Electricity is an important aspect of our day to day lives. This resource is useful for cooking and heating, lighting, electrical appliances, and even electric cars, just to name a few. Compared to the 1950s, people across the United States used 13 times the electricity of the 50’s in 2020 – totalling over 3.8 trillion kWh. The problem with this level of consumerism, however, is the obvious issues arising from power outages. Life tends to come to a halt when your electricity goes out, eliminating the benefits of services including: cable, internet, the microwave, and more. One complication often unconsidered, until your next power outage that is, is the availability of safe and clean drinking water.
Also Read: Enjoy Clean Drinking Water During Power Outage
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Can You Prepare for Power Loss?
Impacting Factors
The climate and the weather relate to overall power supply, especially in the manner of which they impact the water supply. For example, the climate often triggers harsh weather conditions, which may influence how well a power plant operates. Whether it’s heavy rainfall, intense lightning, or heatwaves, unpleasant weather and extreme climate can wreak havoc on your power.
Ultrafiltration Water Filter Systems
If you are considering a better way to obtain drinkable water during a blackout, a water filter system may be right up your alley. The Waterdrop ultrafiltration water filter system, for example, offers a 0.01 micron UF membrane in order to reduce contaminants. Depending on your water filter system, you won’t need to rely on electricity to filter away chlorine, heavy metals, fluoride, and even lead. Consumers only need to utilize 3 AA batteries in order to provide their family with pure drinking water. And, while it is efficient at reducing contaminants, Waterdrop ultrafiltration water filter systems retain magnesium, calcium, and other types of beneficial minerals.
Utilizing Portable Generators
A portable power generator can be an invaluable tool to your family, especially during a power outage. Families dwelling in an area prone to hurricanes may be especially familiar with the need to get power back to normal, once the power plants have shut down. Please note, while they can be extremely handy during a blackout, portable generators pose their own risks to health and safety. Ensure you are knowledgeable about the pros and cons of operating a portable generator before investing in one.
Obtaining Drinking Water During a Blackout
Depending on where you live, power outages may be completely out of the ordinary. However, for rural parts of the United States, it may be a more common occurrence. Regardless, power outages lead to the unavailability of clean and safe water sources. Why does this happen? When a water treatment facility is incapable of utilizing power to process water, it cannot supply residents with treated water. Essentially, citizens begin to receive untreated, dirty water that is often contaminated with bacteria, heavy metals, rust, viruses, and other TDS. As you can imagine, consuming this type of water can be detrimental to your overall health, leading to serious consequences. Here are a few ways in which you can be prepared to supply your family with drinkable water during a power outage.
Buy and Store Up Bottled Water
Before you begin storing up bottled water, you will need to calculate the daily demand for water within your home. Each adult will require at least a gallon of drinkable water per day. The contents of bottled water is more capable of remaining clean, however, it isn’t without it’s own cons. Purchasing bottled water increases the already staggering plastic consumption our country is currently facing – which only further contributes to climate change. Additionally, regardless of whether it is labelled as BPA free, the plastic housing is known to leach chemicals into the contents during transportation or other bottling processes.
Boiling Water for Storage
When all options fail, the ability to boil water for consumption remains a viable method. Many contaminants commonly present in tap water, such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, are evaporated during the process of boiling. This may cause the water to become cloudy, requiring time to settle before filtration through clean cloths, paper towels, or even a coffee filter. You will need to boil the water for a minimum of two minutes, before allowing it to cool for further processing. Furthermore, it will need to be bottled and stored, which takes a great deal of time – depending on your demand.
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