Scenario 4: Loss of Sewers for 1-7 Days

Sewers are a tough one. If we lose sewers, we may still have access to tap water, but will need to capture any drain water and we will be unable to flush any toilets.

Likely causes of this would be a plumbing issue inside the house, or an underground sewer line being damaged in the yard, or some kind of system wide failure caused by an earthquake or some other large disaster. We live in one of the highest areas in the county so widespread flooding or even flash flooding is not an issue for our home. If our home floods, we better have enough wood on hand to build an ark.

Here are the options I can come up with in no particular order:

Option 1:  If the office still has services, we can hang out there. With no shower, personal hygiene will be tough but we can manage.

Option 2: Stay with a family member or friend who still has services. Needs would be similar to a stay at the office, but we'd have someplace to shower.

Option 3: Stay in a hotel.  Needs would be similar to the first two options but would cost money. If damage is widespread, availability will be limited and cost will likely be high as it was a couple of years ago. Cooking may be limited in a hotel so we would need a good supply of open restaurants.

Option 4: Stay in the home.

Without sewers in the home, we would lose the following:

• Washing machine
• Dishwasher
• All toilets, sinks, and showers

What we currently have/would retain:

• Water from the tap and all other services, appliances

A day in the life at home with no power based on current provisions:

• I get up whenever
• I cannot use the toilet because it cannot be flushed. I can go outside and pee on a tree but the wife isn't down with that. We can put plastic in one of the toilets, but we'll have to dispose of that someplace and I don't really want to bury the plastic. I can construct a makeshift toilet over a bucket in the garage, throw in some sand after each use, and bury the waste in a hole behind our property once or twice a day. Shit this sucks.
• We make coffee and breakfast as normal but cannot use our sink
• We cannot take showers but can use hot tap water clean up with, capturing and disposing gray water in bucket for later disposal
• If this isn't caused by some larger situation, we'd likely go to work
• Cooking dinner shouldn't be an issue but if we wash any foods we'll need to retain the waste water. It might be hard to be sanitary when cooking chicken or other poultry where I need to wash my hands afterwards
• After dinner, I'd wash and dry all of the dishes for the day, dumping the waste water in a larger bucket to be disposed of later
• Before going to bed, I'd have to dig a hole at least a couple of feet deep in the field behind our house and dump the day's waste from the make-shift toilet. I could then probably use the waste water to rinse out the bucket, and then back fill the hole. 

What might help the situation:

• A camping toilet, but I'm not sure if the investment would yield results much better than what I could build with some 2X4s, plywood, a bucket, and the seat from one of the toilets in the house
• A pick/pickaxe for digging a hole. I have plenty of shovels but if the ground is frozen, a pick might make it easier
• 3-5 buckets we don't mind using for waste and waste water. These could never be used for potable water gathering or storage
• A larger trash can that could be used for short-term storage of waste water
• Sand/Lime we can use to cover waste

Basic Preparation:

• How will you know if the sewers are damaged or otherwise not operational? Do you have to wait for toilets and drains to begin backing up or is there another way to find out? Pay attention to slow drains? Look for obvious signs of damage in the home? Know where your waste line exits your home and connects to the main and monitor the ground above that area? Seriously, if anyone knows let me know.
• Keep some 2X4s and plywood on hand. There's plenty in the basement. You might go ahead and build something now in knock-down form that you can just nail together if ever needed. That way, you aren't trying to build something from scratch if the power is also out.
• Keep some sand on hand to help keep smells at bay until you can bury the waste
• Make sure you have enough buckets to use for waste that you will never want to use for anything else

Purchases to consider:

• Pickaxe
• Sand/Lime
• More Buckets