Trying to survive without potable water usually takes a bad turn around day three. The chart shows projected repair times to drinking water and sewer systems along the Oregon coast after a Cascadia event.  Repairs are projected to take one to three years.  For the oceanfront communities at risk of both the earthquake and tsunami it could be much longer, assuming they even attempt to replace the destroyed systems.

 

At this years Cascadia exercise I had the opportunity to evaluate the Lifewell water filter donated to me from Real Relief in Denmark.  Very simple packaging and operation is likewise easy. 

For my test I chose one of the coastal freshwater lakes at our exercise venue. In this particular lake I have caught a number of warm water fish. Plenty of water here but certainly not very appetizing to consider drinking directly out of.  The filter specs indicate it will filter out 99.9999% of all bacteria – including e. coli and cholera.

The 10 liter PVC bag is easy to fill and carry and comes with pictured instructions for the user to follow. No written instructions are needed. A small spigot is included and the filter canister. All assembly is simple and straight forward.

You fill up the reservoir, hang it up and let it stand for at least 10 minutes to let the larger particulate sediment to settle to the bottom. The filter canister is then attached and water will be drawn out above the debris line so it helps to extend the filter life which is easy to clean.  They estimate 500 liters of water can be filtered before it would need to be replaced.

Instructions are to run two cup fulls of water through the filter and discard them. You can start consuming with the third cup, which is what I did. The filtered water definitely looked more palatable but did still have a slight “earthy” taste to it.  Second generation guinea pigs(human taste testers) gave me about 6 hours to see if I would suffer any ill effects before they took a shot.

Left to right. Straight lake water – filtered lake water – tap water

 

General consensus was that this filter system was a great improvement over trying to sanitize the lake water using other simple means. In the case of a Cascadia event, being able to sanitize sufficient water supplies might just be the difference between surviving and not.

I’m curious what method you are planning on using when potable water is not available for weeks or months?

If you want more info or wish to purchase the Lifewell send a note to abetteremergency@gmail.com