Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
plants can't keep up.

Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
line starts on the left side:

https://i.redd.it/pvt8fuf7yrt11.jpg

I've recently been watching the PBS specials about how beer made and
saved America - especially as the safest liquid of choice - so
that's what I'll be drinking. But rumors are that all the stocks of
light beers are dwindling, too. So, Belgians and Four Loko for me!

-sw

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
>this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
>it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
>plants can't keep up.
>
>Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
>of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
>shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
>into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
>line starts on the left side:
>
>https://i.redd.it/pvt8fuf7yrt11.jpg
>
>I've recently been watching the PBS specials about how beer made and
>saved America - especially as the safest liquid of choice - so
>that's what I'll be drinking. But rumors are that all the stocks of
>light beers are dwindling, too. So, Belgians and Four Loko for me!

Sounds like we can expect some interesting posts from Sqwertz.

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 12:11:29 PM UTC-7, Brice wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
> wrote:
>
> >Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
> >this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
> >it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
> >plants can't keep up.
> >
> >Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
> >of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
> >shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
> >into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
> >line starts on the left side:


This is the best thing to have on hand for situations like this.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 2:04:47 PM UTC-5, Sqwertz wrote:
>
> Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
> this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
> it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
> plants can't keep up.
>
> Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
> of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
> shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
> into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
> line starts on the left side:
>
> https://i.redd.it/pvt8fuf7yrt11.jpg
>
> -sw
>
When do they expect y'all will have drinkable tap water again???

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:23:14 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> wrote:

>On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 12:11:29 PM UTC-7, Brice wrote:
>> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
>> >this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
>> >it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
>> >plants can't keep up.
>> >
>> >Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
>> >of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
>> >shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
>> >into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
>> >line starts on the left side:
>
>
>This is the best thing to have on hand for situations like this.
>
>https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's crap, how will you bathe... oh, I ferget, you don't.
Far better is an RO filter and pass all your water through a UV lamp.

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
>this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
>it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
>plants can't keep up.
>
>Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
>of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
>shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
>into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
>line starts on the left side:
>
>https://i.redd.it/pvt8fuf7yrt11.jpg
>
>I've recently been watching the PBS specials about how beer made and
>saved America - especially as the safest liquid of choice - so
>that's what I'll be drinking. But rumors are that all the stocks of
>light beers are dwindling, too. So, Belgians and Four Loko for me!
>
>-sw

Steve, I had heard about the boil water on The Weather Channel this
morning. I'm sorry to hear that. It doesn't seem like a quick
improvement is on the way. I see that you have more rain coming and
the prospect of hurricane Wilma trailing across the bottom of the US.
I hope things improve quickly for you folks there
Janet US

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:23:14 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags wrote:

> This is the best thing to have on hand for situations like this.
>
> https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't see any scientific evidence that this does anything, which
I'd need to see before I spend $35. User testimonials that say "I
didn't get sick" don't mean anything to me. Somethings that claims
to reduce or eliminate 200+ harmful substances automatically sounds
like probable snake oil.

-sw

On 10/22/2018 4:38 PM, wrote:
> That's crap
>
So is this:

https://imgur.com/a/nc664 LOL!

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:23:52 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 2:04:47 PM UTC-5, Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>> Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
>> this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
>> it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
>> plants can't keep up.
>>
>> Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
>> of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
>> shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
>> into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
>> line starts on the left side:
>>
>> https://i.redd.it/pvt8fuf7yrt11.jpg
>>
> When do they expect y'all will have drinkable tap water again???

Probably 3-5 days or so. No water has tested positive for any
bacteria yet. So I'm not too concerned. I did boil some water
which is sitting still covered on the stove. And I'm waiting for
the ice bucket to fill up before I turn it off (since the water is
still safe).

