how much water to store for emergencies how much water do preppers need
hi it's AlaskaGranny Alaska Prepper how much water should you actually be storing for
emergencies how much water do preppers need we know that water is the number one prepping need number one requirement that we need in
any kind of an emergency situation we need clean drinking water to help see us
through for a matter of days if you've looked at any of the emergencies that
have happened lately in all areas of our country we've had terrible forest fires
mudslides hurricanes tornadoes and earthquakes plus your city water can
become contaminated and then you go under a boil alert all of these types of emergency
events happen within a matter of minutes or days and it doesn't give you very
much time to get prepared so stockpile water far ahead of any emergency water shortage survival situation so that
you're prepared for the emergencies catastrophes things that come along the average American uses 70
gallons of water per day when you think about that that's an astonishing amount of water to use
especially when the suggestions are that you store a mere one gallon a day per
person for emergencies the one gallon of water per person for emergencies is allotted into half of it for drinking
and food preparation and half of the water for cleaning hygiene purposes if you've ever
been camping you know that living with very little water can be challenging but
not impossible but we don't often think about that we would need to have very little water do that in
our home on any kind of an emergency situation to have water shortages
so stockpile some water ahead of time before any emergency and these are some easy cheap great ways to build your supply of stored clean fresh drinking water for emergencies survival prepping
you can go to the store you can buy bottled water
these bottles of water don't last forever though simply because the plastic containers begin to
break down it's not that the water is no longer
good but the container has a shelf life and so you don't want it disintegrating
and then the chemicals in the plastic eroding into your drinking water it's
also an expensive way to store water but in a grab-and-go emergency bug out situation you could
grab a few bottles of water and take them with you if you had to evacuate
store some water with your bug out bag so that you're always prepared a better solution
and an easy way to store water for your family is to reuse and fill up some jugs
and bottles and containers that you already have in your home perhaps you have some
empty water bottles don't store these in your cupboards empty fill them with
water they take up the exact same amount of space but you have something useful
that you need water can also be stored in your empty canning jars fill up your
clean empty canning jars screw on the lid and set it aside another way to store water is
an empty food grade plastic bottles maybe you buy other kinds of sparkling
waters or sodas these are sturdy reusable food safe containers clean them refill them with
fresh drinking water out of your tap put on the lid and set the water away always
store your water in a cool dry dark place light can cause bacteria mold and
algae to grow in your water which would then contaminate it and make it not
suitable for you to drink one note if you're reusing soda bottles ones that
have a strong flavor the flavor is nearly impossible to get out of the
container and so your water might then have an aroma or a slight tinge of say
root beer or Pepsi and maybe those would be the containers you would set aside
for a washing or hygiene needs nobody cares if they're pouring root beer scented water
into the toilet to flush it in an emergency
but you may not choose to drink it save some of your plastic containers
with lids that you get from the grocery store fill these up with water and store
them in your freezer not only do you have an additional source of water
should your power go out but the ice blocks will continue to hold the food in
your freezer colder longer then when it melts you can use that water if you need
some more water for drinking or you could use it for some of your washing and hygiene
needs another solution is to get jugs of water to store your water
I like the reliance aquatainer water storage containers they're sturdy they're a size that's manageable but
just remember one gallon of water weighs over eight pounds and so every gallon of water is
going to add a tremendous amount of weight don't fill up a container that
then you are not able to move it get water storage containers in a size that works for you and
the size that fits into the storage spaces that you have if you find that
you have more room think about getting a water barrel something like a 55 gallon water storage barrel
that is designed for home storage of water for emergency situations they are
very sturdy and strong be careful about storing your water some where like a
garage or a shed especially if you have freezing temperatures or the temperature
gets very hot in the summer you want to keep your water cool dry and dark if you
decide to store some water in your garage or in a storage shed make sure that you
don't store it on the concrete slab itself there are some chemicals that are
in some types of concrete that can leach up through the plastic and possibly
contaminate your water put down a piece of wood a pallet an old piece of carpet
even some cardboard boxes something to put a barrier between your container and
the cement slab make sure the area where you locate your barrel is level before
you fill it up because they're impossible to move
once they're full and also make sure it's in an area that you can access it
if you need to then you need to have a bung wrench and some kind of a like a
shaker hose so that you can access the water you have to have a plan for how
you would utilize your stored water in an emergency do you need to treat your
water before you store it well if the water coming out of your faucet at home
is already cleaned the answer would be no why would you need to treat water
that you're already drinking your water is already safe to drink it's still
going to be safe if you store it for a reasonable amount of time consider
rotating your water once a year just to make sure that none of it has evaporated
none of it has somehow become contaminated and that it's as fresh as can be water
doesn't expire but it can sort of get flat have you ever had a cup of water
next to your bed at night and you wake up in the morning and it just doesn't
taste right it's because water is h2o it has oxygen in it and the oxygen has
evaporated dissipated whatever but what you can do is reintroduce oxygen back
into the water a simple way to do that is to pour it back and forth between two
containers as you pour it back and forth the oxygen will mix back in with the
water and it'll be reoxygenate it and it'll have that flavor that you're used
to try to store at least a 14-day supply of water for each person in your family
14 gallons per person set aside for whatever needs you would have the
recommendations of some things like FEMA say you only need a three-day supply but
think about it how many emergencies are long and drawn-out and the emergency
personnel can't even get there for up to five days maybe you've ever had a power
outage from the wind and that goes on for days and days
even weeks and if there's a whole centralized emergency in your area do
you really want to leave the safety of your home and go out searching for a
place where they're distributing water including to the people who never had
any if you've ever watched any of the news reels that is not a place you want
to find yourself in an emergency situation if you have the supplies you
need you can remain safely in your home or whatever location you're at you don't
have to go out on the streets fight with the crowds to try to get the few
resources once you've stockpile the water that you need give a simple water
filtration system but make sure it doesn't just filter out unsavory flavors
make sure it actually filters and purifies to remove things like bacteria
viruses and things that should not be in your drinking water get a whole
system like a berkey water filter that no matter what water you put in it it's
going to filter it out and it's going to be clean for your family have some
simple ways on hand rather than relying on something like having to boil water to purify it or
add bleach bleach is a nice way to purify water but bleach does expire over
time so if you set your bleach aside you may find out a year or two or three down
the road all of the bleach and the cleaning elements have evaporated and
the only thing in your bleach bottle is water so make sure you have lots of ways
that you know you'll be able to stockpile and purify the water so that
you have your most important prepping supply on hand storing enough water to
ensure that your family has the things you need isn't difficult but it requires
a little bit of work that can be done a little at a time and before you know it
you have the things that you need and that
gives you the peace of mind day to day but you can face whatever comes your way
learn more at alaskagranny.com please subscribe to the AlaskaGranny channel