My family likes the tea you buy in the gallon jugs. The tea is more expensive this way but they jug are fantastic to keep and use for water storage.

I’ve read quite a few comments that mention stale taste of water…one solution is to just take a wire whip and whip air back into it….it’s not so much ‘stale’ but flat tasting…that should help…I also have 2 chest feezers in which I keep about a 1/4 of the space filled with 3/4 filled soda bottles of water…this will help keeping the temp cold for a longer period of time, if the power should go out…not having the means of getting a generator, I figure that will then give me enough time to process the frozen food without loosing too much of it.

Reality check– nothing plastic is a safe way to store drinking water.  Plastic leaches chemicals.  Water stored in plastic for any length of time is only good for washing, etc.  That’s why bottled water has an “expiration” date….the water doesn’t go bad, the container does.

Am I not suppose to use chlorinated water at all or is it that I should not treat chlorinated water? I have town water and have purchased a 55gl drum for storage -do I now have to purchase water to fill the drum?? confused

What about buying the gallon jugs of distilled water? Is that acceptable?

This is how we store water. Boil it, fill canning jars, seal and boil jars for 15 minutes.
We don’t add anything, 1 year later water is still good. However, I have 100s of canning jars given to me by lots of people, so it only costs me the lid and the space. For easier storage go to the produce department and ask them to save you crates. Jars fit real nice in them.

I have 55 gallon drums, how do I get them clean enough to store water in?

My question is about freezing. We will have to store in a building that is not heated. Is there any other concern apart from leaving enough room for expansion?

I bought two kinds of purification items from an Emergency website. One is drops one is tablets. There shelf life is VERY short! I called to complain, since this is supposed to be for Long Term Storage. The fellow was nice but said that is as long as they last (a few months only). So I will have to re-order them again. Maybe I will try a different site?

We just got our Berkey water purification system and are so thrilled with it. I am drinking that water only. Filtering the stuff coming out of my home water. I am very picky about my water and am totally sold on it!!! Nothing better for the price in all the years we have had water filtering systems.

I’m a little confused……it says you can use soda bottles to store water……but it also says, “Do not use containers previously used to store non-food products”. Wouldn’t soda containers be considered “previously used”? Also, the water I have stored now is in plastic gallon containers (kind of like the plastic gallon milk containers). Is that ok? How long will they store like that for? Plus, we don’t drink soda, so I’d have to buy soda and empy it just to put the water in there? Help! Thanks, Sherry

I never knew that about bleach breaking down. Interesting.

How heavy is a 55 gallon drum filled with water? I just bought one at Macey’s and I’m clueless. Do I fill it first and then somehow lug it down to the basement storage room? It came with two small white circular screw type openings in the top and I don’t even know how to open those…Could anyone give me a clue about how to use this thing?

Check into mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. These will kill any pest and GREATLY lengthen the storage time. They're available online (check Amazon.com) and there are some great videos online explaining how to do this. It has been widely proven that the bay leaf prevention for bugs does not work.
This is what I'm doing.

It was a local bottling co in Houston TX, but they're not doing it anymore. THey had given it to me for free. My neighbor had a good pressure wash that I used to clean them out. THey have a tinge of that 'CocaCola Classic' flavor…but I don't care. It's clean and free. We have lots of different flavored TANG anyhow…and in a crisis we can flavor our water a bit to make it easier to drink! Either way it's clean, it's safe, and it's liquid!

Milk jugs will actually corrode over time and start to crack and leak. However, juice or pop bottles will work just fine for drinking water. Just make sure to rinse them out well first!

The beans will store dry in for 5-10 years, but you should be slowly eating them over that time in order to keep your stock rotating and to get used to eating from your pantry. Brown rice stores dry for six months, white rice for a year. After that, the natural oils in the rice will start to go rancid.

Rice and beans are perfect examples of low-acid foods that should not be canned without a pressure canner (which is different from a pressure cooker, being able to reach higher internal pressures).

Baby wipes are a great item to have for each member of the family. It's amazing how well you can clean up. My husband and I use these when we go camping.

Hello…
I am from Chile, Sudamérica. A friend of mine gave me this link to this blog and I think it is a great help. We just had a huge earthquake (about 3 weeks ago) and as RS President I am very interested in learning new ways of storage and preparation for emergency situations. We are working hard in prepared the sisters for every and each situation. We know as chileans people that our country is a seism country and we probably will continue having more aftershocks for at least one more year. We have to be prepared for whatever the Lord wants us to be prepared and the best way is starting sharing this information to everybody. So thanks you for sharing this. I´ll traslate some of this info to give my sisters over here, because most of them don´t know english.
keep going!

