STORING WATER FOR EMERGENCY
First of All – Water! Humans can survive without food for several weeks. But usually no more than 5-7 days without water. Having good supply of sufficiently clean water is a top priority in any emergency.
A regular person drinks two quarts (half gallon) of water each day.
In hot environment, children, and very active people with physical activities will need more than that each day.
The water is also necessary for preparation and hygiene. (That is why I have hand and body santizers at home even without emergency – just in case.). But hand sanitizer can save you water if something happens.
The FEMA and California Department of Health both recommend to store at least one gallon per person, per day.
FEMA recommends to store at least a two-week supply of water for each member of your family. If you are unable to store this quantity, store as much as you can.
I also keep disinfecting tablets, in the event I have to use local river or lake water, and I have water filter at home.
If you are running low on water – reduce physical activities, but drink enough water. FEMA recommends purchasing food-grade water storage containers for storing water.
Water Storing Recommendations
Do not reuse bottles or packets from after milk or fruit juices – water will get spoiled by remains of protein and sugars. FEMA says OK to reuse 2 liter plastic bottles from soft drinks.
Must wash containers thoroughly, use dish-washing soap and make sure to wash away all soap.
Additionally, for plastic soft drink bottles, sanitize the
bottles by adding a solution of 1 teaspoon of non-scented
liquid household chlorine bleach to a quart (1/4 gallon) of water.
Swish the sanitizing solution in the bottle so that it touches all surfaces. After sanitizing the bottle, thoroughly rinse out the sanitizing solution with clean water.
If you water company treats tap water with chlorine – you can go ahead and use that water to fill your water containers.
If the water you are using comes from a well or
water source that is not treated with chlorine, add two drops of non-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to each
gallon of water.
Tightly close containers using original cap. Do not touch inside with anything, especially including your fingers (bacteria).
Replace that water every six months, unless suing commercially bottled water, which can be stored longer.
You can use hot-water tank, but make sure to turn off tank’s electricity before that.
Treating Non-Bottled Water
If you run out of water and have to use water from other sources, you MUST either boil or chlorinate it.
Boiling is the safest and easiest method. Bring it to boiling and boil for at least 1 minute.
Remember that on high altitudes boiling temperature is lower that 100 degrees C and must be boiled for longer time.
Here is tip from FEMA to make boiled water tastier: “Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers. This will also improve the taste of stored water.”
You can use household liquid bleach to kill microorganisms. Use only regular household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite. Do not use scented bleaches, colorsafe bleaches, or bleaches with added cleaners.
Add 16 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let stand for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight bleach odor. If it doesn’t, then repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. If it still does not smell of bleach, discard it and find another source of water.
The purest water can be obtained by distillation, which you can do at home, but that is a little bit more complicated.
Water – Chinese Ministry of Health recommended their people in coronavirus quarantine lockdown to have 4.5 liters per day per person.
That is 1.2 gallons. Do your math. This includes water for cocking and some washing, including some once-a-day toilet flashing.
You need sufficient amount of water – 1-1.3 gallons per person per day.
EASY FRESHWATER PURIFYING SOLUTIONS
Want to make your life easier in the event you run out of clean drinking water and need to get water from questionable source (e.g. pond, river, lake, rain)? You need something to lean water from bacteria and other harmful pahtogens. Here you go – I suggest having these in your stash at all times. I do.
Water purification tablets – this is probably the easiest solution to purify water when emergency, or even during trip, hiking or camping. Takes very little space – just pills.
Potable Aqua Chlorine Dioxide Water Purification Tablets – 30 Count
Water Purifier Bottle with filter. Easy to carry with your or store in your stash. Filters most bacteria, viruses or parasitic microorganisms.
So, How to Get Clean Water for House or Apartment or Condo?
The obvious choice is to purchase water in the grocery store. Or, buy few large multi-gallon spring or purified water from the companies that sell them. Or have it delivered to your house.
That is the easiest choice for house owners, who usually have a basement or some kind of storage unit right there on their property. Plus, they can store water purification equipment easily.
But what about apartment renters or condo owners? It is hard to find storage space in 2 bedroom flat if you have a family living in it.
This is when I truly recommend to have water purification tablets or small tube filter. Tablets can serve as emergency supply in the first few days until you find source of clean water.
They do not take much space at all, are easy to store and can last for a long time. Check the manufacturer’s label for acceptable storage duration.
MORE WATER STORING RECOMMENDATIONS
Essentially, FEMA recommends to store at least 3 gallons of water per person in the household for drinking and sanitation. Now, that may not be too hard to store. You can buy that in your grocery store, or, you can purchase emergency water online from different companies (Amazon and directly).
Most of the water containers are made of plastic. If you are health conscious, you may have stainless steel jars where you can store your water, to remove plastic articles.
Government also recommends not to ration drinking water. And not to use caffeinated drinks instead of water. I personally would not use soda drinks instead of drinking water for emergencies. Our bodies need clean pure water to survive better.
https://www.ready.gov/water#:~:text=Store%20at%20least%20one%20gallon,from%20water%20and%20other%20beverages.
If you buy commercially sealed water for emergencies – do not open it. Keep it sealed in original containers. Unless you want to pour it into non-plastic jars. Close it and keep it sealed to prevent any contaminants from reaching inside.
Before consuming water, it is recommended to boil it. It tastes good and you can remove potential bacteria or other pathogens.
You can use chlorination and distillation method which is described here, on FEMA’s web-site See link above).
CDC recommends the same. But CDC also adds that you need to clean and sanitize a water container before use and describes good cleaning and sanitation practices. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/creating-storing-emergency-water-supply.html
Storing Water in a House or on Property, Using Filters
You can buy commercially prepared emergency water online. They also sell plenty of different varieties of filters, filtering kits and much more. Everything you can imagine.
If you have your private property where you live – it is very likely you have some space you can use to store lots of water. If you do – definitely buy and store some good filtering system. Especially, if you have access to water in your area (even pond or river).
You can even provide water to your neighbors in the even of emergency. Hopefully, for free.
If there is anything you need to keep at home for emergency in terms of food – it is water and dry foods which you can boil with water. And some canned food too. But remember that dry foods, like grains, may last for decades if stored properly. See my other article about storing food for emergencies.
Why Water is So Important to Have?
Just a reminder – our bodies are made 80% of water. Water is life and all living organisms require water to function. Humans can go from one week to one month without food, before they are finished. But they can last maximum one week without water. Dehydration is a major cause of health problems. Drink plenty of water and make sure you always have clean water at your disposal shall such emergency arise.
Buy the way, even for washing yourself, you better have clean water to avoid catching some bacteria or else on your body or face. To avoid it migrate into your body later.
Now, this blog is not about emergencies – it is about cooking and eating staff. But since we live in uncertain times and anything can happen, it is better to be prepared at least minimally.
I will not go into emergency preparedness details on this blog. Nevertheless, I wish you a happy and prosperous years ahead. Free from emergencies and unexpected unpleasant surprises.
Keep yourself and your family safe, and keep cooking those nice dinners to keep yourself happy.
If you got on this page looking for emergency advice – do not hesitate to check my other blog posts about making dinners. Who knows, maybe it will help you too in your emergency preparedness. Now, I have been talking too much about this topic. But water is so important that I could not skip it. Keep it safe. Let us get back to cooking, shall we?