Ready to Ride it Out?


Disaster Preparedness For Your Family

South Coast Water District is making every preparation to protect the public water and sewer system from natural and manmade disasters. Our employees are trained in emergency response activities and are committed to restore services as quickly as possible. However, in times of emergency, it is possible that your water and sewer service could be temporarily disrupted. What would you do?

First and Foremost: Be Prepared.
Assemble a home Disaster Supply Kit to tide you over for at least three days. Of all the supplies, water may well be the single-most important item for survival.

Water for Life.
Your Disaster Supply Kit should contain a three-day supply of water -- at least one gallon per person per day. A two-week supply is preferable. Additional supplies would be needed for pets.

 disaster supply kit

  • Tap water can be stored in clean, heavy, opaque plastic bottles with screw-on caps. The containers should be labeled by date and replaced every six months to ensure freshness.

  • Commercially bottled water can remain unopened in its original packing box. It should be restocked after the expiration or “use by” date.
 
Hidden Sources of Water. If you run out of your stored water, there are some safe sources of water in the home that you may use without purifying:

Hot-water heater. Turn off the gas/electric supply, let the tank cool, and shut off the main water valve to the house. Let air into the tank by opening a hot water faucet or disconnecting the hot water line on top of the tank. Open the faucet at the bottom of the tank to drain water into a container.

  • Melted ice cubes and juices in canned foods.

  • Toilet tank (not bowl) - unless chemicals were put in the tank.

How to Purify Water. After a major disaster, it’s not advised to drink, bathe in, or wash anything with water directly from the tap, if you hear reports of broken water or sewer lines. However, if you run out of stored water or “hidden” sources of safe water in your home, you can purify water in several ways:

  • Boil water vigorously for five minutes, if you still have gas or electricity. This is the best option for emergency purification. Alternately, you could boil water on a camping stove or the barbecue. Let it cool before drinking.
Where is the water shut-off valve
for my house?
water shut off valve
Following a disaster, cracked or broken pipelines could pollute your water supply. Gravity could also drain water from your hot-water heater or toilet tank which might otherwise have been used as a back-up supply of water. To avoid this, it is advised to shut off the main water valve to your house, as soon as you can.

Your family should know where the main water valve is and how to shut it off. So, before disaster strikes, take time to:

• Locate the main water shut-off valve
• Make sure it can shut off completely. If not,   replace it.
• Label it with a tag or fluorescent paint/tape   for easy identification.
• Put needed wrenches to turn the valve in a   handy spot.
  • Strain water through paper towels, paper coffee filters or layers of clean cloth to remove sediment.
    If the water’s still cloudy or has an odor, you can:

    • Add water purification tablets, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

    • Add 8 drops of unscented liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of water, if the water’s clear, or 16   drops per gallon, if the water’s cloudy.

    • Add 12 drops of 2% tincture of iodine per gallon of water, if the water’s clear, or 24 drops per   gallon, if the water’s cloudy.


Mix the bleach or iodine in the water and let stand for 30 minutes. If there’s a slight chlorine odor, the water is disinfected. If not, mix in more and let stand for 15 minutes. Your Disaster Supply Kit should contain purification tablets, liquid bleach and/or iodine, which contain 5.25% of sodium hypochlorite — as well as an eye dropper.

Personal Care. In a major disaster, the sewer system may become damaged or inoperable, so you must also equip your Disaster Supply Kit with items for sanitary use. This should include a five-gallon plastic bucket with lid and plastic bag liners, ties, household bleach, large trash can with plastic liners, toilet paper, towelettes, soap, and other personal hygiene items.
 
For More Information… There are a number of websites with a wide range of information about preparing your family to ride out and survive an emergency – not only in terms of water and sanitary needs – but also food, clothing, medical, and other requirements. Please check out these website from which this section was developed: