Six Months With A Berkey

A long time ago, in a country far, far away…  Ok, I won’t disclose how long ago, I was in Brasil for two years. Heading down there I was often told a familiar maxim to American travelers, “Don’t drink the water”. Everybody has heard this in relation to some foreign location.  Once in Brasil I actually heard it from the locals as well.  To deal with the various forms of bad things in their water, each home has a terra-cotta water filter that was so simple, that it was shear genius. The base was built with a simple spigot for easy water usage, and on top sat a ‘dirty’ water container that had filters mounted in it, letting gravity do all the work for you.

Fast forward several years, and I’ve started a family, and have moved from the bounteous moisture of the Pacific Northwest, to the arid, seemingly desolate land of Utah.

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Food Production Systems DVD Giveaway Winner Announcement

We recently posted a review of the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD (see it here. As part of the review we were proud to offer a free DVD to one of our readers who commented on the review. Friday night I used Random.org to randomly select a winner from the 40 eligible (Sorry Jayce and Connor) entries.

The winner as determined by the random number generator is…
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Food Production Systems DVD Review and Giveaway

Can a two hour DVD turn you into a self sufficient farmer, providing all the food for your family on your postage stamp sized yard? Of course not. (If you think this is possible, let me know. I have a unique business opportunity to discuss with you :D ) However, the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD Is a wealth of information on how one family managed to do just that (on a bit of acreage) through trial and error over a decade. A full review of the DVD after the jump.
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Parents – Keep your kids AWAY from the rivers!

Last night was a pretty rough night, we pulled the body of an 8 year old boy out of the American Fork River here in Utah.  He was the fourth kid to die in the local rivers in the last week.

When the Utah County Sheriff got the call about him falling in, I happened to be very close to the canyon just finishing up a picnic with my family.  I immediately headed towards the canyon and was almost there when we (Utah County Search and Rescue) were paged.  I was the third person on scene and was working with the Lone Peak Fire Department and several other local police and fire departments.  We set up right across from Timp Cave and started watching the river for a body.  Over the next hour, well over 100 members of the SAR Team and local PD/FD arrived and spread out over about 10 miles working our way up and down the river.  He was finally found after I had been there almost 2 hours. Continue reading “Parents – Keep your kids AWAY from the rivers!”

Another Water Tank Group Buy — Act Fast!

Two years ago, we organized a water tank group buy and received a good response. I’ve now organized another water tank group buy.

These are new (unused) food-grade plastic bladders housed in new/used metal cages. 285 gallons! And it stores in a lot less space than you’d think. While I’m aware of others having stacked their tanks three high, due to space constraints (and a lack of a death wish) ours are stored two high. I’ve now had mine stored in the garage for three years without any incident; I rotate one tank every six months.

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Do it now (refilling water storage)

Moving into a new house recently required me to empty my water storage. I promised myself that refilling it would be priority number one once we were in and had the beds set up. That was three weeks ago. Reading about residents of Iowa City lined up for bottled water this week made me realize how much time had gotten away from me.

Do you have empty water containers that need to be filled? Has it been a while since you rotated your water? Don’t delay another day. Do it now.

The large, blue tank pictured above is a SureWater tank that holds 275 gallons. The green ones are Reliance Jumbo-Tainers that hold seven gallons each.

DIY: Horizontal Storage of 55 gal. Water Barrels

water_barrels_finalFAILURE WARNING: After two weeks two barrels started to collapse due to insufficient support. I plan to add a 2×6 or 2×8 across the middle to increase the surface area supporting the barrels. I was anxious to share this project and should have waited longer to see if my concerns about too little support were legitimate. I will re-post this article once I have a proven design.

I will  I stumbled across this DIY project recently for storing 55 gal. water barrels horizontally. The biggest drawback of standard upright water barrels is getting the water out when needed. This generally involves either a siphon or a hand pump. Storing the barrels horizontally and adding a spigot to one of the caps makes using the barrels much more convenient. You’ll also be more likely to exchange the water every six months since it will be easier to do.

Here’s the website I found this project on and here are the instructions you’ll need (same pdf as you’ll find on the other website).

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Final call for orders on water storage tank option 2

We are excited about those that have been able to participate in the high-capacity water storage tank group buy. We will soon have a lot more people prepared water-wise. The last orders for option 1 were collected Saturday. That option is complete. The window to submit orders for option 2 has been extended to Tuesday, 30 June. We will place the combined order the next day. Those that have already placed their orders should have already been contacted by the distributor to arrange for payment. Additional orders (between now and the end of the month) will be contacted after the order is closed.

The product is a high-capacity residential water storage tank. It holds 275 gallons (the equivalent of five 55 gallon water drums) and is being sold for $345 (includes shipping). The unit fits through a standard doorway so you can place it in a back room or a basement. Please note the SureWater tank also comes in a 525 gallon option. While we did not include the larger size in the original announcement, it is available for the same discount at $470.

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Group buy on high-capacity water storage

This post is an update and supersedes our original Water Group Buy as we were able to add another Tank that allows participation anywhere in the U.S.!

During my church’s recent emergency preparedness drill, I discovered that while many people are doing well on their three month supply of food storage, very few had any type of water storage system. To help correct that, we have arranged for group buys on two different high-capacity water tanks, both of which store the equivalent to five 55 gallon drums! Continue reading “Group buy on high-capacity water storage”

Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 1

This is the third installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here.

In this post we’ll be discussing the items in the different categories on the Master List. If you haven’t seen the list yet, you can access it here.

As we go through these categories, keep in mind that your 72 hour kit will be more like packing for an extended hiking trip whereas your Evacuation Kit will be more like packing for an extended camping trip. Also keep in mind that redundancy and the ability to shed your larger kits and still be able to survive with your smaller kits is critically important. You may find yourself in a scenario where you have bugged out with your Evacuation Kit, but for whatever reason you have to ditch most of it and go on foot. Your G.O.O.D bag had better be able to support you while your on foot. Potentially, you could have to drop supplies all the way down to your EDC and be able to survive off the items in your pockets. Redundancy across your kits is paramount. Continue reading “Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 1”