-sw

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 10:38:05 AM UTC-10, Sheldon wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:23:14 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> > wrote:
>
> >On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 12:11:29 PM UTC-7, Brice wrote:
> >> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
> >> >this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
> >> >it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
> >> >plants can't keep up.
> >> >
> >> >Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
> >> >of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
> >> >shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
> >> >into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
> >> >line starts on the left side:
> >
> >
> >This is the best thing to have on hand for situations like this.
> >
> >https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
>
> That's crap, how will you bathe... oh, I ferget, you don't.
> Far better is an RO filter and pass all your water through a UV lamp.

Wouldn't far better be living in an area where there water isn't polluted and not having to RO your drinking water so your don't get a fatal case of diarrhea? Yes, I do believe that's the case.

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
> this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
> it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
> plants can't keep up.

A positive side effect of this is that Starbucks and many vegetarian
restaurants are closed since they rely heavily on tap water. And
nobody is serving fountain sodas. It amazing how many restaurants
don't have stoves - many of them are closed too. Others have had to
switch to disposable tableware, and even others just said screw it
rather than trying to work around it.

Chicken and potatoes for dinner. Vegetable TBD.

-sw

On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:

> It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
> available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
> thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
> appliances.
>
> I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.

It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.

In article >,
says...
>
> On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>
> > It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
> > available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
> > thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
> > appliances.
> >
> > I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>
> It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
> and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
> can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.

Our previous place had a shared private water supply that ocasionally
ran out for assorted reasons (always different, and as the fault might
lie anywhere across a mile of wild moorland, it took time and ingenuity
to identify locate and fix, which we had to do ourselves because no
contractor would even consider taking it on.
We had water butts filled by rain from roof, which we used for
flushing lavs and washing when the pipeline failed. If the butts ran dry
we fetched water in buckets from the river. My next door neighbour's
sole source of water, for everything, was buckets from the river. He'd
lived like that all his life and was fit and well so I was happy to
drink boiled river water.
In my teens we lived with my grandfather who also had a rural house
with zero plumbing (my Grandmother raised 7 kids and never had a tap,
washing machine or a flush lav in her life). It all came in buckets
fetched from a communal shared hand pump in the garden. Useful
experience for when our own water system packed in; I can bathe myself
(and children) standing in a plastic washing up bowl. I did the laundry
outside by hand in a tin tub and everybody wore their pants for two days
then turned them inside out and wore them again.
Here we're on mains public water supply (from boreholes) , what
luxury. Rare service interruptions are for a couple of hours during
maintenance work, with advance warning so I can fill pans and a bath and
have enough drining, cooking, and flushing water.

When I turn on a tap and clean hot water comes out, I often think of my
grandmother, who never had that experience.

Janet UK.

On 2018-10-22 6:02 PM, Janet wrote:
> In article >,
> says...
>>
>> On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>>
>>> It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
>>> available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
>>> thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
>>> appliances.
>>>
>>> I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>>
>> It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>> and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>> can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
>> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>
> Our previous place had a shared private water supply that ocasionally
> ran out for assorted reasons (always different, and as the fault might
> lie anywhere across a mile of wild moorland, it took time and ingenuity
> to identify locate and fix, which we had to do ourselves because no
> contractor would even consider taking it on.
> We had water butts filled by rain from roof, which we used for
> flushing lavs and washing when the pipeline failed. If the butts ran dry
> we fetched water in buckets from the river. My next door neighbour's
> sole source of water, for everything, was buckets from the river. He'd
> lived like that all his life and was fit and well so I was happy to
> drink boiled river water.
> In my teens we lived with my grandfather who also had a rural house
> with zero plumbing (my Grandmother raised 7 kids and never had a tap,
> washing machine or a flush lav in her life). It all came in buckets
> fetched from a communal shared hand pump in the garden. Useful
> experience for when our own water system packed in; I can bathe myself
> (and children) standing in a plastic washing up bowl. I did the laundry
> outside by hand in a tin tub and everybody wore their pants for two days
> then turned them inside out and wore them again.
> Here we're on mains public water supply (from boreholes) , what
> luxury. Rare service interruptions are for a couple of hours during
> maintenance work, with advance warning so I can fill pans and a bath and
> have enough drining, cooking, and flushing water.
>
> When I turn on a tap and clean hot water comes out, I often think of my
> grandmother, who never had that experience.
>
> Janet UK.
>
>
My mother was always careful not to waste water. It came from having to
fetch it in pails from a communal tap some distance from our house.

