Keep Our Service Free-Donate

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Safer well water, Fixing wells, Reusing sink water saves cash


Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


ISSN 2161-5543



In This Issue:

1.       When to test your well water system

2.      Reuse sink water to flush-save 6000 gallons annually

3.      Where to hide your money

4.      Simple, portable backyard grill and fireplace

5.      Safe water in emergencies resources




Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
Mark Twain



Private Drinking Water Wells - Keeping your H2O supply safe


Ground Water and Drinking Water



Emergency storm preparedness to help protect your drinking water supply and wastewater disposal systems.
Major storms and hurricanes can result in flooding. What should you do to protect your drinking water?

If your family gets drinking water from a private well, do you know if your water is safe to drink? What health risks could you and your family face? Where can you go for help or advice?


The information contained in this web site will help you answer these questions.

EPA regulates public water systems; it does not have the authority to regulate private drinking water wells. Approximately 15 percent of Americans rely on their own private drinking water supplies, and these supplies are not subject to EPA standards, although some state and local governments do set rules to protect users of these wells. Unlike public drinking water systems serving many people, they do not have experts regularly checking the water’s source and its quality before it is sent to the tap. These households must take special precautions to ensure the protection and maintenance of their drinking water supplies.



Basic Information - Learn about the types of drinking water wells and guidelines for proper construction.

Where You Live - Find information about private drinking water wells in your region or state.

Frequent Questions -This page answers questions you may have about your well water.

Human Health - Learn about health risks associated with drinking water wells.

Partnerships - Several organizations are working to keep private drinking water wells safe.

What You Can Do - Learn how to do your part in keeping your drinking water well safe.

Publications -Download or order copies of brochures, booklets, posters, reports, and multi-media publications. 



Major storms and hurricanes can result in flooding. What should you do to protect your drinking water?



The Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) contains information about public water systems and their violations of EPA's drinking water regulations, as reported to EPA by the states. These regulations establish maximum contaminant levels, treatment techniques, and monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure that water systems provide safe water to their customers.



You may select systems either by locating systems within a geographic area or by entering the water system ID number. For more detailed information about the water you drink, contact your local water supplier directly or call your state drinking water agency. To find the phone number for your state's drinking water agency, click here or call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

For national and state-by-state information, please see the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water's drinking water facts and figures page.




Safer, non-slip surfaces can be made easily by mixing sand with paint (mix right into your roller pan) and coat steps, docks and more.




PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources



When should I test my well water?

Our well water smells a tad bit funky.  It’s possible it’s due to lack of regular use or there are contaminants in it.  I bought a test kit on eBay for $20 to be sure…I also picked up some filtration systems to use on our faucets.



There are several tests that, if done periodically, can help owners of private wells determine whether they have safe, clean drinking water. Periodic testing will confirm the quality of your well water. State well construction code requires that new wells be tested before use. You should consider testing anytime you notice a change in odor or taste.



In the worst case situation, you may have to apply a shock chlorination treatment (as described in the last resource link below).




Maintenance of your well system





The Paratrooper's Water Purifier removes 100% of harmful, water-borne bacteria such as:

E.coli

Staphyloccus aureus

Salmonella typhi

Vibrio cholerae

Legionella pneumophila

This personal filter completely removes other contaminants from your water too. Dust, algae, and other particles you don't want to drink are filtered right out! The Paratroopers Water Purifier also significantly reduces the concentration of heavy metals in your water, leaving you nothing but the freshest tasting water that's clean and clear.

Not only does it work...it works FAST.

You won't sit around waiting for this little filter to do its job. The
Paratrooper's Water Purifier filters an entire liter of water in just three minutes. Even better, you won't have to think about replacing the filter on your Paratrooper for a long, long time. It will filter up to 2,000 liters of water before the filter needs to be replaced.  Learn more here:




Or check out this mini-straw filter, ideal for camping






 How to Hide Money

The following ideas on how to hide money are not foolproof. An experienced thief can find almost any hiding place if he has enough time. Fortunately speed is important to a thief, and there are ways to slow him down. Better yet, there are even ways to convince him to leave before looking everywhere.

First, avoid the obvious places which are always checked, like under the mattress, in dresser drawers, closets, and small safes (the safe will be taken whole, to be opened later). A list of better places can be found below.

But as part of your plan to convince a thief to leave, some of your money should be relatively easy to find. Why? Because, as thieves will tell you, they are going to tear apart your home until they think they have found the bulk of the money and valuables available. Even though they are in a hurry, they don't want to...




Reuse Sink Water for Flushing-Saves 6000 Gallons

Interesting device from the Aqus folks that installs in your bathroom sink in about an hour and works with gravity fed toilets.  Captures used bathroom sink water and routes it to your toilet saving the average two-person household 6000 gallons of water annually.  Priced around $190 - Learn more at:




Simple Backyard Grill and Fireplace

We already had a nice large burn pit circle, metal lined built in the center of a large concrete patio.  It’s a simple matter to stack concrete block in a circular fashion around the pit along with recycled grill racks.  We also picked up a tri-pod with hanging grill rack which can be used in a pinch (from a garage sale for $1).  Since the standard concrete blocks aren’t cemented, they’re easily moved.



Quick n easy home- made soft scrub for no-scratch cleaning - Mix 1 cup baking soda with some warm water to make a paste plus a few drops of liquid soap.  Apply to surface and let it sit for a few minutes, then scrub with non-abrasive sponge and rinse.



The Nanny State Updates…

In the 21st Century, the biggest threat to our personal freedom and liberty, our economy and our middle class is the federal government.  --The Poor Man



Big Brother Regularly Ignores the Constitution and Bill of Rights

If you regularly carry a cell phone around with you, you might as well say goodbye to your privacy. The truth is that any cell phone you buy is going to track you wherever you go 24 hours a day. Just as you leave "footprints" wherever you go on the Internet, so also your cell phone is constantly recording wherever you go in the physical world. Most people do not realize this, but the reality is that cell phones are tracking devices that governments, law enforcement authorities, big corporations and even stalkers can use to easily track your movements. If you do not know about this yet, then you are going to be absolutely amazed by what you are about to read. Not only do cell phones track you wherever you go, they can also be used to listen to your private conversations even when they are turned off.



The FBI can remotely activate the microphone on your cell phone and listen to whatever you are saying....

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

The technique is called a "roving bug," and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.

The reality is that the NSA has been monitoring all phone calls for years and years. According to USA Today, the NSA intends "to create a database of every call ever made"....

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.




The Parting Thought – Fixing Idiocy in Washington



Warren Buffett on debt ceiling …worth repeating!

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.


In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011


1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.


4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!



Yours for “the next revolution”, the Poor Man



Follow us on Facebook




 Twitter





Keep our services free, visit our sites…

Check our Resources


New self sufficiency books added weekly




 A Shallow Planet Production

1 comment:

MinimalistGroup said...

My oh my...those government rascals continue to muck up our lives. Thanks for the water tips - very useful.