Our pipes were frozen for four days last week. Four days. Four. Long. Days.
We quickly used up our entire emergency water supply after only a day and a half. And here is the sad part. . . We used it all up flushing the toilets. 7 gallons of stored water only flushed 36 hours worth of toilets and that was flushing conservatively (I will spare you the details!)
After that we refilled the milk jugs at Grandma's and at the neighbors.
At one desperate moment when it was too late to make a water run to the neighbors, I even went outside, got some snow and melted it down. You wouldn't believe how much snow you need to get one gallon of water! I reiterate, this was all for toilet flushing!
We had bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth. Hand sanitizer and baby wipes for hands and faces. Hubby and I showered at the gym. The kids bathed at the neighbors and it was a pain!
So after four long days, I am so So SO grateful to have running water again and am re-evaluating our emergency preparedness.
After reading through the
LDS church's guidelines on storing drinking water, I think I have more work to do. Soda bottles are better than milk jugs, they'll last longer. Clean with a little bleach first.
Oh, and leave the faucet trickling at night when it gets down below 0° !!!
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