Water Storage Updated

Ah, water. One of those items we tend to put off when it comes to prep storage. I won't ask you, but I will share we had our larger water storage containers for months before we actually filled them. Trust me on this, fill those containers. Empty they are of no use what so ever in an emergency situation.

The basic recommendation for emergency water storage is one gallon per person, per day. Recognize that is just consumption. We are two adults with three dogs; so I set our goal at 3 gallons per day. Because I personally drink a LOT of water, it would cover some minimal cooking water & would include our furbabies.

The containers you use for your water storage/consumption should be food grade safe.

Our first step was we started with purchasing one gallon containers of water. Even if you are on a budget you could store these bottles. This brand (Deer Park) is always $1 a gallon in my local grocery stores. I actually prefer this over the water in what looks like milk jugs. My belief (haven't proven) is these PET bottles will last long. So far I have been storing this water for over three years with no leakage problems.  They are an extremely cost effective way to store water. When we set up our storage shelves; we built it high enough that they fit conveniently under the shelves. Or if you get lucky, sometimes the store will have them stacked up with special boxes, If you look on the left you are able to see six bottles, with a corrugated box on top of those 6, and then 6 more nestle on top of that. The bottles are designed to stack.

Next, we got purchased 30 gallon containers. We purchased these at a local place that specializes in preparedness that is located in central Virginia. This store doesn't sell online and I haven't found this particular style anywhere else. What is nifty about these are the fit in a corner.

Then we purchased two 55 gallon containers to keep in the house. They came with a pump to get the water out. I ordered from two places. The brand is Auguson Farms. For my next ones I will order from Wal-Mart. They were reasonably priced ($99.88) and they shipped for free. I try to give you the better locations to purchase, since I like to save money.

I recently shared that I actually use these barrels in the house as a t.v. stand. I drape a black cloth over the barrels. This works amazingly well and I have been surprised over the 3 years we've had this arrangement only one person have asked about what it is. LOL.

Finally we also have 2 rain barrels outside. So we have at least four months of water stored in the house with rain barrels outside to resupply if needed. The one we got from Amazon was $87.99, with free shipping. (affiliate link) 

We also have extra water bottles stored under the seats of each vehicle.

Even though the furbabies are included in my 3 gallon a day water count, they have their own little stash & water in their BOB (bug out bag). 

This is just the beginning. Next step is to filter your water at the point/time of use...
I have the Sawyer system below & highly recommend it for how well it works and that it will clean one million gallons of water. That is a lot of bang for your buck.

I particularly like that among it's many uses you can even use it on your household faucet, which is my plan when we move.

(affiliate link)

There are some other great articles with details on water filtration systems and more. Look over to your right on this page under the category of "water storage".
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