# The importance of utilities - what utilities are most vital



## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

Well the local area had a state of emergency due to natural gas supplies getting knocked offline due to a substation pressure thing blowing up or something.

Personally I have some wood and propane ---- it is -48c. that is -54.4f.

it took a day to get back online I think.

i dont use natural gas but most people do in town.

The communities water reservoir was at half supply around midday as people needed to leave their water running all at the same time.

none the less, I am guessing heat is probably the most vital utility out there for non industrial processes.

The local water systems need to be manually pumped if there is an outage... I can just imagine was a prolonged for more than a few days outage of gas and electric would do.

How do you prepare for outages of utilities? are you totally self reliant? do you have a plan? if not what do you think you would do?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thund...e-restored-to-all-customers-but-one-1.2554881

btw cbc has some incorrect info... Caramat is also part of the municipality and some other areas.


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## Rob Roy (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm still in Phase 1: collection and storage.

I'm really looking to stage 2: collecting and storing

Then eventually phase 3: moving to a bigger location so I can collect and store more.


I need a bigger plot to get in to the good stuff.


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## dsdmmat (Nov 9, 2012)

When I think of most needed modern items I think:

Clean water supply
Heat
Food preservation
light
then everything else.

I have a 7000 watt generator and 40 gallons of gas. When we lost power in January I ran it for 19 hours on 12 gallons of gas. We run everything in the house on the generator. If I lost power in the summer I would only run the generator for a few hours a day to keep things in the fridge and freezer from spoiling, but in the winter I ran it to keep the furnace on. We have back up propane heaters should we need them but they won't keep the pipes under the house from freezing. 

My next house will have a well, a wood stove and a furnace. For power it iwll have an automatic back up generator with solar/wind arays for alternative power sources. But that is a ways off.


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

I will say this. We have plenty of fuel. 6 thousand gallons of propane here alone and probably 15 thousand gallons for the entire ranch. We also have several thousand gallons of diesel and gasoline. There is also a few Artesian wells that are under their own pressure here. There is power here on the ranch but where our cabin is there is only solar for power.. Having all of that. Doesn't help much when the pipes are frozen. We still are not quite in the cabin as we want it to be finished before we move in. Where we are now our incoming pipes are frozen from under the house. We kept the water running and had heat and fires gong but they still froze. Our baths daily have been from water heated on the stove and then put into a solar shower bag. Even the drain lines are frozen so we have to scoop the water from the shower and dump outside when we are done. Not to mention putting bags in the toilet and taking them outside and putting them in a burn barrel when we are done. This has been goin on for almost a month and it is supposed to get to like -60 this weekend so don't think it will help. I am lookin forward to a good thaw!!

It takes a special kind of person to go thru that and not give up. My fiance has been a trooper and hasn't complained MUCH.. Lucky for us our outside lines are not frozen so we do still have water to use. I am insulating our cabin pipes like nobodys business so this doesn't happen there.. I can't wait to get to the cabin!!!

It is amazing how people take running water for granted!! You turn on a faucet or flush the toilet and BAM... Water. When you have to haul buckets several times a day to wash dishes,hands and showers make you appreciate even the smallest things!!


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I agree, water is probably number 1 in my book


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Where I live everything is based on electricity. Everyone has their own well & septic & need electricity to run the well pump. There is also needing that air conditioning during the heat of the summer.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

You know the saddest thing; if you went to a significant or even smaller community / city and asked them to spend 1/10th of 1% of their budget on "prepardness" for any kind of issue they'd likely laugh at you. When I was on the city council of my home town we had a budget of about $2.5 million operating so 1/10th of 1% was a mere $2,500. A city could do a lot with $2,500 to insure food supplies, water supplies, and more. Imagine if that was the budget every year? Our little town did have a council that feared financial issues there, obviously being in the State of California and having Sacramento take what they want at your expense - and mandate more expenses for you as well we had our concerns. We actually spent more then 1/10th of a percent on some serious preparations for the community. I wouldn't post it on a forum, but its a public record what was purchased over those 3 years. 

