How to Survive a Water Contamination Event

The West Virginia chemical spill that contaminated the water sources for over 300,000 Americans did not get much media attention. Had it happened in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, or another media center, you would have heard every detail repeated in the 24-hour news cycle. 

Just because it was generally ignored by the elite media, does not mean it was not important lessons.
When my older son went to school at West Virginia Wesleyan, I saw the Elk River. Just magnificent. And if a river that large can be polluted that fast, we need to pay attention to the lessons this spill offers.

Glen Meder, a clean water expert, has done so. He offers 10 lessons of the West Virginia chemical spill and water contamination story below. Well worth a read and use.

He gives Webinars about how to create and maintain a supply of clean water. I've heard them and they are excellent. Here is a link for one:
Click for Greg Meder Water Webinar

10 Things We Can Learn From the West Virginia Chemical Spill

If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you are aware that there was a massive chemical spill in West Virginia. Over 300,000 people along the Elk River were told not to drink their water, brush their teeth or take showers. This was a serious incident that could happen anywhere at any time, so it’s important that we learn some important lessons from this event.

Lessons from the West Virginia Chemical Spill

LESSON #1:

Emergencies, by definition, happen by surprise so BE PREPARED! If an emergency strikes and you are not prepared, your health could be at risk, you will be at the mercy of government response and you could find yourself in a very scary situation. It’s human nature to procrastinate, but learn your lesson and prepare today.

LESSON #2:

Water is crucial for life. You will never understand how vital water is until you don’t have it. No other preparation matters if you don’t first ensure a supply of safe water. A lack of safe drinking water is one of the primary causes of panic. People NEED and MUST HAVE water. It’s a fundamental biological need. Rational thought goes out the window because your body demands it. By being prepared, you keep yourself out of panic mode and are able to stay calm and collected. Having a calm state of mind allows you to react properly to a situation, and it allows you to be a calming voice in a troubled time.

LESSON #3:

An emergency is followed by a period of uncertainty. There was (and still is) confusion about the chemical spill because there is very little data on the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM. Believe it or not, there has been very little, if any, toxicity testing done on this chemical. Quite simply, no one knows how toxic the chemical is or what the long-term health effects are.

LESSON #4:

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR WATER! The company did not notify the government that a leak had taken place even though they knew that it had happened. So how did we know that there was a leak? A concerned citizen notified the government of a licorice-smell in the river, which was then investigated. If this person hadn’t taken action, people may not have ever known. It is also true that if this chemical had no odor our hero citizen would not have smelled it to raise the alarm.  The fact is, however, this type of incident happens quite often.

LESSON #5:

The government ALWAYS tries to downplay the danger. One of the scariest things for a government (all governments) is a highly concerned, or even panicked populous. This time was no different, because they told everyone that the danger was over far too early (in my opinion). Another dramatic example happened after the Fukushima nuclear reactor exploded in Japan, launching thousands of pounds of radioactive waste into the air. When this happened, the Japanese government declared that nothing was wrong and that the reactor had not exploded, even though people could see that the building was gone! They continued this lie for well over a month before letting the truth out in little bite-sized pieces.

LESSON #6:

Media attention dies quickly, but that doesn’t mean that the danger is over. The WV chemical spill happened a little over a week ago, but the people living there will be dealing with this for a long time. Again, there is very little known about this chemical, but what we do know is that it is an organic chemical, which can be some of the most toxic types of chemicals. Dioxin for example, which is another organic chemical, is one of the most toxic substances on the planet, and it doesn’t simply go away. It stays in the environment for long periods of time and can cause long-term illness.

LESSON #7:

There are different types of contaminants that can be in water, and they need to be treated differently. For example, if your water is contaminated with dangerous bacteria, you should not rely on a carbon filter in an emergency situation. Boiling alone is very effective for killing bacteria, but it actually concentrates most chemicals. Thus you need to be aware of the situation and knowledgeable about water treatment.

LESSON #8:

It’s not just about drinking water. Many contaminants, especially organic chemicals (such as the one spilled in WV) can be dangerous to touch. This means that you have to be careful with brushing your teeth, washing your hands, cooking, showering and even washing your clothes.

