When the main water supply goes down, it doesn’t take long to realize just how critical a reliable backup is. For years, I’ve kept a rainwater catchment system with first-flush diverters and food-grade barrels, plus a Berkey for filtration. I also have a shallow hand pump well, but I’m always wary of possible contamination, especially after storms or seismic activity.

I’ve been looking at some newer gravity-fed filtration setups and portable UV purifiers for mobile uses, but I wonder how others balance portability versus long-term storage. How do you rotate your stored water, and what’s your protocol for treating questionable sources in a real grid-down scenario? Does anyone rely on pond or creek water, and if so, what’s your filtration/disinfection setup?

Also curious if anyone’s found a practical solar distillation method that doesn’t take up half the