Even though I don't live in a storm-prone area, I still don't trust city water supplies. Incidents like the Walkerton water treatment (or lack thereof) scandal or the accident at Camelford (in Cornwall, UK, where a chemical discharge into the municipal water supply caused a lot of chronic neurological problems) make me wonder about water supplies under the difficult conditions that could prevail in a few years time. My view of the future includes a global economic depression and maintaining a clean water supply under cash-strapped conditions may be difficult.

I bought a farm on well and septic, because I like to have what control I can over the essentials of my own existence. My well pump runs off my renewable energy system and I filter my water using the same kind of simple (low-tech, no moving parts, no power required) water filtration system that aid agencies use in the third world. They come in different sizes and mine is the smallest (The Big Berkey by British Berkefeld). There are different filters - black (activated charcoal) and white (ceramic). The white filters can filter tens of thousands of gallons and the black ones significantly less, although the black ones filter out more potentially harmful things. At $250 for the unit and $100 for extra filters, it's not an expensive option compared to almost all other water treatment possibilities.