Overview
The following information on Water Preparation is part of my Preparedness Series: Beyond the Emergency Fund. We view financial preparedness such as having an Emergency Fund and Retirement Planning as essential for you and your family. Additionally, we believe you should also be prepared for a major life event or catastrophe such as a mid-to-long term power outage, economic collapse, or worse.
Water is super critical for your survival. It is estimated that you could only go without water for three to five days before your body begins to deteriorate or shutdown as your cells and organs are deprived of water and the essential fluids.
Are you prepared? In the event of some unexpected disaster, can you and your family survive past the three to five days without water?
Item Ideation
The following items are either items that I have personally invested in over the years, or I have captured them as some ideas and favorites from the survivalist and prepper community. If you feel there is an item missing from the list, I would love to hear from you to get it included.
55 Gallon Water Storage Tank – The Water Storage Tank is a new addition to the survival preparation family that wasn’t available a few years ago. This is really nice because it provides easy opening to fill and a spout at the bottom to get the water out. Additionally, you can easily stack them (2 high) which makes it super convenient with minimal space requirements.
NOTE – You should plan to check your water every 6 to 12 months and recycle your water every 12 months unless you add water purifying drops as referenced below.
55 Gallon Water Barrel – The Water Barrel is one of the very first long-term storage systems for water preparation. It is the one that I believe majority of your prepper communities have invested in.
NOTE – You should plan to check your water every 6 to 12 months and recycle your water every 12 months unless you add water purifying drops as referenced below.
55 Gallon Drum Pump – In order to get water out of the Water Barrel more easily, you will want to make sure you add the drum pump to your list of items.
Heavy Duty Plastic Nut Wrench – In order to get access to the water (to either fill or extract with the drum pump), you will want to make sure you have the heavy duty nut wrench to remove the cap on the water barrel.
Rain Collection Water Barrel – Another new item to the water survivalist preparation list is a convenient Rain Collection Water Barrell. This new Do-It-Yourself kit makes it simple to collect rain water from your downspout. Prior to this barrel, you would find unique setups that may include kiddy pools, tubes, and covers to gather rain water from your roof and gutter systems.
Bathtub WaterBOB Storage – Adding a WaterBOB to your list is the easiest and most convenient item that you could add to your water preparation list. You can keep it in storage until it is needed.
Think of the many times across the United States where you have heard “you must boil your water before you drink.” If you were prepared and had enough notice, you might have been able to water harvest before the public water system was compromised. Or, if the water system was compromised, you might have been able to water harvest to use as non-potable water (for your toilet, bathing, etc.).
Water Purifying Drops – If you are considering a long-term water storage, you will want to consider adding water purifying drops. One of the bottles (1 fl oz) will treat up to 55 gallons of water and will preserve your water to be stored longer and with less concern about contamination in its container.
It is estimated that you can extend your water storage from 12 months to 5 years before you should recycle your water (i.e. dump out the water and refill).
Bleach – Bleach has always been known as a water purifier. You will want to make sure you get an unscented and void of fragrances for your water. You will want to find bleach that has 6% to 8.25% chlorine (or sodium hypochlorite).
It is recommended that you add about 6 drops of bleach to 1 gallon of water. If the water is cloudy or colored, it is recommend that you double the drops to 12 to 16 drops. Then, let the water settle for 30 minutes. If you don’t smell a slight chlorine odor, you’ll want to add a few more drops (up to 12 to 16 drops) and let the water stand another 15 to 30 minutes.
Taste the water. If the chlorine is off-putting and too much for you to drink, transfer the water into another container and let sit for 30 minutes to a few hours. You could also pass the water back and forth between multiple containers to speed up the chlorine evaporation process.
Make sure you do your own research on using bleach as a water purifier for you and your family.
I’m personally not a fan of this process but would consider it during an emergency. I would much prefer to have my clean tap water that is safely and securely stored in a water tank or water barrel.
Countertop Water Filter System – The Watens filtration system provides purified water for 4 to 6 people each day. Using their black filters, you can filter approximately 8,000 gallons of water (appx 33% more water than other leading brands).
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