How would a family of eight prep for a pandemic apocalypse?
Don't call me crazy, this is for a book.
I know the basics, but assume that any and all water in the planet Earth is poison and will kill you if you drink it after the apocalypse begins, and it's impossible to filter. How much water would they need to stock up beforehand in order to survive and be somewhat clean for a year, and how much would it cost?
What types of food should be collected and how would they eat it? How long would canned soup last, and could you cook it on a Bunsen burner?
Thanks :)
PoohBearPenguin2016-06-07T13:45:28Z
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The community emergency preparedness class I took says ideally you want 1 gallon of water per person, per day, MINIMUM. So, 8 people, for 1 year (365 days) would be nearly 3000 gallons of water. You can buy a 15 gallon drum intended for long term water storage for about $60 on the internet, but you'd need 200 of these ($12,000) and they'd basically fill a 10'x10' room from floor to ceiling.
Keep in mind that in a such a situation you're going to be stressed, you're going to be more active (have to walk everywhere, do everything manually, etc.) which means you're going to consume more than just the minimum recommended 8 glasses of water (~1/2 gallon) per day. So this 3000 gallons of water would only be for consumption and cooking. You'd need other sources for cleaning.
Also, assume that people would also need more than 2000 calories a day due to the extra activity as well. Canned food, as well as camp or military style MREs are recommended staples, especially since they don't require cooking, or at worst, just require some hot water to re-hydrate the meal.
Yeah you could cut your daily rations to stretch them, but the body really doesn't operate very well under those conditions, especially in a stressful situation, where you're outside all the time.
"How much water would they need to stock up beforehand in order to survive and be somewhat clean for a year"
A year.... A LOT of water. Probably more than most are capable of storing reasonably. You are probably looking at ten thousand gallons per person. That's allowing you to wash dishes and clothing every now and again. Of course if the water is only dangerous if you drink it then you can cut back on that as far as dishes and clothing goes.
You are probably looking at $20,000 or more just for all the large containers. They are also something that isn't going to be stored in your spare bedroom. A 5000 gallon water container, some of the largest you can get, will weigh over 20 tons when filled with water.
They would also have to be protected from weather. When water freezes it expands and your containers burst. That means you either have them in a heated building in the winter months or you bury them. I suggest your story location be somewhere in the deep south where there is very little chance of freezing weather.
OK, well lets try and sort a few things first - this pandemic, will it kill humans? The reason I ask is if they need to be in a bunker. Personally, in my bunker, (and lets face it, a bunker is a highly defensive position) I would have 2,000 litres per person. You would also need a water filtration system and a back up. Tinned food can be stored for a very long time, despite the insistence of a 'sell by date' The same for dried foods. I would also suggest stocking up on vitamins and minerals in pill form. You will also need an air filtration system and a form of power. Solar would be good, diesel would be too as a back up. You will need batteries as well to store energy. As for bunsen burners, I'd personally use them as a last resort, and use induction heating plates.
a minimum of a gallon per person per day, or 8 gallons a day. Cost depends on whether they fill large tanks with municipal water or somehow manage to stockpile huge quantities of smaller containers. If you are in survival mode for a long term, HEATING food is your last concern. You would need to stockpile dehydrated, canned and dried foods in huge quantities and be willing to eat them cold most of the time, as fuel would be needed to be rationed for transportation and heat. And you would have to have the fuel stockpiled as well as that will be one of the first things that becomes unavailable in a catastrophe like this. Read some of the existing literature on surviving catastrophic events to get an idea.