LESSON #9:

One of the first preparations that you need is a two-week supply of bottled water stored in your house. Store one gallon per day per person, of which ½ gallon should be used for consumption, and ½ gallon for washing and hygiene. You should also store extra water for people who will be depending upon you (your children, loved ones, neighbors, etc). In addition, you should have a good emergency water filter, an emergency water distiller, and a permanent, day to day water purifier (I recommend a good water distiller).

LESSON #10:

You need to have a deep understanding about water, water contamination, and water treatment methods! It’s not enough to simply buy a water filter (or even a water distiller) and think that you are prepared. 

How do you assess a situation? How do you determine the best process for treating water? Do you know how to properly store water? 

How do you protect your family? The best way to gain this deep understanding is to attend a new free webinar that I am hosting on January 30th at 7pm (click here to register). 

This is a new webinar, so even if you have attended one of my webinars in the past, I will present a lot of new information for you… and all participants will receive two free gifts; a free water preparation check-list and a free e-book, both of which will help you be prepared for an emergency.

“Glenn Meder is one of the leading experts on water in an emergency situation and is the designer of the Survival Still emergency water distiller.”

South Carroll High School Football 2013

Earthquake Hardened Salt Lake City Hall

The Salt Lake City Hall was hardened and retrofitted to resist a major earthquake. I was told that the cost was $30 million in 1980 dollars. It is an architectural gem and I present photos of the exterior and the interior public city council chambers so you can get a sense of how magnificent a building this is to see.

The exterior pictures of the building are at the top of this post while the interior pictures are at the bottom.
The Tour Stop 30 Salt Lake City & County Building plate shown here reads as follows:
1891-1894, Monheim, Bird & Proudfoot
The Salt Lake City & County building is one of Salt Lake City's most beloved landmarks.
The building is Utah's finest example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Numerous detailed carvings, including Indian chiefs, Spanish explorers, and the faces of the first Mormon women to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley, decorate the building's exterior. Columbia,personification of the United States, crowns the clock tower. During the late 1980's, Salt Lake City undertook a major renovation of the building. It now sits on 440 base isolators which will allow the building to move as a whole during an earthquake. This seismic retrofit project received international attention for pioneering the use of base isolators in historic buildings."

Salt Lake City 1983 Flood Recovery Reflections

When I was at the Salt Lake City 1983 flood, a hydrologist took me to the top of the mountain shown in these photos. From there, I was able to see the phenomenal view of large sections of the a major American city under water. These floodwater's caused major chemical waste ponds to overflow and their effluents downstream, in addition to all the other problems that result from a flood. It was dangerous.
Yet in 2013 I stood on the same mountain just behind the Utah State Capital that overlooks much of the city and all I saw were gleaming new buildings and dry land. It was as if the flood never happened.
Behind me million dollar houses with wrap around porches were being built. Before me the downtown is beginning to look like Manhattan with local, regional, national and international banks competing for who could build the tallest skyscraper.

Salt lake City in 2013 is a different city than the one I saw in the 1983 flood when it was under a large body of water. It has prospered and grown, especially in the software and financial services industries.
LDS missionaries go to exotic and remote locations and learn obscure languages. As a result, they are heavily represented in our intelligence services, especially the CIA and military branch intelligence units.

This should give them an advantage in identifying jihadi threats and attacks, but not necessarily. One of the talks I heard at the TACDA conference was about the danger of expecting the normal to always be normal that all humans have. Unfortunately, it causes us to ignore obvious dangers and threats when they are right in front of us.
The speaker used the example of two USAF Academy cadets being stuck in snow in a remote area and heating their car continuously where heating it for ten minutes every hour would have stretched their gas to the point where they could have survived.
Another example was three pilots who ignored obvious signs their large commercial airline was in a stall even though the signs were before them.
I have another example I saw in Salt Lake City.

