Someone asked me what to do if something caused the city water to quit flowing (they live in Edgewood). 

First off I said to go see Stephanie who is on the board and is in charge of the pool and would most likely divvy out pool water to residents if they were in need. "Can we just drink that?" they asked and I said you could but it would have lots of chlorine and would probably taste like duck.

Any water you drink from the pool or take from the creek MUST be filtered first - coffee filters can work and are made for filtering. Water from the creek will clog the filter quickly so you might want to filter twice. The filter will remove particulates and most bacteria but viruses pass through so the water should be boiled at a roaring boil for one minute minimum. This kills viruses and bacterium but does not handle heavy metals or things like pesticides (no pesticides in pool water).

You can also treat filtered water chemically with eight drops of UNSCENTED bleach per gallon of water. It has to stand for thirty minutes after you stir in the bleach. You should still smell a tiny bit of bleach but don't worry. You can stir the water or just wait a bit longer and it will dissipate.

If you REALLY want to be safe and are very patient, you can distill the water and that will give you perfectly clean water to drink. A very simple but slow method is to just put a pot of water on low heat - no boiling. Then put a mug, bowl, or cup in the center of the pot (the water level must be below the edge of the container you use). Then take your lid for that pot and put it upside down on the pot. Steam will rise, collect on the inverted lid, and then roll down and drop into your mug or whatever container you use. When fairly full, you can drink that water in the container. It will be hot but just swap in another mug and wait a few minutes. It will not taste normal as it does not have any minerals like you are used to. You can stir in a bit of salt, Himalayan if you have it. It will taste better. Just remember this is a SLOW process, just use it for drinking. Wash with the chlorinated water.

Now hopefully you have set aside emergency food and water so drink your stored water first. This is just what to do should that water run out. If you go and buy unscented bleach now you are golden but bleach degrades over time so get new jug after a year. If you buy by the gallon just use it normally and get another before that jug is empty.

Do NOT rely on a Britta filter. It is just activated charcoal but it will remove chlorine taste from your chemically treated water. You can buy personal water filters like a Life Straw or Sawyer filter from Amazon if you want to drink water right away but still filter the water first through a coffee filter so you don't clog the filter right away.

You can survive for two to three weeks without food but only three days without water.

I hope this helps...just in case.