I said in a recent post that one person requires 1 gallon of water a day on average for drinking, cooking, basic cleaning and grooming. Of course, under normal circumstances, we use many times this amount.
In a survival situation, this would mean that you need 30 gallons per person for a month. Bottled water often comes in 1/2 liter bottles (16.9 oz) and a case of 24 would give you about 3 gallons. So, for one person that would be 10 cases of bottled water per month. For a family of 4 it would be 40 cases for a month supply.
For a year, you would need 500 cases. Of course, water is not something that you need to store a year supply of. You need to have enough on hand to get you through a short-term emergency.
I recommending storing water for a week which is 28 gallons for a family of four. And if you start worrying about the water supply, you can fill up the bathtubs and cooking pots in your house beforehand. If you have a freezer that is not full, you should make it full with 1 gallon milk jugs of water that will freeze into large 1 gallon blocks of ice. If power goes out, your freezer will stay cold a lot longer if it filled with blocks of ice than if it is half empty. And you can drink the water later, or use it to cook.
After that initial period, if there is still a water problem, you need to have the supplies and know-how to purify your needed water from natural sources.
Ways to make water drinkable include:
- coffee-filter and boil
- chemical treatment
- high-tech filtration
We will discuss each of these in future posts…
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Rob, for such practical and detailed advice. Especially with the bad winter weather on the horizon – it is good to have these items ready for any winter emergency.
Eileen
Is Social Media Marketing Working for You?
Hi Survival Rob,
Thanks for the superb reminder about the vital essential emergency preparedness tip of Water. Additionally, your citing the amount of water which you in your survivalism expertise recommend as a baseline – 1 week’s worth – is a very helpful starting point for us all.
In fact, I have one of my 33 oz water bottles right next to me which I am sipping from. I strive to store it and rotate it so the water doesn’t get that stale taste. Trust me, in an emergency, I’ll drink it anyway! lol
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Single Baby Boomer Dating Expert
I will head to Costco this week and buy several cases of water. We do have 5 gallons of water in the freezer but I will add more as there is room. Thanks for the great advice.
Yours In Health!
Dr. Wendy M. Schauer, D.C., R.K.C.
Come Experience The Power of the Russian KettleBell Revolution at Kettlebell Olympia – Home of A Better Body With Bells!
I just buy a gallon of water a week and keep it in the basement. Eventually, I figure I’ll have enough. It costs almost nothing.
Hi Rob,
Thanks for running the numbers regarding how much water we’d actually need for the specific time frames. Very eye opening to say the least!
Michael
The Success Secrets
Can’t wait to find out about the different treatments. Have you ever been in the situation to use these methods?
Great posts to make people aware…
Jen Battaglino
Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink. Yes I too am looking forward to the different ways to make drinkable water.
Don
http://donhillonline.com
When storing bottled water, I suppose there is a shelf life or a limit to how long it can be stored. Do you have any recommendations for rotating your stored water supplies?
Dennis
Create The Life of Your Dreams
Having had our well pump fail last December, we know only too well how important it is to be prepared.
We were fortunate that our local plumber lent us a (full) 60-gallon barrel of water that kept us going until the well could be repaired.
We also get frequent power cuts where we are, which varies from the mildly annoying to the severely inconvenient, so we do try to store enough water to keep us going for a day or two.
Rae & Mark
Gazalum 12 x 18 Single Door Glass Window Gazebo
seems like common sense to have a stash of water. except i must not be common or sensible because i don’t. i think that will change now. very interested to learn about water “purificaiton” possibilities. i have been blissfully ignorant (usually a combination ripe for disaster)
http://www.kevinhogan.com
I bought a lot of water during the weekend! But so I don’t have to do it during the week! It’s something to keep in mind anyway!
Ron, What is your recommendation for storing water? Having lived in the Washington, D.C. region for many years, I went through the post-9/11 push to have stored water, canned goods and energency kits ready to go. But I also heard that you should rotate the water especially if it’s in plastic gallon jugs, because the plastic will eventually leach into the water. Is this true and, if so, how long can stored water “keep” before you need to use it and replace it?
Karen Van Ness
http://www.BestBreathingExercises.com
Rob, you really make it easy to put a plan like this into action. Step by step is easy to follow
You’ve made it abundantly clear that we can never have too much water stored.
Yours In Health!
G.E Moon II
http://www.AbundantHealthCenter.com