Provident Living: All of Us Should Learn How!
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Provident living is an approach, a cultivation of a standard of living that can assist us in managing the temporal and spiritual eventualities in our lives. None of us know what disasters we may face that would make money fail, or make it difficult for us to buy water and food and other emergency supplies. Provident living can help us prepare for these eventualities. Pre-Treating Water for Drinking If you are not able to store water, it is provident living that you plan on a supply of cheese cloths or coffee filters, droppers, and regular household bleach like Chlorox and Purex. These household bleach brands have about 5.25 to 6% chlorine. In the absence of those brands, provident living means reading the label first to ensure there are no additives like perfume or dye in the bleach. Two ways you can pre-treat your water Provident living means knowing how to make water safe. The safest way is boiling. Filter surface water, or whenever the water is cloudy, then boil whenever possible prior to treatment. If boiling is out of the question, apply five drops of bleach for every quart of the filtered water. Let stand at least one hour prior to drinking. If the water is not cloudy, three drops of bleach is sufficient for every quart of water. Let stand at least a half hour prior to drinking. Adjust the amount of bleach to the capacity of your container. For example, if you have ten-gallon containers, put one teaspoon of bleach for each one. Provident living requires you to know in advance how much water your dropper can hold, in case there is no teaspoon handy. As a good rule of thumb, your pre-treated water should have a slight odor of bleach. Pre-treat stored water if you suspect that it has been contaminated. Sources of Water In an emergency and your water supply is disrupted or polluted, and you do not have stored water, consider streams, ponds, lakes, natural springs, etc. Do not use floodwater, and any other water that you suspect is tainted with toxic wastes, mine tailings, etc. Such water is not safe for human consumption, even if you pre-treat it. Storing Water for Other Purposes Provident living means water storage of one gallon per person per day (one-half gallon per reasonably active person just for drinking and cooking, and the other half gallon for other uses.) Do not forget your pets. Adjust the amount of water stored per person depending on health conditions, age, and weather temperature. 72-Hour Kits Provident living advocates the building of these kits for crisis situation when we have to speedily evacuate our homes. 72-hour kits should be easy to carry. Locate them near the exit, where you can grab them readily. Making 72-hour kits work Tailor your 72-hour kits specific to the needs of each member of your family. We recommend that each family member who is old enough make a list of what s/he uses for the next three days. Then let them add or subtract from the list what they really would need if suddenly there were no water, electricity, and heat for three days. For example, a diabetic individual should include glucose tablets, syringes, an insulated bag to keep the insulin, etc. Include lightweight space blankets for each family member . When purchasing 72-hours kits, remember to tailor them as well to your needs as individuals. More on Provident Living!
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