Step 8. Load Supplies/Equipment into Shelter.
The shelter entrance will be a circle 2 ½ feet in diameter. All supplies and equipment that will not fit through this opening will need to be lowered into the shelter prior to the installation of the plywood roof.
Water. This will include 55 gallon water barrels.
Ventilation System.
The shelter will require a ventilation system. The absolute minimum air circulation requirement is 3 cubic feet of air per minute per person. This translates to a minimum requirement of 120 cubic feet per minute for the shelter. The ventilation system will consist of an air pump, air filter and pipe assemblies. Many shelter designs call for installation of a hand-cranked centrifugal blower. These units are not easy to find. In an emergency condition, such as an impending comet impact, these units will be next-to-impossible to locate. One alternative is to construct plywood double-action piston pumps designed by Cresson H. Kearny. Plans for this pump are provided at http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p940.htm. I propose rubber roofing material, such as Gen Flex 0.060" as a substitute for rubber from tire inner tubes in the construction of the pump.
This web site also includes plans for a plywood housing for a filter assembly. The filter selected should be capable of filtering out dust, carbon monoxide, and poisonous sulfur gases. I recommend the filter assembly be comprised of 3 filters. The outside air should first pass through a Prefilter, then a HEPA filter, and then an Activated Carbon Chemisorptive Filter. The Prefilter, a conventional furnace filter, will remove the larger dust particles. The HEPA filter will remove the finer particles. These filters are rated at 99.97% removal of 0.3 micron particles. I recommend a very specialized filter, an Activated Carbon Chemisorptive Filter such as the AirClean Filter ACF400, be used to remove gases that produce inorganic acids. These are very dangerous gases such as sulfur dioxide. Refer to http://www.aircleansystems.com/filters_airsafe1.htm.
Sanitation System.
A simple sanitation system should be built for each shelter. Human waste disposal requirements are approximately 0.45 gallons per person per day. The sanitation system could consist of a chair like assembly fashioned into a commode with mounted toilet seat and a hinged top. In this design, five-gallon plastic buckets will be used to store the waste. (These buckets are normally referred to as food storage buckets. They have removable lids. I have purchased a number of used 5-gallon buckets (pickle barrels) from White Castle Hamburger Restaurant in the past for $1.00 each, for other purposes. Bucket. A medium size plastic trash bag can be placed in the bucket lipped around the edges. A pliable wire can be wrapped around the bucket to hold the plastic bag in place. A chemical additive can be added to the bottom of the plastic bag to prevent the bacterial action. The bucket is placed under the commode for use. As the bucket is filled, the plastic bag can be wire tied and the plastic lid can be reinstalled back onto the bucket. The full bucket can be set to one side and replaced with an empty bucket. I recommend that each shelter have 15 buckets.)
Locate the commode in the same corner adjacent to the outlet vent. Construct a privacy wall out of 6 mil black plastic tacked to the ceiling.