Sunday, September 13th, 2026, 2:04 pm
Water More Critical Than Food
Filed under: Water is life
ast month our government formally advised people to prepare for climate problems (natural or man-made disasters) and/or war. I think it meant the latter, but officials tried to avoid causing panic or panic-buying. It basically urged stockpiling, focusing on things like water, canned food, maybe essential (life-sustaining) medicine.
Putting aside food and the NHS, let’s focus on water today.
In the UK, rain-catching barrels (or very large plastic containers) are unlawful. I didn’t check why, but I think it’s for sanitary reasons (people drinking from it, getting ill, asking NHS to intervene, i.e. becoming a burden on the state’s capacity/budget).
Suppose a war broke out, water supplies got disrupted, and people here would rather die than recycle and drink urine (a feasible survival strategy by the way).
In a country like ours, for two adults, you can assume 1) no tap water, no sewer, but waste can be managed another way/s (liquid absorbed by soil if you’re not in a high-floor apartment); 2) about 5 litres per day for a couple or 150 litres consumed per month; 3) water is preferable (over other liquids); 4) insulation needed (for all liquids). Boiling not an option if power is out.
For a typical household, water usually runs out first; food is less critical than water because we’re about 80% water. People tend to underestimate how much water they consume (digested, not washing/bathing related usage) and people can consume their own muscle and fats (the body metabolise its own mass). It’s all OK, except for water…
No doubt water is essential.
I am not saying we’ll 1) have a war soon and 2) it will disrupt the water supply.
I am only describing a scenario where people stockpile the wrong thing/s. Or prioritise (weight-wise) what’s more expensive and less critical.
