San Diego Black Out – Why Water Storage is Essential

Food and water storage are a big part of emergency preparedness. While I do have a 125 gallon drum of water in my garage and some rather large cans of food storage, I can't tell you the number of times I have passed up grabbing a big packet of water bottles (even when they were on sale) because I just didn't want to be bothered with carrying them. So while the 125 gallons would come in handy for washing, toilet water, etc., I had exactly two bottles of drinking water when the lights went out in San Diego on September 8th. 

I am renewing my commitment to pick up a case of water at least once a month; especially because we do drink the water bottles. Using the "first in - first out" rule is a great way to cycle through those cases always using what you buy first and storing the newer (replacement) cases behind them. You will find a lot of great information on food storage and especially water storage in the PrepareWell Family Safety Plan. Water is the cheapest preparedness item to acquire and the easiest to store. It is also the most overlooked item when preparing for an emergency.

Now even though we did have running water during the blackout - did you know that the city of San Diego houses its water in big holding/distribution tanks, which is then distributed to the masses? The scary part is there is only a one day water supply in the big city tanks. Then water has to be pumped into the distribution tanks by electricity. So if the power is out for more than a day there may be no water.

We were told we should boil our water as a precautionary measure since our community sits uphill from our water purification plant. As a result of the loss of electricity, the plant was unable to function properly, leaving the water potentially polluted. We were unable to boil water, however, as we have an electric stove. And the water pressure in our home decreased significantly. Even after power was restored, authorities urged people in our community to boil water before use for at least 2 days.

One other interesting note: All surfing and any water activity is going to be curtailed for a while as 3.2 million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean due to loss of electricity. Power outages effect so many things you don’t think of.

Click the links below to find out what else we put on our top 10 list of things we need to do first. Visit our site for more information on how to create your own Family Emergency Plan.

1. Communication is key
2. Always have gas in your tank
3. Solar lights are awesome
4. I need a battery operated phone charger!
5. Have cash on hand
6. If you have no other food storage; have some water!
7. Don't open that refrigerator door"!
8. Have extra food for your pets!
9. Fill up those propane tanks.
10. Don’t put off ‘til tomorrow…