Although there's nothing wrong with that if it's what you prefer.
I'm no expert, but I'm willing to share what I know and hope you'll do the same.
What will you do if (safe) water stops flowing from the faucets?
This is my worst prepping hole-- worse than the lack of trees and vegetation. There is no surface water in this region (except immediately after a rain). There is no way to store enough to survive long-term. It sometimes goes 6 months without a real rainfall here-- as is currently the case. So in a long-term grid-down situation, I may be doomed unless I move away beforehand.
If you live in a normal place, you'll have creeks, streams, springs, rivers, ponds, lakes, or the ocean. And rain, fog, or snow. You can use the water from all these sources, with fog being the hardest to collect (think sponging off water-beaded surfaces) and the ocean taking the most effort to make the water drinkable because of the salt in it.
Get water filtration supplies, learn to filter water long-term in case the grid never comes back (an unlikely possibility), learn to sterilize water chemically or through UV light or boiling. Regular chlorine bleach will work, but you can't store it more than a few months without it turning into salt water. Get some chlorine pool treatment powder to store long-term, instead, and make sure to keep it dry.
And find the local sources for water.
If you live near the ocean, learn now before it's a matter of life or death, how to distill drinkable water from seawater. It's not complicated in concept, but can be a pain in practice to get enough water for an individual, and worse for a family. But it is possible, so learn to do it.
And, no matter what else you do, store water. You can't have enough.
I use bottles of various kinds to store drinking water. Much is hidden around my house and in the cellar. I also have some 8-gallon jugs in the cellar, and some large laundry detergent jugs for non-potable water. These can be used for washing or other things you need water for, including flushing the toilet occasionally in a temporary water stoppage.
Remember to fill bathtubs for use as soon as TSHTF just in case the water stops. You can get a large plastic bladder that fits in your tub so you can seal the water off from contamination, and they aren't terribly expensive-- around $25 currently, if I remember correctly.
If you can get large outdoor tanks to fill with water, that's even better. Make sure you can secure them from vandals or thieves if water becomes valuable. If you have a swimming pool, don't forget that option.
I keep a little water in my bug-out bags, along with some personal water filters. It's never going to be enough, but it's better than nothing.
Nothing beats having a natural, dependable water source close by. If you have one, protect it with your life; it may one day save yours.
Do you have any other water tips or suggestions?
Situational awareness is something we could all do better.
The sooner you are aware of the situations unfolding around you, the more time you have to decide whether to intervene or escape.
I say "situations", plural, because there's never only one situation happening near you.
Even if a person comes into a place where you are, intending to be a mass shooter, there are other situations going on. You should be aware of them, too.
Other people may be noticing. Some people may be oblivious and heading into extreme danger. Others may be preparing to address the danger. Would it be better for you to intervene or does someone else already have a handle on it? Would you be helpful or get in their way? Would it be better for you to slip out the side door, or to be the one to take on the responsibility? Every situation is going to be different.
You need to be aware of all these situations, even though it is probably not humanly possible. Tunnel vision will be working against you.
The more ...
The "officials" kept spinning dire warnings about the water situation, so I took it upon myself to do a daily visual check of the water levels in the water tanks I could check. Three out of four have a gauge on the outside. The fourth is a water sphere that, as far as I can tell, has no way for a member of the public to check the water levels. This is disturbing.
What my visual check showed me was that we're in better shape than the "officials" wanted us to believe.
I've been posting photos of the gauges every day on social media, and suddenly, at least the newspaper editor, who is very much in the pockets of the local politicians, admitted that the tanks are nearly full.
I'm not sure he would have admitted this without my intervention, but perhaps.
I also wrote a letter to the editor, which got a lot of pre-publication pushback from the editor. He has his preferred solution, which just so happens to align with the local politicians. He didn't like what I said and tried to make me feel ...
My local town (population ~1400) is in a water crisis. It's always having a low-grade water crisis, but this time, government incompetence brought it to a head.
The guy who visually checks the water levels daily was on vacation. The sensor that keeps the water towers full stopped working. One tower was empty, and the other was half empty before anyone noticed. Now it's everyone's problem.
Consequently, we're under some pretty harsh water restrictions- and they've been getting more severe each day for the past 3 days.
Fortunately, I have quite a bit of water stored. As much as I can fit in the nooks and crannies of my house, anyway. Just last week I got fussed at for doing this. That tune changed quickly.
I've also stocked up on bottled water.
I would catch rainwater, but a lack thereof is the root of the problem.
I wish I lived near a water source, but there are none in this region. I wish I had a well, but of course that would be "illegal" in town. I wish I had a long-term ...
