Water Storage- a simple plan

I took on the chore of changing out the water storage today.  It was a silly day to do it too because it rained all day and instead of using all the old water to water the lawn or fill a kiddie pool, it just got dumped down the sink.  Silly!

Water storage can be so easy.
I remembered that I wanted to put new water in all the containers when I came home from the grocery store with what will soon be more containers.  If you are anything like my family of four, you come home with two bottles of juice (for my kids) and two 2 liters of diet soda (for me and the husband) each week.  My kids kind of love juice and we kind of love diet soda, over ice, for our evening snack. 
Hey it is better than ice cream.

Back to the storage.
It has been so simple to build up our water storage.
Each week I just rinse with dish soap the juice containers.  I wash them inside and out and remember to wash the lid.  Then I fill them with new water, and store them.

It is recommended to store a 2 week supply of water at the very least.  That is 1 gallon of water per person per day.  We have a few large 10 gallon storage containers of water, but most of our water storage is juice containers and 2 liter bottles.  And each week (I try to remember) not to throw the bottles out, but fill them for storage.  The collection is getting fairly large, though we don't have much more than our two week supply- and it took me most the evening to do this project. 
I believe my system will get even easier with time.  When I have around 100 gallons stored, then I will stop refilling, date my water and then just replace the oldest four with the new four each week.  That way my containers are newer and I will never have to replace all the water in one day.    It will only take me a minute each week to keep the supply always new. 
Well I think it is a good plan anyway.


A few more tips to keep your water storage safe with this simple plan.
-You don't have to add bleach if you water is chlorinated... and most tap water is.
-Make sure you are using juice and 2 liter bottles- not other containers or milk cartons that could deteriorate and pollute your water.
-Be sure to not store the water containers on the cement as chemicals can seep into your water supply.   If you want to store the water in your basement just throw a piece of cardboard or plywood down underneath.
-Make sure your storage is not stored in an area with too much light or heat.
-Rotate the water out at least once a year.... but maybe be smart and do it on a day when your lawn or garden could use the old water.

Want to calculate how fast you can get your two weeks storage just by filling empty food grade containers.

Our family empties 2 juice containers and 2 2 liter bottles of soda each week.  We may be heavy drinkers :)
but I think this is close to average.
1 juice bottle and 1 2 little bottle = almost exactly 1 gallon.
which means we are adding 2 gallons of stored water to our storage each week.
Our family of four needs aprox 54 gallons to meet a 2 week requirement-
54 gallons /2 gallons per week means in 28 weeks your family of four could have water storage for 2 weeks too.

Blue Gold

We stumbled upon this documentary in our netflix que last night.
I thought it was really well done and made both the Majesty and I take a hard look at how much water we waste.

I believed every word of it.
Which really is no surprise.
I am often persuaded by a decent media package.

Regardless
It makes sense that people will be killing one another over water as a resource in the coming years.
People are already dying over the limited resource of oil.
And I imagine people will be a lot more desperate for water, after all, you CAN live without oil. Water, not so much.

How can we secure our future water?

Water Bottles for Kids.

Remember this post about safe water bottles for your children. It just so happens that BabySteals.com is selling Kleen Kanteen Sport Sippys for 14.99 for a two pack today. This a great deal for today only. I just ordered mine.

Safe Water Bottles

New studies show that water bottle in your emergency kits may not be safe to drink from.

You may want to check out this news story published on Yahoo News this morning to determine if the bottle you are using is safe.

Now with both plastic and aluminum made bottles raising questions, your safest bet is a stainless steel bottle. Even sippy cups come in stainless steel and are relatively inexpensive. Check out Klean Kanteen for a variety of safe products for both adults and children. I aslo found this a safe children's bottles.

Start with the Basics

I have so much to share I had a hard time deciding where to start. I have a list of posts I want to do that is quickly numbering to 100. I wanted to start with something simple and essential so WATER won. Even water is such a large topic. I want to give you something you can go out and do today.

How Much Water Should I Store?
You should store at minimum a three day supply of water per person in your household. On average this is one gallon a person. So my household would be 4 people x 1 gallon x 3 days =12 gallons. Of course you could always try it out. Fill a gallon or two of water, and see how many you go through in three days. I would add a few extra gallons to this amount though because conditions could be different (ie. heat). Keep in mind this is just drinking water, but it is a good place to start. Long term water storage I will save for another post.

How do I store the water?
Really it is not that expensive to buy commercially packaged water, keep it sealed and keep and eye on the "use by" date. I have been able to purchase several gallons of bottled water for our storage just by watching sales at my local grocery store. I think I paid 50c a gallon for the last round I purchased.
If you want to package your own water for storage FEMA recommends you only use litter bottles you get soda in. Rise with soap and water and really be sure to get all the soap residue out. Then rinse with 2 teaspoons of non chlorine household bleach and rinse again with water well. If you are filling with water not from a commercial treated tap (like a well) then you need to add a drop or two of bleach for storing.
Store all water in a cool dark place.
I hate bleach, and having to rotate all my water every six months not to mention saving twelve two litter bottles of soda would take me half of a year...which is why I recommend just buying this amount. As you grow your water storage you can start prepping you own water.

Much more on water.... and everything else... to come soon.