Hi… you should send your tank water to a lab and ask them to tell you what that brown stuff is…could even be an algae.. brita or pur are not purifiers they are simply filters of flavour taking chlorine taste out with the charcoal bits …they don't affect the purity which is what we all want.It's the little 'bugs'and viruses we need to worry about. Purifiers like berkey, aquarain, with ceramic and silver impregnated tubes are what you want They are not cheap but you can drink from a mud puddle. They use them in 3rd world countries

and burn!!!! your mouth while yo're at it!!!! like I did !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for this.. I wanted to start emergency kits and food storage for a while now, and I am quite overwhelmed and don't know where and how to start. Thank you for this site and the step by step instructions.

I just bought a sack of rice & pinto beans, now I have no clue on how to store it properly so it will last me 30+ years?? Thanks

You can use juice containers, buy bottled water, or look for camping jugs. There are also some great sources online for different water storage options. Check out http://beprepared.com. Also, if you have chlorinated water you don't need to purify it first. If not, then follow our directions here and add some bleach to the water before storing.

That is cool. Guess I wouldnt need it in AZ. we havnt had a Hurrican type storm for a while:)

If these are the jugs I bought from Wlamrt at on time, they will hold up they just don't hold their shape. I have to agree with another post I saw, I gal a day is just not sufficient. I know we are spoiled and there may a time for some of us that we have to give up some luxories but being somewhat clean and having sanitary eating ability is crucial.

we have a 5000 gallon water tank on the property that is there for fire protection purposes (we also plan on using it for emergency water). It is a steel water tank and we do try to rotate the water in it by watering our plants with it, just to keep it clean but it does get some brownish stuff on the top that looks like rust even though the company we got the tank from claim is not rust. The company we got the tank from claims that the water is drinkable but I think I need to have a good non electric powered water filter to keep in my food storage for just in case. are britta or pur filter pitchers good for something like this. It does not mention rust on the boxes.

Good basics.

For short term water needs and vehicles, there are a couple commercial prepacked water solutions out there. I hate spending a lot on what is basically plentiful out of the tap, however in the case of these, you are paying for packaging that isnt designed to break down within a couple years. Shelf life of most of these runs 5 years and can generally withstand more environmental abuse (-40 to 210 deg F) than most other containment. Convenient 4oz packaging for the type i use, coast guard approved.

On the subject of how much water is needed, the body generally needs one gallon per day to function. Depending on what you are eating, a good half of that is taken in with your food. If you are sticking to just dry foods and such, then obviously you arent getting much from that source, so you'll need to consider the full 1 gal.

As far as cleaning purposes, if you need a lot of water to clean in an emergency you might want to consider what it is you are using to survive on. Meals that take a lot of preparation and cleanup probably should be reconsidered. Look to prepackaged camping food, emergency rations, MRE's, or even precooked canned foods.

I should also add a helpful but strange tip. Dont use toilet cleaning tabs in your toilet tank… that's another source of emergency water! Not pleasant in the minds of many, but it's far cleaner than many alternatives.

I like the BOB bag idea, great stuff there.

On using 1-2 liter bottles, good stuff to get you started, make sure you label your bottles and rotate regularly. Once you get things well rounded out, start looking to a longer term water container. Worth the money if you consider the effort of collecting, prepping, and maintaining that many small bottles.

On filtration, be aware that filters can't do much with viruses (back to high school biology, viruses are very small compared to bacteria and such) so make sure you consider your long term supply you plan on filtering, and supply accordingly. This site is wise in suggesting keeping bleach around, that should do the trick there.

What's B.O.B.? What does the acronym stand for & where did you get it? Are you suggesting you fill it from the shower head, or why else would you keep it in the bathtub/shower?

I've heard if you fill your containers w/ city/tap water, which already contains chlorine (in most cases) that you don't need to add chlorine @ that time. However, chlorine dissipates over time (if you have plants, you'll know that you can dechlorinate your plants' water by leaving water in an open container for abt 24 hrs), so you'll want to add some regular bleach shortly before you use it. Also, some places recommend rotating your water once a yr–using it to water your garden in summertime was the best idea I've heard (rather than just pouring it down the drain). One more thing–you'll want to aerate (get air bubbles into) your water before using it–apparently it'll taste better. You can accomplish that by pouring your water back & forth between 2 containers a few times.

