First, things first...

Imagine the scenario: You have just woken up and you turn on your faucet and there is no water flowing...
What will you do? Do you have water stored? 

I am going out on a limb here. From what I have heard people usually put off getting a supply of water as one of the last things to prepare. You need to really think about this. But, not just think about, actually take the very first step: make the decision to start preparing.
Chances are if you list what you use each day, water is the first thing you use. Know your living situation. Since we started preparing the two times I have had to use my supplies: I needed heat sources (heat pump stopped working over a holiday weekend) & I have used the water during a short term contamination situation.
I will admit it took me over a year to store water. But, we have since made up for that with 6 months of stored water, plus extra for the puppies and for flushing. 

Water The general recommendation is one gallon per person each day. Note that is the bare minimum. I would strongly encourage you to actually store more. Will you need to add water to your food? Will you plan on making coffee? Personally I drink close to a gallon of water a day, I store at least 3 gallons a day for the two of us & additional water specifically for our dogs.

I got these bottles of Deer Park water for $1 each.

Do not get the kind that comes in the milk carton type of container. Too many times I have heard people talk about these containers leaking. 

Don't forget pets. For our puppies I washed out PET containers. 

This week I purchased another Sawyer Water Filter (left) to add to the one we already own (on the right). 

        
We have already moved our rain barrels and are going to move our in house water storage. That's 170 gallons of water stored.

What you see here, is what I actually do. If you liked this article, please feel free to join our community (Perky Prepping Gramma) on facebook & keep up to date on things posted.  Thank you. ~Perky Prepping Gramma~ 

Also I participate in Amazon's associate program, where I receive a small percentage of recommended purchases. I only recommend things that I have used and like. There is no additional charge to you.

Wait, here is more information on water storage & the next steps in preparing for you to read. 
Here are some other posts on our water storage:
Water Filtration
Water: A Real Conversation
Water Storge Update
Now that you have considered your water storage here are posts for the next simple steps:
Second Step for Preparing
Third Step for Preparing (It's not what you think)

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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Some spiffy storage ideas...

Where to store your preps is on ongoing problem for most of us.
With our impending move, my focus for everything is in revamp mode. Particularly when it comes to storage.
Currently we have converted our walk in closet in the master bedroom into a storage room. 
The new place has three bedrooms and believe it or not, I am seriously thinking about making one of the smaller bedrooms into our bedroom & making the largest room a storage room. When I look seriously at it, the room I sleep in is just that...the room I sleep in. Therefore I don't have that much need for a lot a room.
In the beginning I utilized banana boxes to store my canned foods from the store & repacked my canning jars back into their original boxes. Since I have store bought canned goods in the boxes, they are able to be stacked up several boxes high. 

Along those lines, I've been looking at a newer way to store my preps that minimize the floor footprint and maximizes that vertical storage. A few months ago, I realized that there was a lot of extra space on my storage shelves.
To add more storage space in a smaller amount of room, we purchased two shelving units-to build into one unit. Basically added double the amount of shelves into one unit, spacing the shelves based on the size of the canning jars being stored. This is always a work in progress. Hopefully I will have a better system when I move in. Note the water on the bottom left, we raised the lowest shelf of the unit, so the 1 gallons would fit underneath.

          

     

NOTE: I like and recommend the Seville storage units, which are available from several sources. I specifically look at the weight capacity for each shelf.

                                                   

Since we have to move everything anyway, I am looking at implementing several ideas from this lady at Jonesing2Create.com. She mostly shares crafting ideas, but happens to be LDS and shared this method she developed for her 3 month food supply. 



While I am at it, don't forget utilizing those 5 gallons storage pails with gamma lids. While I haven't had luck (time) finding pails for free, i know lots of people have. Actually lets share ideas on where you get your five gallons buckets for free.

                                                    

This is a nifty idea that I tried from Katzcrdul. I feel the concept works well, but it didn't really work for me since I don't drink that much soda. But, maybe it will work for your storage.

Then there is the standard under the bed storage. "They" say you are able to store a years worth of food storage under a bed. Personally, I store my meats there.

Currently the whole space is filled with pressure canned chicken breasts. Chicken is my favorite meat. I have bacon, chicken, corned beef, ham, hamburger & hamburgers, sausage, steak, and a couple types of Italian sausages. 

Surely you have seen my sweet & treat storage. This is an old kitchen cabinet we use in the living room. Note: Lots of chocolate!

