Food Storage Friday: Water

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Today's Food Storage Friday will go over the basics of storing water. People can go weeks without food, yet depending on conditions, it would be difficult for a person to survive even one week without water. Therefore, it can be said that water is one of the most important items to have in storage. Preparedness experts recommend storing 14 gallons per person, meaning a family of five, like mine, should store 70 gallons of water.

Water storage should be rotated yearly and should consist of both portable and stationary options.

There are a variety of storage options available. You can begin by saving 2-liter soda or juice bottles, cleaning them out and filling them with water. There's no need to even pre-treat the water as most tap water has plenty of chlorine to suffice.

A popular option are the large, blue water barrels sold at most preparedness stores. Barrels are blue in color, to indicate water is being stored in them and come in 15-55 gallon options. These are very cost effective, yet are large and awkward to store and completely non-portable as a full 55-gallon barrel weighs approximately 470 pounds!

Another option is the smaller, 5-gallon water storage boxes. These boxes are lined with a metalized bags and come in 25 gallon or 100 gallon kits. While they are a bit pricier than the barrels, they are very portable and you can store them under beds, in closets, etc. In my opinion, the portability and variety of storing options make these a great choice for storing water, even though they are more expensive.

Whatever storage option you choose, be sure to store water inside if possible, out of direct sunlight or varying temperature fluctuations, and not directly on concrete floors. It's also important to store something to purify the water, once you're ready to use it. There are a variety of purifying options here, or you can simply keep a supply of fresh bleach on hand to use.

For more information, visit the Emergency Essentials' article here on water storage options.