High And Dry: How To Survive A Water Outage

Water outages can strike without warning – often caused by burst pipes, natural disasters or local infrastructure failures. While not having any water may seem like the ultimate disaster, you can minimize disruption by staying calm and taking the right steps. The following guide explains more on how to survive a water outage.

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Verify the scale of the outage

Is the problem isolated to your home? Are other neighbors affected? Or is it a city-wide outage?

Determining the scale is important for knowing what steps to take next and for determining how long the outage might last. Talk to neighbors to see if their water is still working. The more localized the problem, the quicker it may be to fix. Larger outages caused by natural disasters could take much longer to solve and you may need to start preparing straight away.  

Notify your water provider 

While it’s possible that a neighbor may have already reported the problem, you shouldn’t assume this – take initiative and alert your utility company as soon as you can. Prompt notification could help to speed up repairs.

Many water providers have hotlines for outages and may even be able to provide you with water bottles or an emergency water tank until the problem is dealt with.

Stock up on these supplies…

The next step is to stock up on some essential supplies to help you last the outage. Supplies you should consider buying include:

• Bottled water: You need about 1 gallon per day per person for drinking and cooking. Extra water could be handy for cleaning. 
• Hand sanitizer: This can be used instead of washing your hands.
• Wet wipes: Wet wipes can similarly be used for cleaning your hands or surfaces.
• Disposable plates/cups/cutlery: You won’t be able to wash dishes, so consider these disposable options.
• No-water meals: If you still have electricity or gas, consider microwavable or oven-baked meals. If you don’t have electricity or gas, consider dry foods or plan to order take-out/eat out.

Be wary that in larger outages, everyone in the area will be shopping for these supplies too. If shops run out of stock and the area is still accessible, consider ordering some supplies online for next-day delivery. 

Conserve your water usage

With a limited supply of water, every drop counts. Focus on drinking and basic hygiene – skip showers and use baby wipes instead.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a backup off-grid water supply, conservation could still be necessary, as this backup water source won’t be able to handle the everyday demands of your home. So focus on essential water usage.

Prepare for future outages

Some areas are prone to regular water outages. Preparing for the future emergencies is recommended if you think there’s a high risk of another outage.

One solution could be to install plastic water storage tanks that can provide a backup water supply when your mains water dries up. These tanks come in different sizes, with some large enough to supply a home for 75 days!

Consider also joining community alert systems and reviewing your home insurance for outage coverage.

Conclusion

Following these steps will help you to cope in a water outage. Preparation is your best defense, while acting fast during an outage can also help to reduce disruption. 

This is a contributed post.

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