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 5:27:35 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>
> On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>
> > It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
> > available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
> > thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
> > appliances.
> >
> > I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>
> It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
> and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
> can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>
My grandparents had a well but it never ran dry and it was drop the bucket,
let it fill up, and pull it up and there's your water. Hahaha But reading
your story makes me glad I live in the city.

Does your well bucket look like this one? This is the type my grandparents
had.

http://www.lehmans.com/product/lehma...d-well-bucket?

On 10/22/2018 6:28 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>
>> It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
>> available or anything like that.Â* I've never given my water heater a
>> thought until last year when it died on me.Â* Same thing for most all
>> appliances.
>>
>> I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>
> It's bad enough here when the power goes off.Â* We life in the country
> and have a cistern and a well.Â* It gets a little tight in the summer
> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
> can't deliver for a couple days.Â* If the power goes out there is nothing
> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>
>

You can prepare for much of it, even flushing, but most people do not
keep a five gallon bucket of water for that "just in case". I've always
had city water so you get spoiled that way. Water and sewer are about
$800 a year here, but has never gone down in a storm.

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 7:02:57 PM UTC-5, Janet wrote:
>
> In my teens we lived with my grandfather who also had a rural house
> with zero plumbing (my Grandmother raised 7 kids and never had a tap,
> washing machine or a flush lav in her life). It all came in buckets
> fetched from a communal shared hand pump in the garden. Useful
> experience for when our own water system packed in; I can bathe myself
> (and children) standing in a plastic washing up bowl. I did the laundry
> outside by hand in a tin tub and everybody wore their pants for two days
> then turned them inside out and wore them again.
>
That sounds a lot like my grandparents. No running water and no indoor plumbing
ever. They finally got electricity in 1949 and bought a wringer washing mach-
ine and a refrigerator. Always had a well and an outhouse and bathed in a
large pan. Only time they experienced running water and indoor plumbing is
when they visited one of their children.
>
> When I turn on a tap and clean hot water comes out, I often think of my
> grandmother, who never had that experience.
>
> Janet UK.
>
We are blessed with these conveniences that I know I never give a thought to
until something breaks.

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 18:28:18 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>
>> It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
>> available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
>> thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
>> appliances.
>>
>> I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>
>It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
>to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.

We've got the same well & pressure system here in our house. We rarely
get close to running out, but if we do, we live across the road from
the lake so we just go over to the neighbour's dock with a couple of
buckets and we're good to go.

Doris

On 2018-10-22 9:34 PM, wrote:
> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 5:27:35 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:

>> It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>> and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>> can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
>> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>>
> My grandparents had a well but it never ran dry and it was drop the bucket,
> let it fill up, and pull it up and there's your water. Hahaha But reading
> your story makes me glad I live in the city.
>
> Does your well bucket look like this one? This is the type my grandparents
> had.
>
> http://www.lehmans.com/product/lehma...d-well-bucket?
>

??? Getting your water from a well does not mean we have to drop a pail
in a hole for water. There is a 1-1/4 line into the well and an
electrically powered pump and water pressure system. The tank has a
pressure sensitive switch that keeps the pressure within the low and
high settings. If the power is out there is no pump.

On 2018-10-22 9:37 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 10/22/2018 6:28 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

>
> You can prepare for much of it, even flushing, but most people do not
> keep a five gallon bucket of water for that "just in case". I've always
> had city water so you get spoiled that way.Â* Water and sewer are about
> $800 a year here, but has never gone down in a storm.

If the weather turns bad we fill the bath tub and/or a few pails.