If you are not leaving your home, water B.O.B. is a good solution. It holds 100 gallons of water, fits in your bath tub or shower. When I bought it a year ago it was $20. For hurricanes and short term situations it can add to your water storage needs. I keep water bottles and have a gravity system(for long term).

3 days is not enough, I went through hurricane katrina inland MS, not on the coast. and it was 2 weeks before we had power and everytime we would be in line for water or ice or anything else they would run out. and gas was hard to come by too. So according to my experiance 3 days is hugely underprepared. I will have at least 4 weeks. hopfully more. i would have paid $10.00 for a 10oz glass of water, it was hot!!! LOL

One thing I have added to my food storage is a water purifier that you would use when hiking or backpacking, so if I need water that is not ok to drink I can pump it through and have clean water

I just found your website and it's AMAZING!!!…Thank you for all you do….I have a question that didn't occur to me until reading all the comments. Let's say I store my water in soda bottles or any approved bottle to store it in. I'm using bottled Spring Water from the grocery store and us transfering it. Do I store it and never think about it again until I need it? Or if I use tap water do I still need to clean it with bleach if I'm on city water? And if it is water that requires bleach do I do the bleach one time and forget about it? Do I have to rotate the water or purify it every so often?

Kaytee, I recently came across a product that I think would work well in the car. Check out this link: http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KW%20S…

Since they are not plastic you wouldn't have the trouble with chemicals leeching. Just make sure not to fill them completely full so they don't explode when they expand.

great idea!!!

After reading more posts I see that chlorine would be better. How much clorine do I put in 2 quarts of water?

By drops do you mean like an eye dropper? Could I use a medicine dropper? I have all these apple juice containers I would like to fill with water storage but I don't want to poison my family either.

I just discovered your website- this is great! I thought I would share our water storage solution. We have a water cooler in our house (the kind that you usually find in offices). Every 2 weeks we have 5 gallon jugs delivered, and they take away the empty ones. So what we did was order a lot, and then we rotate it. We always at least 30 gallons of drinkable water stored. And we have 2 more jugs that we are drinking. So we always have 8 jugs in the house, and every two weeks 2 of them are empty. Our family of 4 (2 adults, 1 preschooler and 1 toddler) goes through 1 5-gallon jug a week. The delivery service is relatively inexpensive, and we've found it to be cheaper than buying bottles of water. We also have empty containers ready to be filled at the first sign of trouble. We don't have huge amounts of space, we live in a townhouse with no basement or attic, so we store the jugs under our stairs. Not very pretty, but fairly discreet.

Kaytee, I'm not sure of the answer to this. If anyone else has any ideas please feel free to share them in the comments. I will continue to research it and post if I find anything.

All of our steps and checklists are available in printable pdf format in our Food Storage Made Easy eBook binder. You can purchase it via the link on the right hand side of our website.

Storing water in milk jugs is not recommended as those containers will disintegrate and leak after a few months. The plastic is too thin. 2-liter bottles or juice bottles ARE ok though.

Ashley, We have heard differing comments about the WalMart jugs. We have had ours for over a year now and haven't noticed any warping or leaking. We don't live in an extreme climate though. We are working on researching some other options to let people know about if people want something more industrial. I wouldn't worry about safety in your jugs though, they should be fine to drink even with tipping and bending.

WOW! Thanks for the powdered chlorine information. I didn't know about the impurities in bleach and would have blissfully used it in water storage not knowing I could be harming my family!

I just got a 21 cubic foot deep freeze (charity fundraiser for only 50 dollars!) and we are working on getting it filled with food. It works best completely full, but I don't have enough frozen food to put in there yet. For the time being I have filled it with my water storage (in the plastic jugs that the water came in). Has anyone put their water storage in the freezer like this?

Most garden hoses are considered nonpotable, in other words, the material the water passes through is not food-grade. You can purchase a potable grade hose though; we did that for our birth tub. Got ours at a standard hardware store, nothing special.

