Floods send Brits off-grid ready

Live above water level

Up to half a million Brits are poised to go off the grid this morning as floods interrupted water supplies and power stations were closed down by water damage. The flooding crisis underlines the need to think carefully when choosing where to live off-grid, as well as the benefits of living off-grid in times of climate change.

Central England is the most affected by the worst flooding in 70 years, with 50,000 people at one point losing both power and water supplies, and 450,000 losing just water. The battle continues to save Walham power station from flooding. If it is forced to close, a further 500,000 will have their power cut off.

The most paradoxical aspect of the crisis is that hundreds of thousands of houses in flooded areas have no drinking water as water treatment plants were shut down. Homes with their own wells or boreholes will have been unaffected, as will homes which do their own rainwater harvesting. Rainwater can be brought to drinking standard with a battery powered ultraviolet (UV) light. Passing the water through a $700 UV gizmo would have been adequate to produce drinking eater for a family, and probably a whole street.

A single 50 Watt solar panel connected to a car leisure battery (total cost approx $500) is enough to power the UV purifier as well as charge batteries for phones and laptops.

Our advice to flood victims and those who fear they may be in an area threatened by floods, is to get off-grid ready:

• Make sure your home is at least 100 feet above the nearest river or sea.
• Have a single solar panel set up to provide backup power
• Install a borehole or a container for gathering rainwater from the roof, as well as a means of purifying it
• Get together with neighbours on some of these things, as well as a backup diesel generator

It may be two weeks before all homes have their power and water supplies restored, even if there is no more rain.

Ultraviolet light is a component of natural sunlight. The sun’s UV light destroys the genetic make-up (DNA) of bacteria, viruses, yeast and moulds including pathogens like coliform bacteria and Legionella, rendering these bacteria, viruses and disease-causing pathogens or microorganisms inactive without the use of chemicals or changing the properties of the water. Energy efficient residential units typically consume less power than a 30W light bulb.

UV purification technology is widely used in bio-research laboratories and industries such as pharmaceutical, semi-conductor, food and beverage. In the semi-conductor industry where ultra-pure water is essential for its operation, the water undergoes four stages of UV purification.

UV water purifiers catering are in common use amongst boat owners, commercial and military users. Flow rates range from one gallon per minute (GPM) to 220 GPM.

When combined with an additional 0.5 micron carbon block filter plus a 10 micron sediment pre-filter with the ultraviolet purifier, you have a complete water purification system with water quality exceeding all health departments standards, including that of Canada and the United States and potability standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).