The Most Important Preparedness Supply
- A person can survive for 3 weeks without food, but only for 3 days without water.
- It doesn't matter how much food you have stored -- if you run out of water, you're done!
- It's recommended to have 1 gallon of water stored per person per day. This allows not just for drinking, but also cooking, washing, etc.
- If you have a family of 4 and want two week's worth of water stored up that means you'll need to 56 gallons of water stored somewhere in your house.
HOW TO TREAT WATER:
Before Storing Your Water
rinse out your container with soap and water. THEN....
Before Storing Your Water
rinse out your container with soap and water. THEN....
Add 8 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of unscented chlorine bleach per gallon of water to keep water tasting fresh for up to 12 months,
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or....Add 35% stabilized liquid oxygen 6 drops per gallon to keep water tasting fresh for up to 5 years.
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Treating Water Before Drinking
(Just in case)
What water should you pre-treat before drinking?
(Just in case)
What water should you pre-treat before drinking?
- Tap water that is no longer safe
- Old stored water that you haven't been treating
- Rainwater
- Water from a stream or lake
- Any water you're not sure about
BOIL IT
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ADD IODINE
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Source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water
WHERE TO STORE WATER
There are many storage options, and you can use more than one:
There are many storage options, and you can use more than one:
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Pre-packaged
bottled water |
Standard pre-packaged water bottles are convenient, but the cost adds up and they are not very long-lasting so they are not great for the environment. The "best by" date on bottled water is usually 1 year.
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These BPA-free water storage barrels can be filled with tap water and treated once per year with 2 drops of (unscented) bleach per gallon -- which means you'll need to add 5.5 ml of bleach per year! Don't store on concrete.
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3.5 gallon Waterbricks
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These BPA-free water storage cubes are called Waterbricks
and they stack easily for storage. They hold 3.5 gallons of water per brick. Treat one per year with 2 drops of unscented bleach per gallon (7 drops) |
Rainwater cistern
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Rainwater collection cisterns come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Water will need to be filtered and treated before it can be drunk.
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Water pillow tanks come in various sizes and can store a LOT of water. Store them in your crawl space, under house or anywhere you have room. This one holds 2,000 gallons! Treat yearly with unscented bleach 3 drops/gallon.
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Bath tub
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Your bath tub is big and holds a lot of water (40-100 gallons). If you have warning that a disaster is coming, or if the taps are still running after the disaster is over, fill up your tub!
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