This article explains how much water is needed and the steps to take to properly store water for long term storage and survival.
Since water is the most essential element for man’s survival, this should be a priority when it comes to prepping. The number one thing I see when it comes to water and preppers I know is the lack of water being stored.
The average person needs 1 gallon of water per day just to survive and that doesn’t include water needed for hygiene or cooking. In this article I am going to show you practical ways to store and purify water.
Let’s do some math. If a family of four has a power outage that effects the water supply and the outage is expected to be for a month (thirty days), this family would need one-hundred and twenty gallons of water to survive. That doesn’t include what is needed for cooking and flushing the toilet. One gallon per day should suffice for cooking. The average toilet uses one – two gallons of water per flush. If you used one and a half gallons per flush and only flushed when the logs were floating (we want to keep this site clean) and assuming each person went once per day, the water needed would be six gallons minimum per day. This equals three-hundred and thirty gallons for one month. Three thousand nine hundred & sixty gallons for one year.
This is of course assuming the sewer plant is still operational. If not, we will be needing to address a whole other situation which will be covered in a later article.
First make sure it is legal to collect rain water in your state.
State by State Guide
Water Storage
Starting with the most simple storage method that I have utilized is save your soda pop bottles, and any other food grade containers you may acquire. See our water storage tips article for more detailed information.
- Soda Pop Bottles
- Fifty-Five Gallon Drums
- 275 Gallon Totes
Theses are a few ideas I have used and they all work. The quickest way I started storing water was every time I drank a soda pop, I rinsed the bottle and filled it with hot water. As the bottle cooled, it would create a vacuum in the bottle sealing it. I ended up with several hundred bottles of water in a short amount of time. If you are a daily soda pop drinker, you would be surprised at how much you actually drink.
The second idea I got was using milk jugs after they were emptied. It took a little longer, but there was a noticeable accumulation after a while. It also makes it easier to flush those toilets with a gallon.
You can imagine the storage room needed when filling soda pop bottles and milk jugs, which brings me to the next idea I had for storage.
I work on warehouse equipment and am in and out of all sorts of businesses everyday. I came across a food company that ditched their fifty-five gallon food grade barrels that had a cactus juice in them and they let me have several of them to use for storage.
Now the water storage started getting to the point where I actually felt I was putting a dent in the required water for my preps. However, four of these barrels would store two-hundred and twenty gallons of water, going back to the math that was still not enough to sustain my family for a month.
Now I got to the next step of my water storage plan and purchased a couple two-hundred and seventy-five gallon totes and realized that we had better come up with a better way to resource water or this whole prepping thing is going to end quickly just like our lives.
What’s The Solution?
Ultimately I have put a small pond in my back yard (I live in a subdivision) that will hold up to twelve-hundred gallons of water and along with the totes, milk jugs and the soda pop bottles, I have almost two-thousand gallons of water and have came up with another solution that just may be the answer for me in a long term bug in scenario.
If I need more water than I currently have stored, there is a major catastrophic event taking place and the best bet may be just to stay put.
After long research and coming to the realization that unless you have a bug out location with hundreds of gallons of water purified and stored, you need to come up with an alternative plan to acquire and purify water.
For me, I have one alternative for a long term bug in scenario. I have a sump pump in my basement and was determined to utilize it to my advantage. So I came up with a way to put ground filtered water in those fifty-five gallon drums really fast with a few pieces of PVC and a few ball valves, the prepper ingenuity took over and I would like to think progress was made. (Pics Coming Soon)
Other Water Storage Info
There are many ways to store the water you collect. Let’s go through a quick list of topics discussed with fellow preppers and list a few options.
When storing water barrels on concrete there could be a reaction that causes the water to become contaminated over time.
I’m not sure this is true, However, to be safe than sorry I put my barrels on a sheet of plywood and the worry is gone.
Another option is a skid or pallet. I actually acquired a plastic pallet and that could go to good use.
I do have the two-hundred & Seventy-five gallon totes stored outside. The reason is I do not have a walk out basement and they will not fit through the door.
I realize by doing this I take the risk of contamination and that is why I store purification tablets just for this purpose. It is no different than getting water from the pond. Unless there is radiation fro nuclear fallout, I should be okay boiling the water and using the tablets. Or just simply using the filtration methods discussed in this article.
Other Options
The other options I had in my area was to locate other areas in my neighborhood with ponds, creeks and swimming pools. This may be the only option for some, just be aware of the risks that come with these options. Imagine trying to sneak into someone back yard to get to a pond or a swimming pool. There will be people or other preppers willing to defend their property. If you can get to a local creek, that may be the best bet. Also the other risk is contamination, so be aware of the current situation and any chemical plants in the area.
Water Pumps & Filtration
Water Pumps
I purchased a pump to retrieve water from a pond or creek and the volume was just not high enough for a quick retrieval, so I ended up building a pump out of PVC and it does a much better job.
I made this pump to get the quickest results without electric. It is light weight and very durable. I still need to make one more check valve for the other side.
This is a great little pump I keep in my bag.
Water Filtration
Below are a few items to keep on hand and in a bug out bag for water filtration on the move.
Just fill, hang, and drink! With the Katadyn Base Camp Pro 10L, you always have clean drinking water – and you won’t have to pump a stroke. At the heart of the Katadyn Base Camp Pro 10L isthe newly developed Ultra FlowTM Filter Element. With its flow rate of up to 2 liters per minute, you can reliably filter bacteria, cysts and sediment.
The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter is one of the best water filters for anyone who wants to transform dirty water into pure water in seconds. It’s perfect for a bug out bag or a survival kit because it’s lightweight, powerful and an affordable form of water treatment. Maybe that’s why Time Magazine named the LifeStraw Water Filter “Invention of the Year” over other water filters. This compact emergency water treatment solution has been used in the field since 2005 making it one of the single most useful pieces of survival gear you could add to a survival kit, or for general outdoor use.
With the ability to provide you with 1 quart of water a minute, it’s just as fast as it is powerful. No waiting on clean water.
Not to mention it features a bottle adapter that will attach to most bottles for spill free filtering.
If you have yet to pick up any kind of water filtration technology, then you might want to look at the Hiker Pro as your best option.
It’s lightweight, affordable, and it’s without a doubt one of the most dependable filters you could use in a disaster situation.