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Overview

Just what happens when the grid goes down?  Or an EMP pulse?  And what about a solar flare?

I asked myself these questions some time back.  First the simple case of a temporary shut down of the grid.  And by grid I mean the electric grid.  Here cars and trucks would still work.  Just electric systems would be affected.  Many support groups like hospitals and police have generators.  Even emergency broadcast stations would stay live.  In this case a small generator to run the refrigerator and keep the lights on would be enough for most people.  Next we have a solar flare.  They come in all sizes where the weak ones don’t do much at all.  But they can be massive and can take the grid out for days or weeks.  As the energy from the flare couples into the electric lines it will cause electric arcs all over the place.  Fires may start in the walls of your home or business.  But there are some things you can do to to limit the damage.  A solar flare takes time to get here from the sun so there is some amount of warning.  Anywhere from seventeen hours to three days.  The real problem comes from an EMP pulse from a nuclear blast high over the country.  The average person will have no warning.  Just four devices would pretty much cover the entire 48 mainland States.  The first wave would be the E1 wave and it will take out all electronics.  It will destroy them.  Computers, all vehicles with electronic ignition, planes, TV’s, and communication all gone.  No cell phones.  Electronic control systems would be destroyed.  This would include controllers for well pumps.  Controllers for solar panel arrays would stop working.  Then the E2 wave would hit and fry the larger parts of the grid.  Most of the systems that try and protect the system would be knocked out.  Then the E3 wave hits.  This is similar to a solar flare.  The large components of the grid get destroyed including the main generators.  It may take years before the generating system could be repaired.  High voltage arcs will start fires anywhere there are power lines.  This includes your house.  With no transportation and no electric power there will be no fire department and no water pressure in the city water system.

For more information on a nuclear EMP strike follow this link.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/congress/2004_r/04-07-22emp.pdf

We depend on electric power for almost everything.  But there are things we can do to protect ourself and our family.  I will take each system one by one and describe what I am doing to modify my house.

Water supply

I have a well on my property for water.  If you do not have a well and are connected to city water you will lose your water soon after an EMP pulse.  What ever water you have stored is it unless you live next to some kind of water reservoir.  People will flock to any available water above ground and soon the water will be depleted or contaminated.

Most wells have pumps and pipes that are very heavy.  In my well with an electric pump and a two inch pipe the weight is around 600 lbs.  I can not get even a cup past the pipe to get at the water.  Some systems with large pumps and big pipe can weight in excess of 3500 lbs.  For those with shallow wells the weight may be substantially less.  You need to have a plan and the equipment to raise the old pump out of the way.  There is no guarantee your pump will survive an EMP pulse if it is connected to an electric circuit that is attached to the grid.  Many pumps require a controller which will be fried.  Solar panels are connected to controllers to convert the raw power from the panel to some usable form.  The controller will be fried.  It is best to assume that everything electrical will not work.  A wind powered water pump will continue to work because it does not use electricity.  But if the seals go out how are you going to repair the pump?  How much does the shaft weigh?  Do you have the manual equipment to raise the shaft?  Ask yourself all of these questions.  My pump is designed for a system with a single stage pump able to work down 200 feet will weigh 60 lbs.  You can pull it up by hand to fix it.  The pump has no water seals because there are no pistons.  Just two check valves.  For less than $100 you can have several sets of parts.  For wells in excess of 300 feet deep an inline intermediate pump is required.  For this system the weight is 80 lbs.  You could still lift it by hand.  One design goal was to keep the air pressure to less than 100 PSI.  This way many manual air pumps could drive the system.

Notes

Several years ago I came to realize that many people who think they are prepared for the grid going down or an EMP pulse only really have a temporary water solution.  I saw a need for an inexpensive well pump that operated on a power source immune from the effects of a solar flare or EMP pulse.  I knew that air pressure could be stored easily and made easily by rotary wind vanes or a solar panel and an electric compressor.  This site and products are the water solution I came up with.  It may not be perfect but it will keep you alive.  All of the parts are made of materials which do not make the water unsafe to drink.  Stainless steel, PVC,  and brass make up the main parts.

Everyone should have an emergency water backup plan.  A few gallons of water set aside is great but when it runs out you and everyone else will be searching for clean water.  Open water systems will quickly become contaminated.

In my study of people who prepare for disaster I came across what is known as preppers.  People who try and set aside food or equipment which in a disaster will help them or their neighbors.  We all rely on our technology and if it were to go away  we would lose our ability to survive.  Either exposure, lack of water or food will cause us to wander about with millions of others seeking the necessities of life.

In order to be totally prepared we need to have a plan which supplies shelter, food, and water.  In a major disaster we need to be completely self sufficient with a continuous supply of energy, food, and water.  This is not easy to do.  To attempt to do this on your own will probably not work.  A group of people with the required skills and material will be needed for long term survival.  This site is dedicated to one part of a survival plan.  I will talk about my plans and my systems but I make no guarantee that what I do will work in all environments.  It is best that each of you form your own plans and test all of the systems.  An emergency is not the time to dust off a pile of stuff in the garage to see if it will help you survive.

Please send me any suggestions on survival systems and I will post the ones I think make sense.

This site deals with well pumps, emergency water systems, Preppers, air pump, safe water, EMP issues, Nuclear bomb survival, clean water, Solar flare issues, solar flare 1859, solar flare 1989 Canada, fires caused by electric fields, EMP pulses, emergency survival, Air pressure, inexpensive well pump, cheap well pump, small budget, well case, well cap, solar panals, wind energy, turbine blades, fan blades, electric generation, and many more things.

We at water72 are dedicated to supplying all of the key components so you can safely obtain water in an off grid environment.  The vertical wind vane and solar panel chargers are part of those solutions.  Low tech battery charging controllers are also part of the system we will offer. The systems are made to use renewable sources.  So you could call then green energy systems.  Right now we are projecting that our vertical wind vane will output two horsepower in a stiff wind.  Here in the White Mountains of Arizona a stiff wind is easy to come across.