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Water without Utilities
Scenario:
	You're living in in a high-rise apartment building when the utilities are turned off 
	by "The Regime," who has also banned relocation. You're stuck where you are. 
	How are you going to deal with it?
Covert or overt - kind of depends...
I'm not going to cover the obvious - water heating tanks, toilets, filling tubs - that's all short term stuff that won't last
more than a few days. We need to deal with a more "permanent" source of water, as it is the #1 external need in 
survival. The following article will be general in nature. Details can be fleshed out in subsequent posts by 
more knowledgeable individuals.
Most high-rise buildings have, as I recall, a gravity fed fire suppression - and maybe even a gravity assisted 
potable - water system. This means large tanks at or near the top level of the building. I could be wrong about that,
but it would certainly be worth checking.
If you now live in a high-rise, it would be prudent to view (and if possible obtain) a copy of the building's 
schematics. They are usually on file and available at one or another government facility. It differs from city to city, 
but chances are it's in the same place you would obtain a new building permit. GET THESE PLANS NOW! It may 
be too late after "The Regime" takes over.
Fire suppression tanks may NOT contain H2O, or they may contain a mixture of H2O and other suppression 
chemicals. In either case, the H2O in these tanks is almost guaranteed to be nasty. Stay away from it. If there are 
potable water tanks up there, you are good to go... until they begin to dry up.
Be sure the building has some heavy plumbing tools - either in your apartment or in the super's possession. If the 
water is cut off by the city, you will need to make some modifications to refill the tanks whenever possible.
You may need an assortment of plumbing wrenches, a soldering kit (torch, flux, solder), sandpaper, some kind of 
piping - copper preferred, but if it's not lead, it'll do. PVC piping also requires pipe dope and glues. You'll probably 
also make use of a hacksaw, pipe cutters and benders, flanging tools.
If I have left anything out, please add it to this post in subsequent replies with the subject line 
"Additional tools."
The fire suppression tanks may afford water for flushing toilets - but this isn't necessary. you will need the crap 
and piss for other things, which we will discuss later. For now, I suggest downloading the "Humanure Handbook" 
from the internet (.pdf format) RIGHT NOW.
If you mess with the fire suppression system, out of necessity, then you and all occupants must be made aware 
that, in the event of fire, you are all on your own. EVERY OCCUPIED UNIT SHOULD HAVE REDUNDANT 
NUMBERS OF EXTINGUISHERS. Occupants should also invest in escape hoods and make damned sure that your 
fire escape is in good condition. Fire drills are recommended.
Messing with the fire suppression system may also result in flooding. But you may have to do it anyway - if nothing 
else, you may need to dump out what's in there (route it to a sewer pipe), flush it out again, and refill. A little toxic 
chemical ain't all that bad when you're dying of thirst. It probably won't kill you. Not right away.
If there are no holding tanks for potable water, you are going to need the suppression tanks. You will also need to 
tie them in with the buildings water supply system - but only after shutting off all external access to your water as 
well as the feed to any unoccupied units. This is a lot of work. Nobody said it would be easy. Buck up and do it one
step at a time.
Once this is accomplished - shutting off unused areas, draining and cleaning holding tanks, rerouting tanks to 
supply pipes - THEN you can start working on collection. If you are in an area that has regular rainfall, you are in 
luck. Large sheets on the roof can be formed into funnels, draining into the center and routed to your holding 
tank(s) for treatment and distribution. Keep in mind that it gets windy atop tall buildings. Any catchment system you
install up there will need to withstand the abuse. You also may have to consider that rooftop gardening is going to 
require the same space. Heavy gauge (the heavier the better) translucent plastic sheeting would be a good 
investment at this time. Not later. Right NOW. With this material, the entire roof can simultaneously be used for 
water collection AND gardening (which will be covered elsewhere.)
If you are in a dry zone, you are not totally screwed, but it's going to require more effort.  Sewers and hydraulic 
rams and stuff.
We'll cover dry zones in another post.
That's it for now. 
Response:

	If you don't have any experience with plumbing, these might come in handy:
	HIGH-RISE BUILDING PROVISIONS (.pdf)
	High Rise Structures: Plumbing Design Guidelines.
	Plumbing Do-It-Yourself For Dummies
	Basic Plumbing With Illustrations
	I don't have either of these books (yet!).  I just picked two of the books with the highest rating on Amazon.  
	If you have a better book to recommend, let me know, please.  My grandpa was a master plumber, but I 
	wasn't fortunate enough to learn anything from him. 
	Cheers!

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