Lets just say a later council couldn't resist temptation and sold it.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

Beach Kowboy said:


> I will say this. We have plenty of fuel. 6 thousand gallons of propane here alone and probably 15 thousand gallons for the entire ranch. We also have several thousand gallons of diesel and gasoline. There is also a few Artesian wells that are under their own pressure here. There is power here on the ranch but where our cabin is there is only solar for power.. Having all of that. Doesn't help much when the pipes are frozen. We still are not quite in the cabin as we want it to be finished before we move in. Where we are now our incoming pipes are frozen from under the house. We kept the water running and had heat and fires gong but they still froze. Our baths daily have been from water heated on the stove and then put into a solar shower bag. Even the drain lines are frozen so we have to scoop the water from the shower and dump outside when we are done. Not to mention putting bags in the toilet and taking them outside and putting them in a burn barrel when we are done. This has been goin on for almost a month and it is supposed to get to like -60 this weekend so don't think it will help. I am lookin forward to a good thaw!!
> 
> It takes a special kind of person to go thru that and not give up. My fiance has been a trooper and hasn't complained MUCH.. Lucky for us our outside lines are not frozen so we do still have water to use. I am insulating our cabin pipes like nobodys business so this doesn't happen there.. I can't wait to get to the cabin!!!
> 
> It is amazing how people take running water for granted!! You turn on a faucet or flush the toilet and BAM... Water. When you have to haul buckets several times a day to wash dishes,hands and showers make you appreciate even the smallest things!!


Haha
Sorry I am laughing my ass off as you learn the rules of living in the real west!


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Most vital depends on where you are and time of year. Short term or long term.
We can get by with none if need be.
Water no issue we can pump it by hand or generator. Ours comes from wells we have right here. This part of Wisconsin water will never be a problem to get to.
LP gas we can heat without power ,use generator or burn wood/coal. Stock piled ready to go.
Electric we can get by with none if need be part of the long term plan. We have stored fuel and generators but that would not last forever.
If they were all gone tomorrow the one I would miss the most Electric power.


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## SARGE7402 (Nov 18, 2012)

While I agree that water is almost at the top of the list, on a larger scale fuel (Gas, Diesel and Propane and coal) are more important for the nation as a whole because with out them large segments of the country will be without the means of providing clean water or getting food from the bread baskets to those places that aren't self sufficient. Here on the farm it would be rough but a community based system similar to what we had in this country before the advent of the automobile would be possible. We have several farms with horses and wagons, there are large farm plots - with a substantial Mexican work force, and one railroad just 10 miles south of us has an old steam engine. And we have a real brick and mortar library with real books in it just 7 miles up the road. Yes, it would be rough and a lot of hard work, but we'd survive a lot better than some places


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## Dr. Prepper (Dec 20, 2012)

I think I agree with sarge7402. Fuel is near the top of my list. Just about everything we do requires fuel either directly or indirectly. Oh yeah we can work the fields by hand and harvest by hand but not many folks have the required tools and implements to do it. Horses and cows can pull plows but those animals eat large amounts of food.

Nobody can survive without food and fuel is what gets the food to our tables these days.

Fuel is required to heat our homes, cook our food, run generators, and almost everything we do. Solar and wind power is unreliable and requires equipment most of us do not have. Solar power requires lots of sunlight, wire networks, lead/acid batteries, inverters, and daily care. I know how labor intensive they are because we have two large solar collector systems here on our farm(s) and I'm their caretaker. Wind power is OK when the wind blows - which is about 40% of the time where we live. 60% of the time it's useless (and requires maintenance).

One of the guys in our little four-family *M*utual *A*ssistance *G*roup has put a bid in on a 1937 thirtynine HP stationary steam engine. We already have two 5,000 kW generators for it and several implements (thresher, saw mill, rock crusher, etc.). We have +/- 75 tons of low sulfur coal and two barns full of firewood.

Of course other things are very important during a crisis situation but fuel ranks right near the top for us.


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Water,sanitary,heat,food.we have been under let it run (water) for a month now.I sure hate to see it go down the drain,but, since its been so cold if you dont let it run there will be some overworked city workers working to get you some water.they have been 13 days on,1 day off ,12 hour shifts.a few (18) people on our block have learned this along with 800 people in our town of 20,000.almost 10% have froze up.not including the sewers freezing too.you know that when the big arc welder on the truck is followed by the truck with the giganto steam cleaner on it.


