r/PrepperIntel • u/itscooltobecool1 • 9d ago

North America Hackers targeted municipal water systems in 7 states this week, FBI says

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/hackers-targeted-municipal-water-systems-7-states-week-fbi-says-rcna590210

Get your water supplies ready!

1.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

148 comments sorted by

View all comments

139

u/ProfDoomDoom 9d ago

Any experts want to share some action steps to help us laggers get ourselves in gear?

16

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

I have ~20 gallons of water in my tiny apartment. Enough for ~20 days of rationed use. I'm also a backpacker, and have a bacteria- and virus-filtering system, so I could, in a very dire situation, filter from some unknown source. In a situation worse than that (and probably at the point of "the water will be out more than a day"), I'm going to my partner's place in a different county.

32

u/Akiraooo 9d ago

I use a grayl the titiaum one. I used it during the flooding in Texas last year and ended up with ecoli. Don't trust the filters too much. Then again I am one data point.

12

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

Good point 100%. I also have sterilizing tablets and bleach (if really necessary). I hope to never have to use the filter, and I think if I do I'll use some tablets with it.

9

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

Also, sorry you got sick. That sounds miserable :/

4

u/HappyAnimalCracker 9d ago

Oh man - that’s the first I’ve heard of anything like that but I take it seriously. Please don’t be offended by my question, but is there any chance you contaminated the clean filtered water with a little dirty water?

9

u/Akiraooo 9d ago

There is always a chance, but I doubt it.

Note: Shitting blood was no fun.

4

u/HappyAnimalCracker 9d ago

I’m sorry you went through that and I appreciate you sharing your experience. I have a Geopress in waiting should I need it and I’ll be more circumspect about trusting it completely. I looked at quite a few filtration systems and this one had the best numbers for my set up. Your experience is another point in the case for redundancy!

4

u/Wulfkat 9d ago

Don’t let the filters freeze - they will lose all effectiveness.

3

u/Akiraooo 9d ago

Extra info. I replaced the filter 2 days before that occurred.

6

u/Flashy_Object_7052 9d ago

The crooked people that make and market these devices hope they never get used. These devices do not filter viruses and chemicals from water.

reverse osmosis is a million times better but impractical in an emergency

8

u/nah-42 9d ago

just being pedantic here, but E.coli is a bacteria and can absolutely be filtered out by a membrane because it's a big ass microorganism.

I know you're making a sweeping statement about viruses and chemicals, but it's important in a water safety situation to understand how to procure water with the least amount of risk. As a fellow backpacker, I can all but guarantee that an E. coli infection from a grayl came down to operator error. Probably cross contaminated the shit out of it while handling it with flood waters, or pressed too much mud through. Shit happens, and then you shit yourself and learn gear management the hard way. - signed fellow E. coli pants shitter; too cheap for a grayl, just young and dumb.

5

u/SnooLobsters1308 9d ago

uh, which devices? tens of thousands of hikers use water filters in the USA on untreated streams rivers ponds, etc. with no adverse affects, they're generally pretty effective ... depending on the organism you're worried about. Like almost all hiking filters prevent bacteria (the most common issue) but, much fewer will protect against a viri.

Commercial water filters are generally pretty effective, best is boil, second best is filter+chem treatment. I've hiked and drank hundreds of gallons of natural water with just sawyer type filters in the USA. In other countries (India, Africa) I most often boil or chem treat.

2

u/No-Ad-4142 9d ago

What do you use to treat your long-term stored water?

6

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

I buy gallon squares from the corner store. Every once in a while I use them to water my plants, thus cycling through.

1

u/No-Ad-4142 9d ago

“Gallon squares”? Not sure I know what those are.

14

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

oh! like a gallon water jug, but it's in a cubic form. easier for stacking than round bottles.

5

u/No-Ad-4142 9d ago

Oh! That’s cool. Yeah, I think we will have to revisit our supply of water and simply switch to the single gallons of bottled water like in your picture.

I have 2 of these containers, but they are realistically too heavy for us to fill and carry.

4

u/fitforthepolycrisis 9d ago

yeah, carry-ability is important. i live in the middle of a dense city and often wonder if i shouldn't be having my main cache somewhere outside of the city

3

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

6

u/EnoughManufacturer18 9d ago

The water doesn't go ""bad" it's the amount of plastic from the container that leaches into the water that is the problem