Storing water: This can get difficult, The best idea I have come up with so far for in house water storage is I turned the Augason Farms 55 gallon water barrels into the t.v. stand.
You may get your barrels from Walmart, or Amazon (link below) . Same price, same equipment. Amazon is fastest for delivery. 

This obviously isn't an exhaustive list for storage ideas. It's not even everything I utilize. What is your favorite tip for storage? Please feel free to share a picture. Hopefully this sparks some new ideas for your storage.
Thanks for joining me today, if you want more original content faster, instead of getting it second hand- I would love it if you liked me on facebook. 

  

Affiliate Links and Ads: My site contains affiliate links and ads. I generally only list what I use personally & recommend. Example: Note in this article I recommend that you get your water storage barrels at Walmart. They are way more cost effective from Walmart. I really do a lot of my own shopping online. Have I mention I don't like to shop? LOL.

WATER...a real conversation

Why is water storage so important to me? More importantly why storing water should be important to you... When I started preparing, I literally wrote a list of everything I use each day, starting from when I woke up...
The first two things on that list where 1) t.p. & 2) WATER.
When you are getting started it can be pretty confusing. For example why is it better to store gallons of water in the type of container on the left, than the one on the right? It has to do with the type of plastic these containers are made from. For gallons, both of these cost about $1 each, but the one of the left will last longer in storage, because the type of plastic used to make the bottle is a better quality. The ones that look like milk carton WILL LEAK. That is not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.

The thing about water is you probably don't realize how much water you actually use in a day. FEMA recommends storing 1 gallon a day, per person. That covers just the minimum amount for survival. I personally recommend at least a gallon and a half to two gallons per person per day. Recently I helped my mother get her 72 hour kit together & we got 9 gallons for two people for three days. Particularly if you are simply looking at getting started for your 72 hours storage, this type of water storage is cost effective.

Once you get that 72 hour water storage established, then it's time to look at a longer haul. When we were in the suburbs, we had about 300 gallons of water stored, with 100 of that being rain barrels in the back yard.
We were chatting about how our children would react if DH & I were to pass away & they were starting to go through the house. I want to write a letter to them, explaining what is what & why and what to do with the various items, instead of just getting rid of it. We were laughing about the fact that our tv sat on top of two FILLED 55 gallon water containers, cover with a black cloth. Strange as this sounds, there have been many people that visited often that never even noticed those containers.

& the gallons I have everywhere, I have these one gallon containers under each of our shelving units.

We also had two of these 30 gallons containers of water in the house, I am still trying to find a place for them in our new home.

After we did a water challenge (using only our stored water for three days) we added water specially for the dogs. The value of testing yourself and up to that point we hadn't included the three dogs in our water storage plan.

We keep a few gallons by the toilet (which is hidden behind the shower curtain) for emergency flushing.

Then the rain barrels, which are in the back yard, but also provide a renewable water catching system for more long term.

Not to mention the various types of pumps & water filters we have stored. 
This is an actual conversation I had with a fellow prepper, i have posted it before.

Me: So, I have been talking about doing a water challenge on my facebook page. Do you have water stored in the house?

Her: Oh, we are covered. We have a well, so we don't have to worry about it.

Me: Well, what if the well broke down.

Her: No worries, we do have a back up hand pump. We would just set it up & we have the pond. We could start hauling the water in 5 gallon buckets from the pond to the house.

Me: What if something actually happened to the water?
Her: What, like it got contaminated?
Me: Yes.

Her: Oh, we haven't thought about that. We do have the “B.....”.

Me: Hold on, let me check the long 9's for the “B.....”...

Her: What is “log 9's”?

Me: O.k. The log 9's are good on the “B.....”. Log 9's is a system that determines just how efficient the filter is at removing various contaminants.

It's makes me laugh when I hear that a water system will take out 99.9% of the contaminates. That is NOTHING. It only covers giardia, cyptosporidium and cyclospora. 99.9% is the requirement from the EPA for Protozoan (cysts). It won't cover things like bacteria which causes things like Cholera, botulism of typhoid, e coli, streptococcus or salmonella? Or viruses, like Hep A...

Me: Maybe you should consider doing the water challenge...(HINT) I did a three day water challenge & while I thought I had it covered, I still learned a lot.

Her: What did you learn?

Me: Well, for one thing, I hadn't included the dogs in our water storage. I did have enough, but since then they have their own supply of water stored.

I also learned that I would keep a large pot of hot water (which had been boiled) on the stove the whole time. At night I would prepare a lot of water and then put some in the fridge (since I like to drink water cold). And I bought some ice cube trays.

