Just last week we lost power as the result of a forest fire across the lake hitting a power station. We receive our water from a shared pump house and as you can imagine when we lose power, we lose water. That may not be the case if you are on city or community water, but for us, our water stops within a minute of losing power. Our home is in rural Montana and we tend to lose power more often than I would like. It seems to happen every month for one reason or another. So in preparation we have drinking, cooking, and toilet refill water on hand.
How much you water you store on hand is unique to every home. Consider how big your family is including pets, daily meal preparations, cleaning dishes, toilet flushes per day, availability of refills, is the rain water safe, and even hygiene factors into the equation. We live on a large clear lake and water refills are fairly straightforward for us. However, it is only straightforward in times of peaceful power outages.
You need to look at your water solution with the eyes of both a peaceful water outage, and also during hostile conditions. Quite different isn't it? My quick trip to the waters edge with my truck filled up with blue plastic containers would be quite different if we are two weeks into a nation wide collapse. I may have to refill in the cover of darkness without the benefit of my vehicle. Considering each 5 gallon water jug contains 41.5lbs of water that is a heck of hand carry up a hill. Whenever you evaluate any of your preparedness solutions always consider both peace and unrest. Peaceful and organized evacuation from a rapidly approaching forest fire is quite different than evacuation from a rapidly approaching enemy threat.
"You need to look at your water solution with the eyes of both a peaceful water outage, and also during hostile conditions." - Jim
We all know a case of Costco water bottles can be a key ingredient to a summer time BBQ, but is it a smart choice for our preparedness solutions? Yes, and no. Recognizing the pros and cons of any possible solution is critical in making the right choices. Those 40 water bottles per case is out of the question if you need to move on foot. A smarter choice would be a Nalgene or Stainless Steel water bottle with means to filter. I will cover individual water filtration in other articles. Let us focus on home water storage. The blue 5 gallon containers are always the first to come up in this topic. They are a great choice as they are durable and some are even stackable and come with spigots. I always keep a couple of these just for refilling the toilets.
I also keep a dozen 1 gallon water containers. You know the ones from the grocery store that simply say "Drinking Water". They are also handy when we need to go on an outdoor adventure for refilling our water bottles. Keep an eye on the rotation so you always have the freshest water possible. I'm a firm believer in using your preparedness stores as part of your daily living. It keeps you aware of the condition of your supplies, any storage problems you may have like mice, and it helps blowing past expiration dates. I have a good friend who uses their freeze dried food a couple times a week in their normal meals. He said it gives them a chance to learn how to best use the food and gives his family confidence they would be able to survive using it for a real crisis.
Whenever you first purchase a water storage container no matter what it is, always wash it out with dish soap and hot water this will remove anything left behind from manufacturing and shipping. Once the soap water is thoroughly rinsed, it is time for a bleach rinse. For a 5 gallon container I use 2 Tbs or so of simple bleach. Ensure your bleach does not have any added scents, just simple plain bleach. Also, bleach has a shelf life of about 2 years before it starts to really degrade, keep an eye on that date.
Once your container is clean and filled with water it is wise to add some bleach for storage. How much? The experts argue and you will find varying answers but the general rule is just under 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. A 5 gallon container will therefore have a little over a teaspoon of bleach. I know what you are thinking, I don't want to drink pool water! If you end up needing to drink this water down the road and you were a little heavy handed with the bleach you can boil the water or pour it into your drinking container and let it stand for a half hour or so.
Whether you collect your own rain water, have city water, or a clean open water source, it is very important to have enough in times of strife. I would rather sacrifice some basement or garage space then run out of clean water. How much water should you have...that is a great question for YOU to answer. Look at your situation and conclude the best possible amount you can safely store. Stay safe and stay hydrated!