Free Harvesting H2o by Nicholas Hyde

Introduction
     
    The provision of safe drinking water is always the first order of business in any survival situation. If you have seen survivalist Bear Grylls skydive into remote backcountry areas on his cable TV show, you know that locating fresh water is the first thing he always does. While the human body can survive for a month or more without food, it cannot go more than a few days without water. In extremely hot climates, you could be dead in a matter of hours.
    It logically follows that as a prepper or an off-grid homesteader, your first priority is maintaining a sustainable potable water source. It is not practical to attempt to simply store a large supply beforehand, because we humans just consume it too quickly. Even if you have the equivalent of an Olympic-size swimming pool at your disposal, your family will go through it all within a few short years. You need a renewable source of fresh water, and you need a reliable system of making it safe for human consumption. That’s what this book is about.
    In the following pages, we will discuss in considerable detail the best methods of harvesting, keeping, and purifying fresh water for human consumption. Fortunately, this can be accomplished without sacrificing the comforts of a modern home, if you so choose. Producing your own delicious drinking water is a very satisfying project, and there will be no public utility water bill to pay.
    One thing we have going for us is water is never very far away. More than 2/3 of the earth is covered with it, which seems appropriate, being as the human body consists of roughly 2/3 water. However, only 3% of the water on earth is fresh water. (Living in modern times does have its advantages; saltwater can now be quickly converted into fresh drinking water using convenient equipment which is affordable to most homesteaders, and we will cover that.) Of the earth’s fresh water supply, nearly 70% is frozen or trapped inside of glaciers. The overwhelming majority of the rest of it lies underground, leaving less than 1% on the surface in streams, lakes, ponds, and swamps.
    There’s more. As you know, water comes in three different physical forms. The earth’s atmosphere contains another large supply of it in gas form, perhaps enough to fill all of the earth’s rivers to their high water mark and then some.
    It’s a good thing the earth yields such an abundant supply, because people consume an awful lot of H2o. In America alone, it has been estimated that more than 390 billion (with a b) gallons of water are used every single day. Each time a person flushes a toilet, between 1.5 and 5 gallons are used, depending on the age and efficiency of the toilet. Turning the water off while you brush your teeth actually saves several gallons. If your toilet runs, it is likely that 10+ gallons are wasted before you remember to go in and jiggle the handle. This is the reason many off-grid homes are being built which use non-potable, recycled water (grey water) for toilets, irrigation, and even in some appliances such as washing machines.
    When a person chooses to move to an off-the-grid lifestyle, conservation usually becomes a major motivating force. One is suddenly more aware of one’s own wasteful, modern living habits, and begins to make compensating adjustments. Water is the most precious resource, so it is usually the biggest conservation target. Of course, this depends greatly on where you live. If your home is in the Pacific Northwest or Great Britain, there is always plenty more water on the way – usually within a matter of days, at the longest – so the only concern is how to best collect it, treat it, and store it.
    The rest of us will need to pay attention to our supply and stop living like a blissfully blind city-slicker (the water system in New York City leaks more than 35 million gallons a day). That doesn’t mean you can’t take a shower every day. It does mean you need to pay attention to your consumption habits and make an