I also, added a 5 gallon water container to hold hot water for washing hands and things like that.

Anyway that is how the conversation went...now we are living on a farm and working towards backing up our well with a secondary pump, which is our main source of water. When buying this property we also were excited to know we have a fresh spring and a pond on our property. This is an important thing to consider if you are looking at property.

I also take water filtration seriously. While there may be others out there, the only ones I personally would recommend are Sawyers, Aquamira & Berkey.

For us, I chose to go with the Sawyers Water filter(s).

1) Great Log 9's. 2) Reasonably priced. 3) 1 Million gallon guarantee 4) They are used a lot for charitable organizations that are being cleaner water to locations in the world where clean water isn't easily accessible. 

If you do choose to store water without any plastic usage, you are able to store water in canning jars. Even canning them. But remember you are talking about a lot of water. The bare minimum is storing 1 gallon a day for each person.

Now you have a basic idea of our water storage situation.

But, wait there is more...if you are interested in learning more about water filtration systems read this Details on Water Filtration Systems (an old post)

What I do here is simply share our preparedness journey. If you liked this post we would love it if you joined our Perky Prepping Gramma community on Facebook, comment or share. Plus it would just make my day. These are the actual products we have on hand and use for our water storage.

Your order is so very appreciated, because anything ordered through my Amazon Associate links helps me to be able to stay home and write for you.Perky Prepping Gramma is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

How to Choose Your Water Filtration System...

Think! What is the first few things you do in the morning? Does it involve water? Mine does. Probably one of the most important things for me in the beginning was insuring the water would be safe to drink by having an extremely good water filtration system.

One of my tasks for our team was I am the researcher on water, food and health (back-up). We each have our areas of strengths  I will admit it is BORING reading up on water filtration systems, their claims (efficacy) and what it all means. But I want to challenge you to do this, since the safety of your water is of paramount importance.

The easiest way to explain it for me is the more (absolute) 9's a water filtration system has, the safer your water will be to drink

Here are links to the facts on several of the better filtration systems:

1. Sawyer FAQ

2. I can't seem to find the proper page with details, but Aquamira.com is rated really high.

3. Berkey

4. Life Straw

Again, after a lot of reading; in the end I decided to purchase Life Straws for our get home bags and the Sawyer Water Filtration System for our family. Here is what they say on their website.

“First, Sawyer's filters and purifiers are rated in Absolute Microns. This means there is no pore size larger than 0.1 or 0.02 micron in size on the PointONE™ and PointZEROTWO™ respectively. This means that it is impossible for harmful bacteria, protozoa, or cysts like E. coli, Giradia, Vibrio cholerae and Salmonella typhi (which cause Cholera and Typhoid) to pass through the Sawyer filters and purifiers. At 7 log (99.99999%) the filter attains the highest level of filtration available today. The PointZEROTWO™ filter removes both bacteria and viruses.”

Here is their detailed explanation log chart.

It operates with a bucket (which you purchase separately).

I believe there are other great systems, but this is what worked for us.

Oh, and they have a 1 million gallon guarantee.
Now that we are moving, I am actually looking at installing a Sawyers water system onto my kitchen tap. I will keep you posted.

I am not saying a bad word about the other systems I listed above, in fact I believe they are good systems. For the cost, the efficacy of pollutants removed and longevity my personal preference runs with the Sawyers System. Fact is I almost bought a Berkeley, but personally the cost of having to keep additional filters on hand (prep storage) just seemed not effective to me when the Sawyers has a million gallon guarantee. 

The other tipping point for me is I personally know they have a program to provide filtration systems in countries where clean water is a great need. Churches frequently will support and sponsor sending the systems where they are needed. It was after I sponsored a village was when I first got my personal system. I happened to be researching around that time. It is pretty amazing to actually do a demonstration of the dirty water to clean water after filtration.

Additional Suggested Reading: Here is the first water storage article that covers more basic ideas on water storage: Water: A Real Conversation. If you want, here are two very detailed blog posts on water filtration from Preparedness Pro. It is where I began my education on water. I highly recommend you read them. Water Filtration: Facts & Fiction, Water Filtration Facts: Pay Attention to the Nines.

What I do here is simply share our preparedness journey. If you liked this post we would love it if you joined our Perky Prepping Gramma community on Facebook, comment or share. Plus it would just make my day.

          

Your order is so very appreciated, because anything ordered through my Amazon Associate links helps me to be able to stay home and write for you. Perky Prepping Gramma is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.