Adequate Water Storage in Emergencies

Adequate Water Storage in Emergencies

Joseph Parish

Lately my wife and I have been giving serious thought to our emergency water supply. Like most people our preparations in that area are far from adequate and would not last us for any sort of extended emergency period. We currently have several bottles of water in both gallon and individual size but that is totally unacceptable as far as I am concerned. Our immediate goals are to establish no less than 110 gallon storage capacity. Perhaps at some later date that also will be expanded.

Since for us space is at a premium it becomes extremely important to be able to plan accordingly and make due with what we have. Every inch of our home must serve as storage when planning our future emergency preparations. Our weak point at this time is the water storage as we are well along with our food preparations and supplies.

I have come to realize that I can not store any vast quantity of water for any long period of time using the usual plastic gallon water containers as purchased in the grocery store. These containers eventually begin to break down and leak as the plastic leaches into the drinking water as well.  Naturally the life span of the plastic container depends upon how thick the plastic is as well. The thicker ones will last much longer than the usual thin milk carton plastic ones.

With this weakness of containers in mind I have approached this issue from several different viewpoints and believe the following will assist us to become better water prepared. First, I plan to recycle rain water by the use of a 50 gallon water reservoir. This is merely being mentioned as a dire backup measure. I have found several fancy rain water containers which will be both practical and pleasing to the eye.  Our goal contains plans to install gutters on our shed to allow the downspouts to fill these rain barrels.

We currently have a 10 by 12 storage shed which holds miscellaneous items that need to be sorted and properly disposed of. Alternately, Rubbermaid makes a Roughneck securable shed which could serve as a water storage building. This unit could be placed on our patio and none would be the wiser as to what is in it. Either way my goals are to turn either the shed or the Rubbermaid unit into a water storage location. The storage shed is anchored down so I feel safe that it will survive some strong hurricane winds if necessary. If I choose to use the Rubbermaid I will have to deal with the tie down issue at another time. My main objective is to survive any sort of emergency for at least a 30 day period of time.  I realize that the recommended amount of water is around two gallons per person per day but this would be a sufficient start. This water supply would not be utilized for anything but drinking and cooking.