I hope these outages and storms do not become the norm! Having been without both in the past, I reluctantly said I'd rather have water. But it depends on the circumstances. In our home, no power = no heat. So what time of year is it? Also, how long a period are we talking for? I've attended camps for weeks with no power, but you always need water and bottled is very expensive.

power. anyone who says they'd rather be without water has skewed priorities.

Definitely power. I grew up in a home with well water, so we needed power to run a pump to get water pressure. Any time the power went out, I definitely missed the water WAY more than not being able to turn on the lights.

I can go get water. I can not go get power. I can also store a good amount of water on site. Not to mention I would need electricity to run my water pump & water heater. And then there is the fridge, the heat or AC, and all the modern electronic comforts of home.

I think you can get by longer without power than without water.

If there's no water, you can't flush the toilet. Over and done.

we have scheduled power cuts in india and also water shortage...having seen both, i prefer the loss of power

and the thing people might forget - well, those of you who aren't in a high rise or apartment complex - is if everyone lacks water, eventually you won't be able to just go get it. in a disaster stores run out, and do so quickly. heck, in Baltimore you couldn't buy a bottle of water at ANY store two days before Irene...and no one lost water (unless their water supply was fed by an electric pump).

We actually enjoy not having electricity when there's a power outage, or staying somewhere 'off grid'

without water, you die...end of story

Maybe if I had a couple of rain barrels I'd say I'd rather go without water, but man, I'd rather have to heat the house with our fireplace and go without a fridge or lights or even my electric stove (no gas) than be without running water. In the outage last weekend I cooked on my open hearth. But man, using the bathroom in freezing weather would have been pretty hard without running water.

I still say I'd rather go without power, but if you don't live in a cold region it's not easy to imagine going for days without heat in the dead of winter. Some people have died of hypothermia that way. In our country the National Guard or FEMA usually can make water available, there are also rain barrels and water supplies with ways that you can filter the stuff.

It would depend on the weather - if its cold enough to kill me, I'll take power. Otherwise, I'd rather have water.

I live in a rural area and if I don't have power, I don't have water either! You need power (electric) to pump the water out of the well into the house. And since my cooking is electric, when I have a power outage, I have no heat, no light, no water, no food, not to mention no refrigeration and my garage door won't go up and down!! If I didn't live in the cold, snowy north, I'd probably invest in a new solar or wind powered system. Or maybe, I just figure I won't live long enough to enjoy the investment since I'm already retired!

I grew up in homes on well water, and without power there was no water. You need electricity to pump the well. My parents just lost power for four days due to "snowtober" as well, in Massachusetts. Just like the commenter above, you get thrown back into the stone age.

Good idea about solar. Our friends off the grid were the only people in that town to still have power and hot water / heat! We live in a duplex, fortunately the last time we lost power upstairs we still had it downstairs. I figured I would tough it out with no heat that day in January; after a few hours (and seeing my breath inside the home) I took the cats downstairs and huddled in front of the vents for a good 25 minutes. Chilled to the bone!

I have a nice stockpile of water so I would rather have the water go out then the power. It's cold where I live and having had the boiler break once, I know how quickly my home can turn cold. Waking up to a house that's in the teens is just not a fun experience and not something I'd want to repeat.

I am a bit perplexed by people discussing what impact a shortage can have on their comfort more than discussing what impact it would have on their primary needs.

To me, not being able to open and close a garage door is the least of my worries - I prefer worrying about staying alive and healthy first. I think people are a bit too greedy with comfort, and to a certain point, that could be dangerous...

I'd rather be without power than without water. Sure, not having heating in the winter is real bad, but there are things you can do to stay warm. When water runs out, you have no alternative. Two days without water = death. Two weeks without power = boredom and a bit of a pain in the butt. Which is worse?

I say this after surviving the '98 ice storm in Quebec. Many of us had no power for weeks, some for as long as six weeks. Some of the greedy died from heating inside with kerosene and poisoning themselves. The not so greedy used down comforters and you know what? If you insulate your body, your own body heat is more than enough to sleep tight without even being a bit cold.

I have a place in the country, completely off the grid. We have only just got solar and we use it rarely. It is much easier to live without power than water