When I toured the magnificent solid granite state capital, I saw no security. No one checked my backpack when I entered. No one looked me over. I saw no physical security guarding that building.
When I asked about this later, I was told that Utah is a carry state and that anyone threatening the legislators would be answered by armed legislators. That's funny, but it is not a security plan.
Granted, I'm an outsider and not privy to the Utah State Capital security group, but just like a thief will pass a house where he hears a dog or sees security cameras, so too jihadi's often pass a hardened target for a softer and more vulnerable one.
It would be worth the time of Utah's state capital security forces to make a show of force at all entrances to the building, even when they are not in session as when I visited.

Predictive Intelligence

This is doubly troubling because the first jihadi mass murder mall attack was in Trolley Square in Salt Lake City in 2004...not in Kenya in 2013. Here is a link to the story.
And here is a summary of the attack:
"On the evening of Feb. 12, 2007, a young Muslim man walked into the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City with a pistol-grip, 12-gauge shotgun and a 38-caliber revolver and opened fire on shoppers, killing five and wounding four others, including a pregnant woman.
Police say he “sought to kill as many people as possible.” He had a backpack full of ammunition, enough firepower to massacre dozens of innocent people. But fortunately, an off-duty cop returned fire and eventually, with the help of other police, put an end to the terrorist’s life and grand plans." Apparently, Talovic had prepared for his own martyrdom. He told a friend before the attack that “tomorrow is going to be the happiest day of my life, but it will happen only once.”“One interpretation of this statement is that Talovic was happy that he was going to be a shahid — that he would be committing jihad and go to paradise,” according to a July 2, 2007, electronic communication from the Salt Lake City field office to the counterterrorism division of the FBI.Before leaving for the mall, which was located just a few minutes from the mosque he attended, he showered and put on a necklace featuring a miniature Koran, a gift from his father. Prior to his death, some witnesses overheard Talovic shouting “Allahu Akbar!” — or “Allah is greatest!” — a ritual cry of suicide terrorists.
Talovic was “described as religious,” according to the FBI communique, marked “Secret.” “He had attend the mosque regularly for Friday prayers.”
That mosque was the Al-Noor Mosque, led by a Somali national. Some investigators suspect Talovic was radicalized there.

These details are buried in the more than 745 pages of investigative reports generated in the case by the FBI, the same agency that officially claims it found no evidence Talovic’s religion was a factor.
“Clearly, he had some religious beliefs,” Fuhrman said, “but just because someone has religious beliefs doesn’t mean anything is a terrorist act.”
That last line is frightening, because it is the same line used by the media and and others to pretend jihadi attacks are always something else...workplace violence is the cover story for Major Hassan, and there are many other subterfuges.The most common media excuse is that the terrorist had "mental issues." Yeah. No kidding.
My observation is the visible lack of security in the State Capital building along with the local unwillingness to address the jihadi's living among them is fraught with danger for the citizens of Salt Lake City.
Disasters are man-made and natural. They did an outstanding job of handling and even prospering from the 1983 flood. Not sure they are aware of how vulnerable they are to another Talovic attack, especially if it is many Talovic's attacking.
Salt Lake City is such a stunningly beautiful city. From what I saw, it is also a very open city. It is an unfortunate fact of life that jihadi's are looking for soft targets in the U.S. As they say on so many of their websites, "We have been at war with you for 1,400 years. You forgot. We did not."
I pray that those responsible for the safety and security of the Americans in Salt Lake City do what they must before another jihadi attack.
As these photos demonstrate, it is a beautiful, beautiful city. And the people are even more so.
May they receive the predictive intelligence, preemptive identification, and early shut down of the threats they face, like all Americans, from people who have made no secret of their intentions.

Is Salt Lake City a Dry City

My wife kept insisting before I flew there that Salt Lake City was a dry city in the sense of not allowing alcohol sales.

That may have been true in 1983. I only remember the Marriott's hotels having bars and serving alcohol then.

That is no longer the case.
In fact, Salt Lake City, like so much of the Pacific Northwest, has a thriving craft beer industry.

The photo here of the Salt Lake Brewing Company is a place that carries a tremendous number of craft brews.