In terms of surviving a disaster, an emergency preparedness plan must touch on two significant aspects: food and water.
The former is more involved, with building up basic supplies and purchasing an emergency kit of freeze-dried meals to create food storage.
Water, on the other hand, is more straightforward: have enough for every member of your household and include a portable, practical device for filtration and purification.
Water, as well, comes from two sources: up from the ground or down from the sky, and both types should be kept in storage for emergency use.
Hand pumps are economical for bringing water up from the ground.
Although mechanical pumps require less effort, they require a source of electricity, which may not be available during a disaster or its aftermath.
Hand water pumps are built for four- or six-inch diameter wells, although some can fit into two-inch designs, and can be used as the primary or backup method.
If the latter, the manual pump can slide into the same well casing as the mechanical model.
Hand water pumps, for versatility, function with shallow and deep wells and bring up five gallons per minute from a depth of 350 feet.
Features vary with brands, but for safety, a pump must be Safe Drinking Water Act compliant and be made out of lead-free stainless steel.
For convenience, the device should connect with a household plumbing system.
In the event of an emergency, the device, attached through a check valve, can pump water directly to showers and toilets.
Function also varies with brand.
Some hand water pumps operate with a suction movement.
Making use of atmospheric pressure, these devices act like a vacuum to push water up through the pipe from an aquifer to the surface.
Suction pumps can be used with both deep and shallow wells.
Centrifugal pumps, while not as common, are a second option.
Designed for shallow wells, these hand water pumps have a rotodynamic mechanism to move water up from a depth of 25 feet.
If greater depth is needed, a 35-foot tail extension can be added to this model.
Such pumps do not always need to operate by hand.
Certain models, such as those from Simple Pump, can be modified with a 130-watt solar pane with batteries.
Not limited by sunlight, the panel lets the pump operate by itself for days.
Because pumping water to add it into a tank or into household pipes is a time-consuming task, a solar panel is helpful, if not necessary, for families requiring at least 250 gallons per day.
In the instance, 1,000 or more gallons per day are needed, a hand water pump must be outfitted with two 13-watt panels.
Water brought up from a pump or gathered in a rain barrel should be placed in storage or long-term or emergency use.
Water storage tanks, some able to hold thousands of gallons, are designed for this purpose.
In portable and stationary designs, water storage tanks are made out of high-density food-grade polyethylene and, to prevent algae from forming, are colored blue.
In order to keep water in usable condition, the tank must be kept in a cool, dry place away from sunlight and must be supported by a nonporous barrier.
Because water expands when it freezes, the tank must be no more than 90-percent full in colder times of the year.