what are you going to do, build a fire on the street corner?

Basically, they are not worried about TEOTWAWKI - more about getting home. I carry WATER (but not water purification) and fire making gear. I figure I can be home before I'm out of what I have...

How did NYC have water? Simple - our water isn't pumped!! It's pure gravity feed from resevoirs 30-100 miles away. Gravity is a wonderful thing - haven't seen it fail YET

That one got me, too. I was going, "What the ...?" until the dime dropped.

-- Craig