Shame on OP for undermining perfectly good advice. Here we all are online; so by now you should know that every European Govt is advising its population to be three-day ready ; able to handle three days without gas, power, water, open shops . Keep a stock of nutritious canned food because it's cooked, safe to eat cold from the tin. We have a wind-up lantern and battery radio.
To enthusiastic hikers and campers, or residents of the Highlands. islands or remote rural, that's nothing new and no big deal. When we had small children we lived in the sticks and often had long power cuts/ roads closed by heavy snow/ no water whenever our private supply froze or broke down.
Whenever we had no tap water I just fetched it in buckets (river, rainwater tanks from roof, snow). We used it raw to wash, cook, and flush lavs. I boiled only what we needed to drink and clean teeth with. If the power and water were both out, I could still boil water in a pan on the woodstove's hotplate (and cook, and stay very cosy).
Mr Whitty's advice applies to urban people who in the event of power, mains water and mains gas being unavailable, can't boil water but still need to drink it. To melt snow, you need a heated home and lots of snow; a crammed panful melts down to a mugful to drink. IF it's raining; you'll need to divert a downpipe. Otherwise, find a handy pond or river. If you live by the sea, salt water is fine for everything except drinking.
How to collect and bring home your "wild" water supply?
Many urban dwellers, even in flats. conveniently own a portable clean-ish container that holds 10 litres. It's called a garden watering can.
If you don't own a watering can then please keep a few clean 2 or 4 litre milk containers.
And if there's no means to boil dirty water for drinking, you'll be grateful for Mr Whitty's tip to keep some bleach on hand.
