Flooding in the UK has displaced thousands and left 350,000 residents without running tap water. The flooded rivers will peak at more than 20 feet above their normal levels, and officials say that running water may not be restored for a week.
The area's water treatment plant is underwater and had to be evacuated Sunday morning. Running water won't be restored until the the water levels drop again, and until then, the government has trucked in tankers full of water, and according to the BBC, over a million bottles of water. Thousands are without power.
For more information, check here: BBC News Story
The floods in the UK are another example of the need to prepare, and another reminder of the importance of water storage. It is somewhat ironic that a flood would cause a water shortage, but as seen here and the Katrina/Rita disasters, clean drinking water can be a rare commodity during a disaster. Clean drinking water is one of the most important things to store, and one of the cheapest as well.
I've personally had good experience with 2.5 gallon jugs from places like Wal-Mart and Target, though I've heard these can be susceptible to leaks over time. Others have luck with 2 liter pop bottles, though you'll likely have to deal with a little left over flavor. You can go big and get 55 gallon drums, but they weigh over 400 pounds full, so once filled, they're impossible to move and difficult to rotate. Smaller 15 and 30 gallon drums are also available--the 15 gallons drums are a nice, handy, movable size. There are all kinds of water-storage solutions out there, I'd recommend shopping around and finding what works best for you.
I'd also put a plug in for both a good water filter and purifying chemicals. Filters come in all shapes and sizes--from small-capacity filter water bottles, to water-cooler sized units good for tens of thousands of gallons of water. Do your homework here. Regular strength, unscented bleach works well for purifying water, as do Katadyn Micropur tablets and the chemicals created by the MSR Miox Purifier. I recommend a double whammy of filtration and purification if you're going to drink flood waters. Filters will take care of floaties, bacteria, and protozoa out of the water (and also make it look a little more drinkable), but they won't do much to take care of microscopic viruses which can be prevalent in floodwaters. That's where the purification chemicals come in; add them to the water, wait, and any viruses in the water should be deactivated.
