What We Learned When the Well Went Out

Kate and I are relatively well-prepared for a temporary loss of services (e.g. power, water). You can read more about our preparations here and here. However, there's nothing like a trial run to help you iron out trouble spots in your planning.

This past winter we lost power for the better part of a day. Having no idea how long the outage would last, I went ahead and brought the camp stove, propane heater, and propane cartridges in from the shed. The stove and heater were filthy and required extensive cleaning before use. I now keep them inside, wrapped in old pillow cases so they will be ready to go. I was also reminded that propane cartridges don't work in very cold temperatures. I had to bring them into the house and let them warm up a bit before we could use them. Again, I now keep a couple inside so they are ready to go.*

Then yesterday we awoke to find there was no water flowing from the taps, suggesting our well pump had died. Again, we were prepared, with about 40 gallons of water in storage.

40 gallons sound like a lot until you start using it. I believe the American Red Cross recommends 1 gallon per person per day for emergencies, but that's just for drinking and cooking. You can figure 1.5 gallons per flush (so you start flushing less), and maybe 2.5 gallons if you want to take a sponge bath. We usually make a habit of filling the tub just before any winter storms hit so we'll have plenty of water for flushing, but this reminded me that you can lose services without warning. You can probably forget about laundry.

Needless to say, we are going to add more water to our stash.

I also had to think a bit about what container to use for sponge baths. I realized I had the perfect solution behind the shed, but of course it was filthy, and it took scarce water to clean it. It will stay inside now.

A loss of services is normally no more than an inconvenience, but there is a lot you can do to make things easier and more comfortable. And there's nothing like a test run to help you figure out how to be more prepared next time.

*The reader is advised to follow manufacturer recommendations regarding storage of such equipment and fuel supplies.