Having been without water for a few days, I can tell you that 1 gallon of water a day per person is NOT enough to drink, cook and clean. My solution to the problem is using 2 plastic buckets (like ice cream ones). I fill them both up about 3/4 full. One is for soaping up and the other is for rinsing off hands. The next day the rinse water becomes the soaping water. The used soap water can be used to flush toilets or even wash clothes. You could use 2 more buckets for washing dishes, if you’re not using disposables.

Another thing I do is to keep my liquid laundry detergent jugs. I fill them up with water and I have soapy water for washing! You would still need to add a little bleach to keep it sanitary. The push button spouts can be used to put the water where it’s needed.

I just want to add 2 cents in here. Water storage containers can be found in Wal-mart, K-mart, any camping, RV, & most hardware stores. Online sources are Emergency Essentials, BePrepared and most “survival” outlets. Try GI Joe’s, REI, military surplus stores, etc. Store water AND a filter, the best you can afford!

3 days is the low end estimate of Red Cross or other help reaching you. Take lessons from recent disasters- it takes much longer than 3 days in some cases, especially if the disaster is still ongoing i.e. aftershocks, fires, severe rain, etc.

REMEMBER: YOU CAN LIVE MANY DAYS OR WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD, BUT YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT WATER PERIOD.

Best thing to do is start – it will add up! Giving up 2 lattes a week will buy 1 (Wal-Mart price) 7 gallon jug. I priced them two days ago. Trade off? Prepared with peace of mind. Can’t beat that!

I love the site, and the links. Ladies thank you for all that you are doing to help us all get the rear in gear! (Boy did I need that kick in butt!)

Happy Mother’s Day to you all!

I have been told that you shouldn’t fill your large water barrels with a garden hose. What do you know about this?

I bought 2 55gal drums thatt had fruit juice concentrate in them. Can I still store water in them if I add bleach?? Won’t the bleach kill any bacteria from the left over juice? Or are these useless:(

I just found out about your site. THANK YOU!

I have a large water storage container that I filled 2 years ago. I always thought that I could boil the water from the container before drinking it. From reading the comments, that might not be the best way to do it?

What I would like is a pump to pump the water through the container and into my washing machine so the water in the container is always fresh. Have you ever heard a pump like that?

If we have those six gallon containers from WalMart & fill them with water from our Reverse Osmosis system, do we need to add bleach?? I don’t think it’s chlorinated because of the filtration but I know it’s pretty pure. Just not sure if it can be stored as is or needs bleach. Thanks.

I purchased a lot of water a few months ago. About 30 , 2.5 gallon containers. Problem is…I have been storing them all in a nice straight line along the wall (which is concrete), and on the floor (which is concrete). What does this mean. Is it all garbage now? What exactly is the risk? Can I fix it? Thanks.

I just found your website and love it…thank you. I have been buying water jugs (2.5 gal.) at Sam’s club. Do I need to rotate these? Can I keep them forever and just add water purification tablets to it?

Hi – how do I know if my water is chlorinated? (FYI – I live in SLC, UT)
Thx.

You may have mentioned this and I missed it. Remember no plastic container is dense enough not to have chemicals leach through it over time. So the regular bleach bottle will lose about half its clorine in 6 month. In a year most of the clorine is gone in a bottle of bleach. The clorine is what purifies the water ,so use new bleach. Another way is use pure clorine that can be bought at stores like Walmart for pools. It comes in dry form so it lasts much much longer.

Heather, I think a vinegar bottle would work great. I’ve kept bottles of vinegar for longer than a year and they’ve been fine. Also the bleach bottles would work too. Anything that is designed to be for shelf stable liquids should be the appropriate grade of plastic.

Vicki, Thanks for the reminder, we talk about not using milk bottles up in the main points above. They are definitely NOT good to use for long term water storage.

One thing I haven’t seen addressed is concerning storing water in milk type jugs. They are designed to be biodegradable, and tend to spring leaks after a couple of months. (I learned the hard way many years ago.) The 2 liter soda bottles and juice bottles (PET or PETE will be printed in the recycling triangle) are a better choice.

I just noticed that my white vinegar bottle is the same grade plastic as bleach bottles. Can I use this as well??

When I was pregnant with my second child, our laundry room was three floors down. I was so lazy about laundry that I never threw away my laundry soap jugs, I just stacked them on shelves. They really added up fast! I was wondering if I could start saving them again for water storage. Of course, I would only use the water for flushing toilets, laundry, ect. I hardly ever buy bleach so that wouldn’t add up very fast for me. I would assume that they are made out of the same plastic as the beach bottles. I love your site, thanks for all of the great information. It has been extremely helpful!

