Is a pond a sufficient for emergency water storage?

[ACC]

Just wondering if all the INGO preppers think a pond is sufficient water storage option for an emergency. I have a cabin property where I will go in an emergency and I have plenty of food, ammo, guns, staples, etc. The house sits on a 1 acre spring/runoff fed pond. I just always figures I would pump water out of the pond and filter/boil/treat it in an emergency. Am I over simplifying this option?

 

[breakingcontact]

It is certainly a source of a fair amount of water. So long as you can properly treat/filter it (field/livestock waste etc), sounds great.

You mentioned having to travel to the cabin, that would be the tricky part I think. I hope it isn't too far away.

 

[ACC]

Cabin is 1.5 hours from home. I have mapped out backroads to get me there. Plus, my prepper sensibilities would have me headed out there sooner than later.

Luckily, the pond is surrounded by woods. No livestock or agriculture fields within a mile.

 

[ditcherman]

Thousands of people that go backpacking every year drink from something like that, shouldn't be a problem with the right filter. I only filter, no boil or treatment for the most part..

 

[OurDee]

If the spring feeds in from above the pond, you could build a block wall around it that would fill with water and over flow the wall to travel to the pond. At the base of the wall you run a pipe through the wall. Plumb that to a water shed behind the cabin where you could collect your artisian water. If it flowed into and out of a couple of good size coolers, you could keep food cold in them. Run the water pipe under ground below the frost line.

 

[OurDee]

In East Tennessee My dad had that setup with the water pipe down in the creek. That water didn't need filtered. The creek never froze there.

 

[churchmouse]

In East Tennessee My dad had that setup with the water pipe down in the creek. That water didn't need filtered. The creek never froze there.

I remember drinking from the creeks as a kid. Not city creeks.

 

[JettaKnight]

I remember drinking from the creeks as a kid. Not city creeks.

Ah, you mean when Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came forth!

 

[d.kaufman]

Ah, you mean when Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came forth!

 

[Kutnupe14]

Ah, you mean when Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came forth!

Dayum.

 

[Vigilant]

Ah, you mean when Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came forth!

At the very least, before man made pollutants. He’s not gonna tell you about the time he was drinking from the stream, and looked upstream just as the village idiot finished his bath?

 

[churchmouse]

At the very least, before man made pollutants. He’s not gonna tell you about the time he was drinking from the stream, and looked upstream just as the village idiot finished his bath?

I will neither confirm nor deny this.

 

[Hkindiana]

Or the DDT of yesteryear

 

[Trigger Time]

It's good unless there's fallout

 

[Tactically Fat]

Be very aware of agricultural runoff - of all varieties.

Also - water tests are pretty cheap. And so are purification methods for biologicals. I don't know how you'd go about removing fertilizers, anti-fungals, herbicides, and/or insecticides, though.

 

[flatlander]

We had a spring on the property just east of Keystone on Main in Carmel, circa 1965, that came from the same aquifer as the flowing well. That was some of the best tasting water around. Earlier in the properties life, somebody had dug it out and built a concrete box around it. It was always full and never froze. Fresh in, fresh out but would still filter it in today's world.
Drank water coming out of a mountain, high in Sierra Nevada's, thinking it should be good. It tasted great but the results were catastrophic to say the least. Don't take the chance.

Bob

 

[avboiler11]

OP, that's my plan.

Sawyer Mini filter, $30, 100k gallons.

 

[ACC]

avboiler11.....

I like that set up. Can you tell me more? Is that a Drummond transfer pump?

 

[avboiler11]

avboiler11.....

I like that set up. Can you tell me more? Is that a Drummond transfer pump?

It is...1/10hp Drummond transfer pump from Harbor Freight. Originally bought it to water grass seed after having the pond dug last summer (right before the drought)...lasted one week then I went and bought the 1/2hp pump to run two sprinklers simultaneously.

My pond is up about a foot from when I took this picture, which should help immensely with flow - that little Drummond doesn't much care for 4' of nearly vertical intake lift but does a pretty nice job with 18" or less rise from water to pump.

The Sawyer filter is more than sufficient for clean drinking water, but I had the RV filter too and thought "what the heck".

 

[maxwelhse]

It is...1/10hp Drummond transfer pump from Harbor Freight. Originally bought it to water grass seed after having the pond dug last summer (right before the drought)...lasted one week then I went and bought the 1/2hp pump to run two sprinklers simultaneously.

My pond is up about a foot from when I took this picture, which should help immensely with flow - that little Drummond doesn't much care for 4' of nearly vertical intake lift but does a pretty nice job with 18" or less rise from water to pump.

The Sawyer filter is more than sufficient for clean drinking water, but I had the RV filter too and thought "what the heck".

If you want to add some serious capability to that setup for not much cash, I have one of the HFT trash pumps (mine is an older model though) and it's no joke. It's on lone to my parents at the moment, who have a pond, as a front line fire fighting pump since they are out in the sticks and it is actually competent enough to at least get started. Mine will shoot a pretty solid 1.5" of water a good 50-100ft after the 50' of flat discharge hose I have for it.

It would fill a 55 gallon drum from a pond several feet away and with plenty of lift to overcome in no time flat, then your smaller lift pump wouldn't have to work very hard at all to provide you with filtered water from the drum.

Between the pump and the "fancy" discharge hose (bought at RK), fittings, check valve, etc, I'd guess I'm into that pump for $200-$250 and it's a pretty awesome setup for the money.