We need to have enough tinned food and bottled water to be self sufficient for three days

[CruCru]

There’s a thing in the Times about the Prepare campaign - people need to be prepared for risks like localised flooding, another pandemic, a mass cyberattack which cuts off the internet, disruption to UK space systems that affect GPS signals, conflict and nuclear attack.

I must admit that my first thought was that there are countries in the West Indies who have these sorts of rules - mainly in case of hurricanes. It probably would be useful to have bottled water if we had flooding and the mains water would be turned off. Am a bit horrified by the mention of nuclear war but perhaps this has been overly highlighted by the Times.

Have you seen this? What do you think?

I dont really want to be regularly buying bottled water, too much plastic, and it has a use by date. Recent issues are making me wonder if I need to rethink this.

We shop weekly, but the cupboards and freezer are not normally empty even at the end of the week, so we wouldn't starve but might need to drink bottled beer or canned tonic. We usually have tinned soup in, and often frozen homemade soup. We're close walking distance from many shops so dont need to prep for bad weather.

There are other things you can do. Have you got water butts? You can use water straight out of the butt to flush toilets. Tie a piece of cloth over the tap to filter out any big bits and then add water purification tablets to wash with. You can probably drink this too but I'd boil it first, especially if you have kids. The drinking water I have got stored has got a 2 year use by, so you don't have to buy often or buy a lot. Highland spring do a 10 litre box like a wine box which has an inner bag so uses less plastic. It must follow me around but since I left home, I have never not lived somewhere that doesn't get power cuts, usually hours but sometimes days, so I have always kept a camping gas stove and a few candles in....now of course you can get rechargeable lights and wind up chargeable ones. Yes there is advice out there but its about thinking about what your families needs would be and, if you can, add a bit in for sharing.

It’s unlikely especially as trident seems to only be able to plop out missiles now 😂 won’t be much of a war

No, I am sure it isn't - and I am also sure that the UK isn't the only place governed by quarterwits!

If we're expecting to be cut off due to snow I usually buy tins of evaporated milk and check we've got soup and ingredients to make bread. It's because the lorries delivering to the supermarkets can't get through so the shops are empty.

We've had to survive although we usually still have gas so can boil water. We do usually have bottled water anyway. I think people generally have enough to survive a couple of days without even realising it.

I wouldn't say I was a prepper but during the covid rumours I made sure it was never like "the day before the big shop" in the house. When we went into isolation a few days early because of symptoms, I didn't give a fuck that I had two weeks worth of pasta, I wanted chocolate.

This and the fact that the news is spread quickly over social media so people can be in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

You don't need to buy bottled water!!! You simply fill containers from the tap and then replace the water every now and again.

Have people lost their common sense in the UK? Bottled water simply means water in a bottle, you don't have to buy it.

I bought it for convenience. Yes you can fill jars and bottles that you already have but it is more of a faff and you have to amass the containers first

Most people buy things in bottles, it's just a matter of keeping them to use. And how can filling a few bottles with water be a faff?? If you don't want to do that then buy the water.

People in other parts of the world have been doing this for years, but somehow it seems to be such an effort for the Brits.

If you fill a bottle with tap water, how long can you keep it before it's unsafe to drink?

I think that’s a really good question. This is American but seems reasonable. Essentially properly stored water has no time limit but tastes better if you refresh supplies every 6-12 months.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/SS439#:~:text=Although%20properly%20stored%20public%2Dsupply,kill%20pathogens%20(see%20below).

Or you can buy a camping water carrier from Halfords or The Range or Millets or a camping shop or possibly even the Middle of Lidl.

A squishy 20 litre one is about 4 quid in The Range but they also have more rigid ones.

For petite writing about water sites, your local fish/aquarium supply shop will sell you a 25ltr brand new barrel/drum with a tap fitted for £4-8 and they are rigid and brilliant .

yup loads of options

2l of water is 39p in Lidl. I just have two packs of six as normally your OK to collect water from water stations after the first 24-48 hour rush. No real need for more than 2l per person to be in date. The out of date stuff you can use to flush the loo. Problem is room for water. 2l bottles can go under a bed, under the bottom step under the stairs.

When the water goes off I drink less anyway. Its normally a few days max. Recently it was over a week for some houses but by then it was easy to get water from collection points.

It has a 6 month shelf life too. So once you have got your minimum 2l each just buy more in five months. For me thats under £5 a year for peace of mind.

the water I have now has a 2 year shelf life

If it has a stated 2 year shelf life, it will be absolutely fine for at least 3 years, probably longer and obviously always suitable for flushing toilets or cleaning. So you can safely prep with minimal cost or environmental impact.

The bottle will probably degrade first, especially if it's not kept somewhere dark - I once found a bottle of shampoo at the back of the cupboard that was probably 20 years old. When I tried to use it, the bottle cracked and fell apart.

OK, so I have got some reserves of bottled water, a little first aid kit and some batteries :) unfortunately I haven't got any cash, and todays crash of NatWest Banking has reminded me I need to add a small amount of this to my resilience stash, bit late now (and I have run out of coffee too, which may not seem a big issue but I really dont function well without a cup in the morning, tea is not the same) I am going to see if the cash machine is working but there are reports on twitter that cards and cash machine's are also not working

I always have cash too. Weirdly our local sainsbury's only accepts cash on a regulat basis but it's always Saturday and only sainsbury's. But you often need cash for a very rare takeaway and my boys tutor is cash in hand ( she is a state full time teacher so I don't begrudge her not paying tax giving up her Saturday morning).

For the last couple of years I went through a spate of buying a few usb head lamps or torches every few months off ebay. That's another cheap way to build up a stash. They get used anyone by the kids on camps and residentials

I had this happen with a bottle of bathroom cleaner.....messy!

@Kelta

"If only we had a non electrical telephone system with a dedicated wire going directly into every home and office building in the country which worked in a power cut.

Oh hang on, we did for decades and they’ve just disconnected it so that we are now all solely reliant on bloody Wi-Fi…"

Yes I know. Feel vulnerable now without a wired phone system.
I always kept a plug in phone specifically for emergencies and actually had to use it once when my house flooded and the power was off.

Yes, we kept one too, may as well throw it out now as it is just gathering dust. Considering taking my ham radio licence as an alternative for emergency situations.

Absolutely, yes it's awful when there is no water supply.

Also ran out of heating oil once when it was -8 outside. Although we had a few electric heaters, the cold just gnawed away at your bones. The fabric of the house became icy cold very quickly. I don't think people realise how cold it can get without central heating and no fireplace.