Thanks for your help Jodi!

Theresa,

My containers were 7 gallon containers so I just did the 1/2 teaspoon. I don’t think it’s a hugely exact science. I have read that if there is a bleach-y flavor you just move the water back and forth between two containers a few times and it will evaporate out. Also i think the bleach dissipates over time too. That’s why you are supposed to change the water out every year or so. Hope that helps!

I have my water containers to cover us for 14 days, but before I fill them I have a question about the “drops” of bleach to add. What size dropper do I use since droppers can be calibrated for different volumes? Is this information available somewhere using metric system measurements like milliters? I do not want to over bleach the water. Thanks for all of your help!

I’m not new to emergency preparedness, so I can answer some question that aren’t answered above.
The Red Cross suggest a 3 day supply of water but the church suggests a 14 day supply…better to be safe than sorry, right? I would prefer to have one 55-gallon drum for each member for a month but most people think that’s a little radical. Just remember that if it was a major disaster and you were unable to use running water you would need water not just for cooking and drinking but for cleaning dishes, brushing teeth, cleaning your body, cleaning clothes, etc. If you think about how much water you use everyday it makes perfect sense to have that much on hand!
As for storing water on cement; after time the water will start to taste and smell like what it is surrounded by. This is why you want to store water off the ground. Also if your storing it in your garage keep fuel and lawn agents away from it as well. In an emergency it would be hard to down a glass of water that tastes like cement or fuel. If it’s a 55-gallon drum; store it on a pallet a few inches from the wall and try to keep things stored in a different location.
If you decide to store your water supply outside, keep in mind that the sun will cause a green algae to form in your water. This isn’t bad for you but to keep your family from being grossed out it’s best to keep a couple packages of green Kool-Aid on hand Also the container you use to store your water can be a new or used container but you don’t want to use a container that has ever held anything but water in it. Plastics absorb whatever is being stored in them so if you’ve stored food in the container, even if you’ve cleaned it, after a years time you will start to see ‘floaties’ in the water. The plastic is releasing those substances and they will start to form bacteria making it unsafe to drink.
If you needed water for longer than 14 days you would have to find an alternative water supply, i.e. streams, water heater, etc. in this case you may want to consider that electricity may not be available either so you may not be able to boil your water. If you choose to use bleach remember that there is only 5% of chlorine in bleach, which is what kills the bacteria and harmful things growing in your drinking water. Chlorine evaporates so after a years time there is no longer any chlorine in a container of bleach. Even if you do choose to still use bleach you’ll be left with the other 95% of harmful agents in the bleach. The best way to treat water is to use a spa essential brand chlorinating concentrate (spa companies carry this, it’s used to clean the water in hot tubs) a 2 lb. 95% or higher chlorine concentrate in a powder form will treat a year supply of water for a family of 5. The average cost for one container is around $17. You can purchase 100 chlorine test strips for around $7. Just add ¼ teaspoon of chlorine for a 55-gallon drum of water. Mix the chlorine and water and seal the container for 24 hours. Follow the test strip directions. If after 24 hours the water is still not clean add another ¼ teaspoon to the container and test the water again in another 24 hours. Leave the lid off for another 12 hours for the smell to dissipate. Boiling your water at an altitude (such as Utah) you would need to boil it for at least 22 minutes. If you use bleach, you are left with harmful agents in your water and you have no way of testing the water to make sure it’s clean. Using powdered chlorine you can test the water with chlorine test strips and you’ll know when it’s ready to use, it’s also under $25 to do so.
I hope this helps, it goes a little beyond what you’ve covered. All of your information is wonderful and I’m glad that there are people out there willing to educate and pass along what they know to make it easier on others! I remember feeling very overwhelmed by all of it when I started and I wish there was something like this back then! But it’s true that it’s better to start small than not at all!

I’ve really enjoyed all of the great tips and the discussion in general.
Also, don’t forget about any animals you may have.
We have dairy goats and laying hens as well as a dog and a cat. They would need a great deal of water as well, esp during the milking season!

Where did you buy the 7 gallon water jugs and how much did they cost?

Kristen I store bottled water. I buy a case most every time I go to the store AND bigger bottles I have found.
Its just more expensive so I think these are more cost effective suggestions.
As long as its stored I dont think it matters.

