This is what I have at my house, since people ask me that all the time. I have 6 55-gallon water barrels. We don't have room for these in the garage, so they are stored on the north side of our house where it stays nice and shady. You never want to store water in the bright sun; it will grow all sorts of yucky things if you do. We don't have to worry about the water freezing here in Texas, but that would be a concern in colder climates. A basement would be nice, but we don't have those here either. In any case, this is the water we'll use for washing/bathing if necessary.
We also have a water cooler in our kitchen that holds 5 gallon water jugs. We keep about 12-18 of these jugs in our pantry/garage. These will be for drinking in case of an emergency. We get the jugs from Home Depot that can be returned for refills.
In our garage we have about 10 flats of water bottles (30-40 bottles per flat). I keep on flat in my car, and use the rest up pretty regularly. These are great to have on hand for everyday, plus they are perfect in case of an evacuation situation where you'd have to grab your water and go.
Yes, water storage is very overwhelming. I didn't go out and get these things all in one day. (It took me about two months just to fill up my water barrels once I got them home!) You have no idea how much peace you'll feel once you get your water needs taken care of. Like I said before, having water is pretty much the most important storage item.
This week I'm recommending 1/2-1 flat of water bottles per person. Keep in mind that this isn't like wheat which you'll probably never use. Water bottles will be needed. And they're cheap. So get some ASAP.
The church and government recommend a 14 day drinnking water supply. It it ends up being about a gallon per day. That equals 4.5 cases of botttled water per person--I round it up to 5. I have 6 people in my family. I have 4 people's worth in those and 2 people's worth in the gallon water bottles. I have them stacked in half of my sons closet--because he doesn't need the other half.
ReplyDeleteOn all the survival shows, the very first thing they go for is water, then shelter, then food... We can't go more than 2 days without water...
ReplyDeletecheck.
ReplyDeleteThis I can and WILL do this week! I just wonder how long does it last and should I put anything in it so it doesn't mold? My water bottle at work got all moldy and I can't get all the mold smell out and what if that happens to my 55 gallon water thingy? Also, do you pour regular tap water in it or filtered water? And finally, will you really use all that water for bathing and stuff? I think if the world was ending and we were out of water I'd skip the baths and drink it!
ReplyDeleteWe have 10,000 gallons of water. [In our 40' long swim pool.] We only use chlorine disinfectant, so it's drinkable. Above ground pool from Congo Pools. got a "Dealer Price" around $2500 w/ sand filter, cover etc. [Don't buy Intek Walmart pools etc. ]
ReplyDeleteALWAYS put 1 drop per quart of regular unscented Chlorox in any water to be stored.
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