On 10/22/2018 10:28 PM, Doris Night wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 18:28:18 -0400, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
>> On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>>
>>> It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
>>> available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
>>> thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
>>> appliances.
>>>
>>> I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>>
>> It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>> and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>> when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>> can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
>> to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>> water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>
> We've got the same well & pressure system here in our house. We rarely
> get close to running out, but if we do, we live across the road from
> the lake so we just go over to the neighbour's dock with a couple of
> buckets and we're good to go.
>
> Doris
>
Hopefully that lake is clean!

Jill

l not -l wrote:
>
> The house, smokehouse and equipment shed
> all had gutters that directed rainwater into the cistern. It was long after
> they retired, moved "to town" and I was a teenager that I thought: wait,
> birds crap all over the roof, then the rain washes it all into the cistern
> ---------- YUCK!

Probably what they did was to keep the cistern covered. Once a
good rain started, give it maybe a half hour to rinse off roof
and gutters, THEN run out and open the cistern to collect new
water. Olden people weren't stupid, I'm sure they figured that
out.

Nothing more pure than rain water.

I even used to collect it in buckets during a hard rain to water
my vegetable garden. So much better than city water.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2018 11:50:49 GMT, "l not -l" > wrote:

>
>On 22-Oct-2018, wrote:
>
>> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 5:27:35 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>> >
>> > On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>> >
>> > > It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is not
>> > > available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater a
>> > > thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most all
>> > > appliances.
>> > >
>> > > I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>> >
>> > It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>> > and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>> > when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>> > can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is nothing
>> >
>> > to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>> > water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>> >
>> My grandparents had a well but it never ran dry and it was drop the
>> bucket,
>> let it fill up, and pull it up and there's your water. Hahaha But
>> reading
>> your story makes me glad I live in the city.
>My paternal grandparents lived on a farm with a cistern that supplied their
>water needs most of the time. By the time I came along, they had an
>electric pump and running water. The house, smokehouse and equipment shed
>all had gutters that directed rainwater into the cistern. It was long after
>they retired, moved "to town" and I was a teenager that I thought: wait,
>birds crap all over the roof, then the rain washes it all into the cistern
>---------- YUCK!

Then again, though that was true of the cistern that my father had in
Spain, he also kept a handful of fish (don't know what variety) in it
so that mosquito's could not breed in the water. The water tasted
good, we never boiled it lol

On 10/23/2018 9:25 AM, Gary wrote:

> Probably what they did was to keep the cistern covered. Once a
> good rain started, give it maybe a half hour to rinse off roof
> and gutters, THEN run out and open the cistern to collect new
> water. Olden people weren't stupid, I'm sure they figured that
> out.
>
> Nothing more pure than rain water.

Even acid rain?

> I even used to collect it in buckets during a hard rain to water
> my vegetable garden. So much better than city water.

I've thought of getting a rain barrel but never did.

nancy

On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 10:02:37 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>
> ??? Getting your water from a well does not mean we have to drop a pail
> in a hole for water. There is a 1-1/4 line into the well and an
> electrically powered pump and water pressure system. The tank has a
> pressure sensitive switch that keeps the pressure within the low and
> high settings. If the power is out there is no pump.
>
Dropping a pail is the only kind of well I've had experience with. But
depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
city.

On 2018-10-23 12:20 PM, l not -l wrote:
> On 23-Oct-2018, wrote:
>
>> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 10:02:37 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>>>
>>> ??? Getting your water from a well does not mean we have to drop a pail
>>>
>>> in a hole for water. There is a 1-1/4 line into the well and an
>>> electrically powered pump and water pressure system. The tank has a
>>> pressure sensitive switch that keeps the pressure within the low and
>>> high settings. If the power is out there is no pump.
>>>
>> Dropping a pail is the only kind of well I've had experience with. But
>> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
>> city.
> My maternal grandparents had a well; but, no bucket dipping was required.
> Until rural electrification allowed the installation of an electric pump,
> they hand-pumped the water from the well.
> Similar to, but not exactly like:
> https://i.pinimg.com/736x/42/49/8d/4...e-antiques.jpg
>
My maternal grandparents had a well during my childhood. As they lived
next to the churchyard, the water must have filtered through up to 1000
year old skeletons:-)

