Where To Store Emergency Water
Posted on 08 September 2010
Having enough emergency water for you and your family is probably the most important part of preparing for a possible natural disaster. So much can go wrong when you don’t have enough clean water for drinking, washing food, and for hygienic reasons. Water is often cut off during a disaster and finding clean water suddenly can become very challenging. If you don’t have access to water from your faucet and stores are empty, then give some consideration to where will you get water that is safe to drink.
The amount of water to have in your preparation supplies is generally said to be four liters or one gallon per person per day. Half of this amount is for drinking, and the other half is for washing food and cleaning one’s body. If you are in a hot environment, then you are likely to use up more water so additional amounts should be stored. If you don’t have enough water, then the risk of dehydration and illness will naturally increase. The length of time you should prepare for is three days, so that will mean twelve liters of water per person.
Storing water is the first step, but how you store it is also important. Your emergency water can be stored in plastic containers, but make sure they are kept out of the sun, as the plastic can deteriorate over time and contaminate your water supply. The jugs you choose can be bought new, or you can use old juice containers. Even bottles that held carbonated drinks are acceptable, as long as they are properly cleaned first. Never use a container that used to hold milk because the bacteria in milk can never be guaranteed to be removed, and this can affect the quality of your water.
Emergency supplies of water, just like emergency food, needs to be checked on a regular basis and replaced. While canned food can generally last for one year before needing to be changed, water usually has a shorter shelf life of six months. As mentioned above, plastic containers can deteriorate over time too and this can affect the quality of the water inside. If you have bottled water, then go by the expiry date on the label. To extend the life of your water you can always put some in the freezer. If you do this, just make sure that you leave a few inches of space between the lid and the top of the water to prevent the container from cracking.
As you can see, storing emergency water is an important process of preparing for a possible disaster. Make sure that you follow the advice given here so that you have enough water for each person in your family for three days, that it is stored properly to avoid contamination, and that you stick to a regular cycle of replacing the water so that it is always clean and safe to drink. If you do all of this, then you will not need to worry about your water situation during a crisis.
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