Would you rather be without electricity, or water?

[Steerforth]

Are those our only two choices? Can we substitute other choices?

Because I’d be just fine with going without Miracle Whip. If I never saw it again, I’d survive the ordeal. Miracle Whip is not a substitute for mayonnaise.

But of the offered choices, I’d rather go without electricity. It’s nice, but I can and have lived without it for long periods of my life.

 

[dogmeat]

until you have been in crisis, or taken some training, you will not know the priority of need for an emergency. for instance, if you ask someone to list the important things to have... they will almost always say "food" first. wrong. in order of things that kill you, it goes something like this...

1. first aid - your life may be in danger right now. you can bleed to death in minutes

2. shelter - a couple hours of cold can kill. more people die of hypothermia at around 50- 55F than any temperature colder. 55 is still warm right? no. your body core hits 95F, you are in big trouble

3. water - a few days with no water is the most you can stand

4. food - you can go many days with no food

the most common utility to quit working in a disaster is electricity. even a 2kw gen set will run the furnace, the TV, the refrigerator and a couple lights. I've done it a few times.... sometimes for days on end. meanwhile the neighbors have broken pipes and cold houses

I left out medication... you fit it in. I can go a pretty long time without any of mine

 

[Kiriyaro2211]

I'd prefer to have water. It is possible to live without electricity, especially if you have a generator.

 

[Willie Johnson]

Electricity. I can get water from the pond down the street and purify it. I don't know why people freak out about water--only 25% of the whole world isn't it.

 

[ellielo]

I definitely prefer to have water. Can't imagine going to sleep without having a hot shower in the evening. Electricity is important too but not the most important thing ever and I had some blackouts before in my life. Can be even romantic for some time. When I lived in Norway we could change our electricity provider online https://Strøm24.no super easy and without hustle.

 

[fishingrhod]

water. our supply is pumped up from an aquifer. as we found out when the power went down in some storm or other no electricity, no water.

 

[Duck Herder]

"Give me the luxuries in life and I will gladly go without the necessities"

 

[Greggorios]

Our water is from our own well which requires electricity to run the pump. Without electricity we have no water or heat. We made it through the ice/wind storm from last night OK. Part of our storm prep is to fill up a garbage can and a bunch of 5 gallon pails with water to see us through any power outage that might come with a storm. We also get the house real toasty warm just in case we loose power.

For many of us each storm is like playing Russian Roulette wondering if we will loose electricity for more than a few hours. The nightmare scenario as experienced in Texas is just a matter of time in most parts of the country especially if you live around a lot of trees. Trees + storms= Downed power lines. I used to really love trees.

 

[MisterZ]

When we get a generator it's to keep the well going, so there's your answer.

 

[schmee]

This happens to me occasionally, so........
hmmm... problem is I cant pump water without electricity! No water is a PITA (toilets!)
No electricity is a PITA (no refrigeration)

 

[Cpb2020]

I view water as a necessity. Electricity much less so.

Plus, I’ve got one of these which sips fuel and a transfer switch (can alternate between fridge and heat, with some lights), so we can weather loss of electricity much longer and easier.

 

[ce24]

I didn't have running water my first year in bush Alaska.... Had to go cut ice and haul it back by sled. Electricity was intermittent..... One phone for 300 people at the city office.... Either way I'm good... Been there done that.... As a matter of fact my 2 year old daughter was so use to hearing " powers out" that when the lights turned down the first time we took her to a movie in Anchorage she shouted " powers out"!

 

[Zoso420]

Uhh you can live a long life without electricity but only a few days without water

 

[tap4154]

I would much rather live without electricity. I have a bunch of backup batteries, portable solar panels, Bluetooth speakers. Plus it never gets cold enough where I live that I would freeze without heating. Plus I have a motorhome sitting in the backyard with 4000k generator in it, and I can run a cord into the house to run the refrigerator and TV. Not having water for a week or more is a mess!

 

[Vocalion]

We actually lived through the absence of both with the winter storm that hit Texas last year. Assuming that we’re talking about something temporary and that there is not life-threatening heat or cold, I would much rather have water than electricity. While we made do by melting snow in our case and also had a gas grill to rely on, not being able to drink, flush toilets, make coffee, cook any thing requiring water, wash hands, or bathe in general was much more stressful than being without electricity.

 

[aging_rocker]

Water.

I can live without electricity for a while (the refrigeration/freezer situation would be the major problem if it went on for days) Our main heating is a wood-burning stove which adequately heats our small home and the winters here don't get cold enough to worry about pipes bursting, etc. We also currently have sufficient burnable firewood for the next 2 years. We can cook on that if we need to, plus we have an outdoor kitchen that runs on bottled gas (it's just too hot to cook inside at some points of the year, like now)

We always have 10 days worth of drinking water and also 3 weeks worth of non-perishable food* stored (it's strongly advised here, because of the risk of major quakes etc. taking out the supply) and we have rain water stored in tanks which collect from the house & outbuilding roofs, which covers the flushing requirements (and with some boiling and filtering will make drinkable water if required) and we are within a mile of drinkable (after basic treatment) river water.

We had no water for a couple of days over Christmas thanks to a failed T-junction in the water main outside the kitchen. It was a nuisance, Mrs R was not too happy but we managed fine.

* and backup can openers

 

[bobio]

I am too sarcastic for hypothetical questions, I would just pay both the power and water bills

 

[Muddyshoes]

I have been in a situation were I didn't have either one due to a storm taking down the power lines and are water supply was from a well and no power meant the pump wasn't working for 7 days before it was fixed. Depending in the time of year play's a big roll, in the summer give me access to water, I don't need to worry about freezing water pipes and general cold weather, winter I want access to electricity being able to keep the house warm, no freezing pipes to worry about, I can go out a get snow to melt for water....Now depending on the climate you live in is the biggest factor to what is more important...but you have to have access to water

 

[24 track]

In the yukon we had to have our water drawn from the creek no running water( perma frost was too deep ) but we had electricity , how ever when we got water in our gas line our ( diesel fuel furnace) our house froze instantly to -55 F and the outside temp was -50 , Condenced moisture formed Icicle Fans on the ceiling and the warmest spot in the house was the refridgerator, I needed propane torches to melt the ice in the pipes out side to get the fuel to flow , I spent 5 days in this condition to get it rectified we slept in parkas with towels wrapped around our faces so we did not freeze, my girl friend at the time woke up with frozen toes so I carried her into to town to the local restaurant and left her there to slowly warm up and get what I needed to fix the situation .

I made the mistake of opening the fridge out of frustration to get a cold beer it was so cold the beer froze instantly and the bottles shattered ( now I'm really Pissed).

out of it all electricity was the only thing that did not freeze, Water I could get , but most important was heat, absolutely you can live with out electricity, cant with out water, and your survival odds diminish rapidly with out heat . In extreme climates .

remember all free flowing water needs boiled first to kill microbes as well

 

[fasthand]

Wife is on oxygen concentrator 24/7 so electricity is a must