On 10/23/18 11:06 AM, wrote:
> But
> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
> city.
>

Your city water depends on more than one pump and electricity. So go
ahead and relax. (:

jay

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 2:37:04 PM UTC-4, graham wrote:
> On 2018-10-23 12:20 PM, l not -l wrote:
> > On 23-Oct-2018, wrote:
> >
> >> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 10:02:37 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
> >>>
> >>> ??? Getting your water from a well does not mean we have to drop a pail
> >>>
> >>> in a hole for water. There is a 1-1/4 line into the well and an
> >>> electrically powered pump and water pressure system. The tank has a
> >>> pressure sensitive switch that keeps the pressure within the low and
> >>> high settings. If the power is out there is no pump.
> >>>
> >> Dropping a pail is the only kind of well I've had experience with. But
> >> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
> >> city.
> > My maternal grandparents had a well; but, no bucket dipping was required.
> > Until rural electrification allowed the installation of an electric pump,
> > they hand-pumped the water from the well.
> > Similar to, but not exactly like:
> > https://i.pinimg.com/736x/42/49/8d/4...e-antiques.jpg
> >
> My maternal grandparents had a well during my childhood. As they lived
> next to the churchyard, the water must have filtered through up to 1000
> year old skeletons:-)

There's a mystery novel where the proximity of a church to a
U.S. Civil War era graveyard provides a plot point. Corpses
were sometimes preserved with arsenic for shipment at that time.

Cindy Hamilton

On Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:06:51 -0700 (PDT), "
> wrote:

>On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 10:02:37 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> ??? Getting your water from a well does not mean we have to drop a pail
>> in a hole for water. There is a 1-1/4 line into the well and an
>> electrically powered pump and water pressure system. The tank has a
>> pressure sensitive switch that keeps the pressure within the low and
>> high settings. If the power is out there is no pump.
>>
>Dropping a pail is the only kind of well I've had experience with. But
>depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
>city.

Before I moved into this condo I was on a well out on the coast. Never
really thought about it until the hurricane, then I was out of power
for ten days. Then I remembered Many people in NS are on wells,
it's common. Mine was a drilled well, over 300ft deep and the water
was lovely.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2018 17:36:07 GMT, "l not -l" > wrote:

>
>On 23-Oct-2018, wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 23 Oct 2018 11:50:49 GMT, "l not -l" > wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >On 22-Oct-2018, wrote:
>> >
>> >> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 5:27:35 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > On 2018-10-22 5:58 PM, wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > > It's something nobody ever thinks of until their drinking water is
>> >> > > not
>> >> > > available or anything like that. I've never given my water heater
>> >> > > a
>> >> > > thought until last year when it died on me. Same thing for most
>> >> > > all
>> >> > > appliances.
>> >> > >
>> >> > > I hope everything is back to 'normal' as soon as possible.
>> >> >
>> >> > It's bad enough here when the power goes off. We life in the country
>> >> > and have a cistern and a well. It gets a little tight in the summer
>> >> > when the well runs dry and the cistern is low and the water company
>> >> > can't deliver for a couple days. If the power goes out there is
>> >> > nothing
>> >> >
>> >> > to power the water pressure system so there is no running water. No
>> >> > water to drink, not water to shower and no water to flush the toilet.
>> >> >
>> >> My grandparents had a well but it never ran dry and it was drop the
>> >> bucket,
>> >> let it fill up, and pull it up and there's your water. Hahaha But
>> >> reading
>> >> your story makes me glad I live in the city.
>> >My paternal grandparents lived on a farm with a cistern that supplied
>> >their
>> >water needs most of the time. By the time I came along, they had an
>> >electric pump and running water. The house, smokehouse and equipment
>> >shed
>> >all had gutters that directed rainwater into the cistern. It was long
>> >after
>> >they retired, moved "to town" and I was a teenager that I thought: wait,
>> >birds crap all over the roof, then the rain washes it all into the
>> >cistern
>> >---------- YUCK!
>>
>> Then again, though that was true of the cistern that my father had in
>> Spain, he also kept a handful of fish (don't know what variety) in it
>> so that mosquito's could not breed in the water. The water tasted
>> good, we never boiled it lol
>I don't recall the taste of the water; but, I'm confident I'd remember if it
>tasted bad. I have no idea how cisterns actually work, there may have been
>some kind of filtration - at least that is what I choose to believe. 8-)

