As bizarre as it might seem on the surface, recent flooding on the Cumberland River in Tennessee has caused the mayor to ask people to cut their water usage. “If you don’t need a bath, don’t take it,” he pleaded.

The problem is not that the Nashville area is short of water. That is obvious after thirteen inches of rain over the weekend in early May, 2010 as pictures show expensive homes, cars, and property submerged with damage in the billions of dollars. No, the problem is a lack of clean and safe potable water. Often with flooding comes damage to the water distribution piping systems that feed the homes. This includes both city water and well water systems. When disease-infected or contaminated water mixes potable water, the result is of course, unsafe water.

Nashville Neighborhood Under Water

We all know that we are totally dependent on safe water for survival. We can live fifty or sixty days without food, but only a few days without water. Lack of potable water is one of the world's biggest threats to human health. Everything about the functioning of our bodies requires water; the digestive system, nervous system, reproductive system, etc, and every cell in our bodies contains water.

Therefore, even in prosperous America, a crisis such as the one being experienced in Tennessee demands fresh, clean water for survival. Some residents are relying on whole house filter systems, reverse osmosis, or distillation to provide safe water. However, these systems do not operate when a power source is not available. And in the case of the Nashville flood, many parts of the city and towns have been without power for weeks. During these instances, those with gravity water filters are still able to produce clean purified water.

Flooding in Nashville

A gravity filter such as the Berkey filter works on a simple principle. The water is poured into an upper chamber and cannot get to the bottom chamber without passing through the black berkey filter element. The amazing adsorbing properties of the combination of over 6 different types of filtration media removes heavy metals, chlorine and chlorine compounds, volatile organic compounds, and pathogenic bacteria. In short, the unsafe water poured into the top is rendered safe just seconds later when it reaches the bottom reservoir.

So, in times of flood or boil advisories remember; a Berkey water filter will be able to filter this water, remove and dangerous bacteria, and make it potable for drinking.

Affected Tennessee residents are facing a long road to recovery and we should support them by any means possible as it will be weeks and months of cleaning up to get their lives back to normal. It's important that the rest of us take heed to the challenges they are facing and understand that a Berkey water filter means safe drinking water in a crisis such as this.