Would it be fine just to buy bottled water? Not sure if someone asked about it, but I didn’t see it as I was scrolling through

Hi, I’m new here, and have done emergency food preps because of living on the coast, and normally try to have lots of food, but now I’m going to try for a 3 months supply and am going to use your fun site and excel sheet as my guide.

I’m not an expert when it comes to emergency preparedness, but I am experienced: I’ve been through 2 hurricanes, evacuated hurricanes 2 times (neither hit), and have had water in my home 2 times. I can’t begin to count the number of times we’ve lost power for 4+ hours just from thunderstorms, and one lightning strike to our transformer.

I learned some preparedness from my mother who grew up on an island up north that occasionally had hurricanes. When Alicia formed 3 days out, she filled cardboard milk jugs with water and put them in the freezer. Meanwhile, she fixed as much freezer and fridge food as possible so she wouldn’t lose as much food, and to have more room to put the frozen containers.

Since 2 lt plastic soda bottles came out, I save them every spring to have on hand in case I need them for the freezer. They drove my husband of 9 years crazy, until Ike, when we didn’t lose very much food because we had more time before it went bad, plus we had cool potable water without me having to go to the food lines every day just for ice and water.

I also turned the fridge as high as possible the day before Ike, and covered the fridge with every blanket possible once we lost power.

I also saved many 1 gallon glass bottles, which I cleaned and bleached, then filled to use for coffee. We were the only ones on our little dead-end block that could make coffee with our campstove and camp-percolator, and we went through ALL the water I’d saved in the glass in about 5 days because of making coffee for the neighbors. It was a good trade though, because they’d bring us home ice from their jobs (hubby’s job didn’t give out ice, in fact I had to send extra food for lunches quite a few days).

With Alicia ’83, it took about 4 days before water was declared safe; TS Allison was maybe a day or more; and Ike was about 10 days in Houston. So unless you want to be dependent on the kind helpers and government, I’d recommend a lot more than just 3 days worth of water storage. Remember you’re going to want to wash clothes and dishes during this time too.

Wow. Great ideas Morning Sunshine. Thank you for sharing!

I have been storing cases of water bottles and jugs.
I will be getting bigger containers and we want to build a storage tank up on the hill to catch our spring overflow. It will be naturally gravity fed.

The original safety plans were for 72hrs.
The ‘powers that be’ have admitted that although that is a great start, you should really have at least two weeks supply for your home keeping your 72hr kits ready for an evacuation if needed.

So do both.
Start with 72hrs kits/bags and expand to the 2 weeks at home use.

I too have heard not to store your water OR food on concrete directly.

Sigh. No Macey’s out here. We do have Macy’s department store, and I have a feeling they don’t sell water storage stuff…

Question about the bottled water: I have purchased a good amount of 1/2 liter bottles when on sale, and I’m wondering if I have to rotate those every once in a while. And when I do, can I just refill them with tap water? Then, once it’s tap water, how often do I have to rotate THAT?

Thanks! Tracy

Sorry if you already answered this, I was to busy to read through all the posts…

I was not aware of the not putting your water storage directly on concrete so I have several bottles on my basement concrete floor. I want to make sure to be safe, so can i just empty them and refill them with clean water, or do i need to throw out all the bottles that have been sitting on the cement and start new?

I Love your site I just stumbled on it after messing around with my food storage closet! ( I googled years supply of food worksheet and found the 3 month one!) Ok so I was looking at the baby steps! Our ward just had a R.S. on food storage and in particular water. I know you laddies are stressing actually storing water which I think now after reading your site and the comments is something I need to do. The gal that taught the lesson went to REI they sold her a water filter. But then she consulted with and avid backpacker in our ward and she said that a water purifier is what you really need! The difference is in the microns it filters down to and the fact that the water purifier filters out viruses. She demonstrated the difference with red soda, and the purifier filtered to just plain water and the water filter only really weak red soda. I probably still need to store water but here in the California, Central Valley we have ag water and canals so in a disaster I could get water and we have several lakes near by so a purifier is really handy. So for people like me in an upstairs apartment with no real storage and afraid of stored water leaking I will be buying a purifier soon the one used at the demonstration was by a company called First Need I am sure you can find others. Just a thought for those close to water that can’t store vast amounts a purifier is great idea.

A couple of points. First, make sure any old barrels didn’t contain anything nasty in them, even food based stuff like syrup as it will add a flavor to the water.