The cistern in Spain was to collect water in case of well problems
plus my father wanted it for the garden. It was a huge concrete thing
by the house, maybe about 12' x 16' by 10' high. It was there when
they bought the place and the fish were already in place. He was told
to remember to lift the lid daily so they had light and air and to
feed them daily. There was a tap on it and neighbours were welcome to
take what they needed when they had no water.

> wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:23:14 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> > wrote:
>
>> On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 12:11:29 PM UTC-7, Brice wrote:
>>> On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:05:31 -0500, Sqwertz >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Boil alert for water for all of Travis County just went out early
>>>> this morning. Since our water comes from the Colorado river, and
>>>> it's so filled with muck from the flooding, the water sanitation
>>>> plants can't keep up.
>>>>
>>>> Lines at the grocery store have finally subsided since they're out
>>>> of water, but people are camping out there until they get new
>>>> shipments of water. There's a line of 100+ people waiting to get
>>>> into the local Costco, which still does have water. Notice that the
>>>> line starts on the left side:
>>
>>
>> This is the best thing to have on hand for situations like this.
>>
>> https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
>
> That's crap, how will you bathe... oh, I ferget, you don't.
> Far better is an RO filter and pass all your water through a UV lamp.
>

Depends on the contaminant. Biological or sediment, filters work well. I
like the sawyer mini. The product linked above seems like snake oil and
requires filtration anyway.

UV or iodine tabs work as a failsafe if the filter fails.

If this is heavy metal contamination or chemical, none of the above
products will be helpful.

On 2018-10-23 1:36 PM, l not -l wrote:
> On 23-Oct-2018, wrote:

>> Then again, though that was true of the cistern that my father had in
>> Spain, he also kept a handful of fish (don't know what variety) in it
>> so that mosquito's could not breed in the water. The water tasted
>> good, we never boiled it lol
> I don't recall the taste of the water; but, I'm confident I'd remember if it
> tasted bad. I have no idea how cisterns actually work, there may have been
> some kind of filtration - at least that is what I choose to believe. 8-)

Cisterns are simply water tanks, usually below ground. They can collect
water from the roof and they can be filled up with a hose from a well or
water can be trucked in.

On 2018-10-23 2:53 PM, jay wrote:
> On 10/23/18 11:06 AM, wrote:
>> Â* But
>> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
>> city.
>>
>
> Your city water depends on more than one pump and electricity. So go
> ahead and relax. (:
>

A lot of towns and cities have water towers that store enough water to
ensure a supply under pressure in case of an emergency.

On 10/23/18 2:15 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2018-10-23 2:53 PM, jay wrote:
>> On 10/23/18 11:06 AM, wrote:
>>> Â* But
>>> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in
>>> the
>>> city.
>>>
>>
>> Your city water depends on more than one pump and electricity. So go
>> ahead and relax. (:
>>
>
> A lot of towns and cities have water towers that store enough water to
> ensure a supply under pressure in case of an emergency.
>


Right but when it's empty you still need pumps and electricity.

jay

On 10/23/2018 4:45 PM, jay wrote:
> On 10/23/18 2:15 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2018-10-23 2:53 PM, jay wrote:
>>> On 10/23/18 11:06 AM, wrote:
>>>> Â* But
>>>> depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live
>>>> in the
>>>> city.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Your city water depends on more than one pump and electricity. So go
>>> ahead and relax. (:
>>>
>>
>> A lot of towns and cities have water towers that store enough water to
>> ensure a supply under pressure in case of an emergency.
>>
>
>
> Right but when it's empty you still need pumps and electricity.
>
> jay

Our town has full capacity generator backup. Not a problem. Natural
gas powered so no fuel worries either.

