Two Short Water and Power Questions

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I have been a lurker since May and have posted using my other sign on name NitNat3. In any case, I am back after a short hiatus (necessary mental health break)! I have two questions that need answering and then I am set and will go back to lurking. I know this is Prep 101; however, the simplest things elude sometimes.

1. Does storing water (ugh, not this again, I know)from treated tap necessitate using bleach at the time of storage (or time of usage?) (or at all?)

2. I have a water cooler (hot and cold) and get a monthly delivery of 4 5-gallon bottles. My question is: during any y2k electric outage, how can i still power only the capacity to use the "hot" water from my water cooler (I am thinking a car battery and an "inverter" but I don't know anything about this so can somebody tell me what to purchase from, say, Radio Shack?

-- NSmith (ldybug811@aol.com), August 24, 1999

Answers

NSmith

A small generator will serve this and many other needs in you home. I would suggest looking into this (soon). An inverter is rather an expensive piece, and only works until the battery goes down, unless you have solar panels to recharge. All this is more expensive than a generator.

regards,

Bob P

-- Bob P (rpilc99206@aol.com), August 24, 1999.


1. Yes, even tap water must be stored with bleach. Otherwise, microbes and algae will begin to multiply over time. For clean tap water, use 7 tablespoons of unscented bleach per 55 gallons. Aerate the water before drinking it by pouring the amount you want to drink back and forth several times between clean pitchers. Then let it set out for an hour. Most of the chlorine will dissipate.

2. This is a very expensive and inefficient way to heat water. Car batteries are designed to deliver short, high amperage bursts of electricity, and then to be slowly recharged over long periods. They don't do well at delivering electricity continuously over long periods. Using a car battery like this will quickly ruin it. If you must use battery power, use the kind of deep cycle batteries designed for golf carts. They are made for deep discharge cycles. Typically they are six volt batteries, so you will need a bank of these wired in series-parallel to achieve the necessary voltage. Ask a knowledgeable person to show you how to do this. Another problem is the cost of an inverter. Are you sure you want to spend that much money to get hot water? The setup you propose for heating water is overly complex, inefficient, and expensive. A much better route would be to buy a propane camp stove or convert your existing gas range to propane.

-- Prometheus (fire@for.man), August 24, 1999.


Yes on the bleach: unscented liquid, 4 drops/gal at time of storage.

Nifty urban solution: you might want to consider beefing up that bottle-delivery amount for your storage plan. A bit of an investment, but it gives you an easy escape from the bacterial growth problem.

-- PH (spin@on.ca), August 24, 1999.


ONE "Ny-Quil dispenser cup" per 55 gallon drum. (3/4 oz.)

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), August 24, 1999.

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