Second, as Misty said, if you have to evacuate your house because of tornado, forest fire, or earthquake, you cannot manhandle a 55 gallon drum quickly or safely. Make sure you have sufficient water in small containers to last for 3 days per person.

While part of your gallon a day is assumed for washing, I’d be sure to add wet ones or other moist towelette for cleaning to avoid wasting water.

Don’t forget the idea of rain barrels. If that is too expensive, keep some brand new plastic sheeting which you can put on your roof to help catch rain without collecting asphalt in it. Lay it out and bend the corners in to make a funnel for your containers.

What about using non-chlorine bleach? Will that work as well for purifying water?

The best game plan for storing water is to store it in many different sizes and types of containers. For example, can you imagine what would happen if all you had was one larger container holding your entire 14 days of water and it either sprung a leak or got severly contaminated? Spread your storage out over large containers, 5 gallon or 1 gallon size containers, and even store-packaged bottles of water if you like. Also, according to emergency preparedness experts, culinary (tap) water should not be purified until before you are ready to use it rather than before you store it. Purifying chemicals eventually wear out, and bacteria can grow. As for water purification systems, experts do recommend storing at least 3 to 14 days worth of water and to purchase water purification tablets or systems to use beyond the 14 days. In your planning it is important to consider local water sources you would use close to your home, such as springs or pools. Some areas around your house that you don’t usually think about include, the toilet tank (not the bowl), your water heater, a water bed, and even rain water.

Great site. I am working on getting my water supply stored. Assume I have used the proper containers and am storing them on a shelf. I live in California and it gets VERY hot in the summer. My house is small. Can I store water in the garage? Is heat detrimental to stored water? I am also interested in the answer to Natalie’s question.

In reference to milk jugs – definately not good for drinking water – but we do store some for toilet flushing in case of an emergency where the water is turned off. We don’t want to use our good drinkable water for that function. If you have a pool in your backyard, you wouldn’t really need to worry about flushing water. We have also thought that milk jug size will be easy to pour in the toilet if ever needed. Thanks for all your great information!

I had it in my head that I should be storing 14 days supply of water, but when I looked at the FEMA and Red Cross websites, they only recommended “at least” a 3 day supply. Could you tell me some of the sources where you found the recommendation of 14 days? (I’m preparing info for others for a R.S. mtg. and want to make sure my sources are sound). Also wondering what your source is for the recommendation to not store plastic water containers directly on concrete floors. I hadn’t ever considered that as a risk before. Thanks for all your work at compiling information.

Can i store water in dark glass bottles? I have been doing this, but didn’t know I should add chlorine to my filtered water that I filled them with. Can I add it later?

Terry-

Thanks for the tip, but we STILL stand by the recommendation to store actual water. I saw on the news today that people in Galveston, Texas are still without access to food and water and it is 10 days into their emergency. How wonderful would it have been if they all followed the recommendation and had 2 weeks of water on hand. I know that humanitarian groups have come in to help them, but isn’t the point of food storage to be self-sufficient? A water filter can definitely be useful but please do not consider it as a replacement for actual water, it should be used in ADDITION to your water storage.

A less expensive way to go is this filtered water bottle. We gave one of these to all of our kids (and ourselves) for Christmas last year. They’re great in a 72-hour kit also — in addition to some regular bottles of water. You can shop around or just go to this URL: http://giardiaclub.com/water-bottle-filter/index.php.

There is a company that just invented a great device. Greatly reduces the need to store large quantities of water because it purifies it. I have NO affiliation with the product, but you can check it out at http://www.lifesaversystems.com/
I think we’ll get one just because it’s easier than trying to store 1500 gallons of water.

I have a 55 gallon water barrel. Do I add bleach to it to when we fill it? If so, how much?

Since our water in NJ is nasty, we have water delivered. We had them deliver extra containers at the beginning for water storage. When they deliver a new water bottle each week we use the older bottles first. Instant water storage!

You girls have a great site here, I’ll be passing it along. I wanted to point something out to you about something under your “Key Points”. It says “1 gallon per person for 14 days”. It should say 1 gallon per person per day for 14 days. It kind of sounds like all you need is a gallon of water to last a person for 14 days. Not to be knit picky, but I know you want to put accurate information. I’m sure it was just an over site.
Thanks for your hard work, it’s going to help a lot of people.
Michelle