On Mon, 22 Oct 2018 23:06:41 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2018-10-22 9:37 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 10/22/2018 6:28 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>
>>
>> You can prepare for much of it, even flushing, but most people do not
>> keep a five gallon bucket of water for that "just in case". I've always
>> had city water so you get spoiled that way.* Water and sewer are about
>> $800 a year here, but has never gone down in a storm.
>
>If the weather turns bad we fill the bath tub and/or a few pails.

When the weather makes me suspect a power outage I fill at least ten
five gallon contractors buckets... I keep a few of those buckets
filled with water in the basement where they won't freeze all year -
toilet flushing water. In winter the water in our creek flows but
it's a pain to scoop in a deep freeze. It's much smarter to fill
those big buckets in warm weather when I attach my Agri-Fab cart to
the small tractor making it far easier to haul water. I learned that
my first year here when I planted a lot of trees and had to water
them. At that time there was a big sale on garden hose at Lowe's so I
bought ten 50' lengths thinking I could water my trees by hose, never
realizing how impossible it would be to drag a few hundred feet of
hose.... the 5 gallon buckets and wagon on the tractor made it a whole
lot easier. Don't even think about more than 100 feet of garden hose.
Actually the best buckets are the square ones used for 30 # of cat
litter... I must have a hundred of those in my barn, they nest so take
little room. I always lay buckets down on their side so as not to
trap little critters.

On 2018-10-23 4:45 PM, jay wrote:

>>
>> A lot of towns and cities have water towers that store enough water to
>> ensure a supply under pressure in case of an emergency.
>>
>
>
> Right but when it's empty you still need pumps and electricity.

That's true, but they usually have enough in them to supply water during
power outages and emergencies. I imagine that they have backup pumps.

On 2018-10-23 5:43 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2018-10-23 4:45 PM, jay wrote:
>
>>>
>>> A lot of towns and cities have water towers that store enough water
>>> to ensure a supply under pressure in case of an emergency.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Right but when it's empty you still need pumps and electricity.
>
> That's true, but they usually have enough in them to supply water during
> power outages and emergencies. I imagine that they have backup pumps.
>

Oops... I meant back up generators. They can also use gas or diesel
pumps to supply the towers.

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 1:53:59 PM UTC-5, jay wrote:
>
> On 10/23/18 11:06 AM, wrote:
>
> > But
> > depending on a pump and electricity for water makes me glad I live in the
> > city.
> >
> Your city water depends on more than one pump and electricity. So go
> ahead and relax. (:
>
> jay
>
Well, I know my city has many, many pumps and filtration galore. But what I
was referring to was I'm not in the predicament that Dave is in with wells
running dry.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:43:58 -0400, Nancy Young >
wrote:

>On 10/23/2018 9:25 AM, Gary wrote:
>
>> Probably what they did was to keep the cistern covered. Once a
>> good rain started, give it maybe a half hour to rinse off roof
>> and gutters, THEN run out and open the cistern to collect new
>> water. Olden people weren't stupid, I'm sure they figured that
>> out.
>>
>> Nothing more pure than rain water.
>
>Even acid rain?
>
>> I even used to collect it in buckets during a hard rain to water
>> my vegetable garden. So much better than city water.
>
>I've thought of getting a rain barrel but never did.
>
>nancy

A rain barrel is fine for watering plants but not good for
consumption... rain water contains all sorts of chemicals and water in
a barrel is stagnent so quickly becomes polluted with all sorts of
organisms. Nancy, you'd be much better off drinking pop or beer. I
don't buy bottled water for drinking, if I have to drink bottled I
much prefer seltza. I figure half diet sprite and half vodka is
pretty safe. I recently bought diet sprite cranberry, a loser.