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

We are lucky enough to have our own natural gas well here on the property. From what I am told it is a VERY large supply. We have adapters for our stove and hot water heater where we can go from propane to natural. Even down the creek about 18 miles form here there is an old cow camp cabin to use as we are trailing cows back here. It is out in the middle of nowhere even more desolate than where we are here and there is a natural gas line coming out from the ground pretty as you please. Thereis an old outhouse there too that is a 2 seater which is not something I have ever seen before.. I like takin care of my business by myself..LOL






Here is a pic of the old cow camp cabin. If you look there is a pipe out front. That is one of the natural gas lines. Apparently it has been there for generations.. I guess we are lucky enough to have our own supply here.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

By the looks of that roof you are going to need that gas line and a big furnace!


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

PaulS said:


> By the looks of that roof you are going to need that gas line and a big furnace!


 We actually redid the roof not long after the pic was taken. That along with a few other things. It only gets used 2-3 times a year for a day or 2 at a time. Usually we crash there overnight if we are hauling cows from down by the river. We use it as a stopping point to let em rest a little and pair up. Or if we have company in we will go down and grill out or something. It hasn't been actually lived in for a few generations. You would be amazed at how good the inside looks for how old it is. Actually, when we have the 2015 prepper gathering, it will be down there and some will get to stay in it if they want..


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

If you look, you can see dirt bike tracks up the hill in the back.. Talk about ass puckering!!


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## bad (Feb 22, 2014)

We went 3 years at our new home without electriciy consistantly We have a generator but only ran it intermittantly. Also a battery small solar array and inverter. The generator also helped to charge the battery. We used kerosene lighting as well as some electric. Used the battery to top off the computer and cell phone modem. We heat with wood. Three years ago we broke down when the weather got over 110 degrees. We put in electricity. We can live without it. It does take some fuel to cut the wood but we have enough pretty much to last as couple of years if we don't waste it. 

Water we have a couple of ponds, not a perfect plan but better than nothing. 

Having a natural gas well on your property is so cool. Make the generator run off it. Keep a good supply of motor oil. Get a pressure pump and compress the gas to run your truck.

One thing, none of us have is a continious source of tires


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## Beach Kowboy (Feb 13, 2014)

bad said:


> We went 3 years at our new home without electriciy consistantly We have a generator but only ran it intermittantly. Also a battery small solar array and inverter. The generator also helped to charge the battery. We used kerosene lighting as well as some electric. Used the battery to top off the computer and cell phone modem. We heat with wood. Three years ago we broke down when the weather got over 110 degrees. We put in electricity. We can live without it. It does take some fuel to cut the wood but we have enough pretty much to last as couple of years if we don't waste it.
> 
> Water we have a couple of ponds, not a perfect plan but better than nothing.
> 
> ...


It is pretty cool to have a natural gas well on the property. We have quite a bit of oil in drums we use for all of the equipment. I am going to work on a generator that can run off of natural gas as well. I have been looking into that a lot lately. Our cabin will be mainly solar for power but I want to have the generator to top off the batteries when needed. Plus, if is free fuel!!


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Agree 100% with your sig line!!!

If i was more puter savvy I would have copied it direcrtly!


bad said:


> We went 3 years at our new home without electriciy consistantly We have a generator but only ran it intermittantly. Also a battery small solar array and inverter. The generator also helped to charge the battery. We used kerosene lighting as well as some electric. Used the battery to top off the computer and cell phone modem. We heat with wood. Three years ago we broke down when the weather got over 110 degrees. We put in electricity. We can live without it. It does take some fuel to cut the wood but we have enough pretty much to last as couple of years if we don't waste it.
> 
> Water we have a couple of ponds, not a perfect plan but better than nothing.
> 
> ...


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I would have to go with electricity. For one I work for the electric company so that is where my paycheck comes from. Ok seriously, if you are talking just my home, then water, but if you are talking wide spread, then again, electricity, without electric, water, sewer, nor much of anything else will be there, unless of course, you have your own well and septic system.....ect.


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