Having grown up on a remote ranch without running water, maybe I can offer some practical, experience based observations.
You can haul/carry enough water to drink by hand or in your vehicle. That is the priority and you will find a way, move or die. So, lets skip drinking water for now.
The overriding problem after drinking water is staying clean - body, clothes, dishes, everything. If you have soap, you can clean in water that you couldn't drink safely. But, without a nearby well or stream (we had neither), you are never going to have a luxurious hot bath or shower.
The temptation is to let it slide. Don't. If you do, you will get rashes and sores in private sweaty places on your body and they won't heal. Soap that you don't have enough water to rinse off causes even worse problems than just being dirty.
My parents were very strict about staying clean. With about a quart of water and two wash rags (one soapy and one to rinse) several people can get reasonably clean before bed every day. A bath standing in a tub might take two gallons if you scrub with a soapy rag and use the tub water to rinse.
During the school year, we often got clean by going to school early and taking a shower in the gym before school started. (That was back in the days when the school was never locked) That won't work if power fails and the public water supply fails. We also sometimes spent the night with friends or relatives who had running water to enjoy a deep, hot bath. We could also wash clothes at a public coin-operated laundry or at friends houses in town.
We had the advantage that being without safe, running water was specific to us instead of being a widespread problem. When the sh it hits the fan, that may not be the case.
In preparing for emergency, drinking and cooking water must be the priority but personal hygiene is just as important to staying healthy over time.
Cordially,
TwoHoot
You can haul/carry enough water to drink by hand or in your vehicle. That is the priority and you will find a way, move or die. So, lets skip drinking water for now.
The overriding problem after drinking water is staying clean - body, clothes, dishes, everything. If you have soap, you can clean in water that you couldn't drink safely. But, without a nearby well or stream (we had neither), you are never going to have a luxurious hot bath or shower.
The temptation is to let it slide. Don't. If you do, you will get rashes and sores in private sweaty places on your body and they won't heal. Soap that you don't have enough water to rinse off causes even worse problems than just being dirty.
My parents were very strict about staying clean. With about a quart of water and two wash rags (one soapy and one to rinse) several people can get reasonably clean before bed every day. A bath standing in a tub might take two gallons if you scrub with a soapy rag and use the tub water to rinse.
During the school year, we often got clean by going to school early and taking a shower in the gym before school started. (That was back in the days when the school was never locked) That won't work if power fails and the public water supply fails. We also sometimes spent the night with friends or relatives who had running water to enjoy a deep, hot bath. We could also wash clothes at a public coin-operated laundry or at friends houses in town.
We had the advantage that being without safe, running water was specific to us instead of being a widespread problem. When the sh it hits the fan, that may not be the case.
In preparing for emergency, drinking and cooking water must be the priority but personal hygiene is just as important to staying healthy over time.
Cordially,
TwoHoot