Obtaining Water during a Pandemic / Bird Poo

[garnetgirl]

Forgive me if this particular situation has already been discussed. I don't have a clear sense of an answer and I've been reading about H5N1 for months now.

Our neighbors have a large pond that feeds into a small, but ever-running creek across our property. This (our creek) is my back-up water source as our deep private well depends upon electricity and we don't have a generator at this time.

I know that migrating birds use this pond and I'm wondering if the following methods might work to *be certain* to purify the water. I am thinking of boiling the water for 10 minutes and then running it through our Berkey Light. Would that suffice? Is pre-boiling the water necessary?

As for physically obtaining the water - should I wear a mask and surgical gloves? Do I decontaminate myself after making the 200 yard walk to our creek?

My other raging question is this: I know that birds drop poo EVERYWHERE - in the garden, on the grass, on our deck. Even though we live in the country, would we still need to stay INSIDE at all times and how could we garden without coming into contact?

I ultimately believe that God is in control and I hope to leave all of my final worries at His feet; however, I am preparing as much as I can and these are the worrisome things on my mind.

Anyone have any practical advice or knowledge?

Thanks - garnetgirl

 

[kelee877]

if you feel threatened about water fowl..then you will ahve to make available to yourself your own water suppy....


I also live 3 minutes from a lake and have thought about this..so i will collect rain water or snow(to melt)..bleach will kill off alot..i hope..no has all of the answers for avian flu..we have never been throught it...pray we do the right thngs to get our families through..God Bless

 

[Deb Mc]

Garnetgirl,


1. Water purification:

I've been wondering about the same thing - my Dad lives near a lake too.

What I think he might do is boil the water for at least 10 minutes, then put a little bleach into it too and let it set awhile.

Many water purifiers don't take out the viruses, which is what the H5N1, so they might not do much good.

At this point, boiling water and adding bleach seem to be the best bet that I've seen so far. I'm no expert though - maybe others will have better ideas.



2. Gardening:

As for the gardening, good question! I've been wondering about this too.

According to some others, like Canada Sue, have been talking about decontaminaton procedures for coming/going from a home. I'm taking that knowledge and applying it here.

What I'm hoping to do is this:

I have a few containers for tomatos and peppers outside. IF there is no bird flu in the area, then I will continue to garden normally.

If there IS bird flu in the area, then what I might do is this:


1. Create a decontaminaton chamber outside the back door.

A decontaminaton chamber would basically be a plastic sheet "room" outside the back door with a kitty litter pan filled with bleach and water, plus a spray bottle filled with bleach and water.

2. Go outside with plastic boots on, light nylon pants and jacket, plus mask and goggles on. Maybe even a little scrub cap over my hair.

3. Do my gardening as usual.

4. Go back to the decontaminaton chamber outside the back door.

5. Close the flaps.

6. Take the spray bottle with the bleach/water combo and spray myself down entirely. Spritz the area around me too.

7. Wait a couple of minutes - takes that long for the bleach to kill viruses (supposedly).

8. Step into the kitty litter pan filled with bleach water. Scrub off boots and bootsoles to make sure not bringing in any bird doo.

9. Wait a couple more minutes to make sure virii are dead.

10. Open door and step inside to house.


A pain in the butt, but if the pandemic is in full-swing and you need to garden, that's how I'd do it.

I'm hoping it never turns out we have to garden that way! (I'd rather read back on this later and just LAUGH...)

Fwiw...

 

[Bill P]

Re: Gardening

I would think a quick make shift Grrenhouse of plastic stretched over small diameter PVC pipe adjoining an entranceway of the house preferably facing south would augment ones needs for fresh vegatables. One could set up a hydroponics drip system to minimize the amount of time needed out of doors.

The 1918 Flu came in waves - during the peak of the wave - Iwould think it a good practice to stay inside for the duration of the wave say 2-3 months.

During the lull between waves, one could replenish and rebuild as quickly as possible in anticapation of a second or third wave due to viral mutations.

Point being there will likely be periods when the virus is hot and others when it is safer to go out and about on specific missions.


Re: Water

I would think water from a nearby underground spring would be preferable to surface water or rain collected off the roof/gutter system. I would still take all of the precasutions above to sterilize the water as much as possible.