Water storage.

There is nothing you can store that is more important than water. Without water you will be dead in 3 to 5 days. For emergency use plan on using a gallon of water per person per day. For servival needs you need about 2 quarts a day. So plan how much you will need.

There are a lot of ways you can store water. Some water is most likely already stored in your home.  Where you may ask. It is in the toilet tank. Just lift the lid off the back of the toilet and you have a small supply of water,  Most toilet tanks hold 3 to 8 gallons of clean water. Be sure to not flush the toilet if you are in an emergency situation because once the water is in the toilet bowel it is contaminated and can not be used for cooking or drinking.

A second place you have water is in the hot water tank. You may have up to 80 gallons of water there. Look on your tank to see what the capacity is.  If there is any possibility that the water source or purification plant has been contaminated be sure to turn off your water where it comes into your home. Most hot water tanks have a drain near the bottom. To use this water open the valve slowly. Do not be surprised if there is a bit of mud in the bottom of your hot water tank that will drain out first. The harder your water is the more sludge will be in the tank. It is not harmful. Just let it settle to the bottom of what ever you catch the water in then use the clear water from on top of the sediments. As the tank drains out the water will become more clear. Fill all the water jugs you can from the hot water tank. This way you will know how much water you have available for use.

Now how to store water:

One way is save all the plastic drink bottles you have. Use the ones that had soda and juice in them. They are food grade plastic. Do not use the plastic milk jugs they are not good for water storage. Wash your bottles out with soap and hot water. Be sure to rinse with clean water then fill with clean water. Most tap water in the U.S.A. has been treated to kill harmful bacteria. You can store the water straight from the tap. Any other water should be boiled for 15 min before storing. The advantage to this method is the bottles are recycled and are free. They are in a usable size. The disadvantage is they do not stack well.

Many people purchase large tanks or barrels for water storage. The barrels come in several sizes. If you are going to use barrels pick some that will fit into your storage space. Barrels hold a lot of water as do large tanks. They can be difficult to move. You will also need a way to drain the water out so be sure there is a tap to drain the tank. If you have barrels be sure you have a siphon or pump to get the water out of the barrels.

If you use metal tanks be sure they will not corrode. I had a neighbor who had 2 large metal storage tanks built into his home. After about 20 years they had rusted through and leaked. They caused a lot of damage to his home and it was expensive to have them removed. Be careful how you plan and think for the long term.

Water that is stored may over time develop a bad taste. If you are filling your own bottles, tanks or barrels from the tap you may want to drain them every 6 month to a year and refill them with fresh water. Bottles water from the store generally will not have a bad taste even after several years.