Our nation’s water infrastructure is fragile. Drought and natural disasters can cause huge, long-term disruptions.
Plus, bad actors know how important our water is, and they will continue to look for ways to disrupt our drinking water.
So, now is the time to build up your long-term water storage before the supply chain disruption really affects the availability of bottled water and things like that.
As a general rule, you should plan on using one gallon of water per person per day. The amount will vary depending on each person, but it’s a safe estimate.
FEMA recommends that Americans have enough water to last three days should their regular water be disrupted.
This is way too little. It’s nowhere near enough water to survive a disaster.
My recommendation would be to have at least enough water to last 30 days.
This would hopefully be enough time for your water to be restored. Or for you to bug out to a location where you can get clean water.
With that being said, here are a few ways you can store water short and long-term.
30-day water storage:
One of the easiest ways to stock up on a 30-day supply of water is to buy water from the store. This could be individual bottles of water or gallon jugs.
Pre-packaged water is clean and comes in food-grade plastic bottles. Plus, it is easy to take with you if you need to move to another location.
If this is part of your survival plan, I would buy cases of water and store them under all the beds in your home. They won’t take up space and are easily accessible.
Another option is 5-gallon water jugs that you would typically see on a water cooler.
These are made from sturdy bottles that will be more durable than regular water bottles.
Plus, the blue color of the bottles helps reduce light and prevents algae from growing.
If you don’t want to spend the time buying water from the store there are plenty of water delivery companies.
Of course, you will pay a premium but you could have enough 5-gallon bottles delivered to last your family a month.
60-day plus water storage:
Long-term water storage can be tricky because eventually you will run out of storage space.
One product you may wish to check out is called WaterBricks.
These are stackable water containers that hold 3.5 gallons of water. They are sturdy and can be stacked pretty high to save space.
Another option for storing a large amount of water is 55-gallon drums.
You can’t go wrong with these. They are sturdy and seal tight. This protects them from outside contamination.
If you fill them with tap water there is no need to treat the water since your municipality should have.
If you buy the food-grade barrels they are also BPA-free and UV resistant.
The biggest downside to these barrels is that they take up a lot of room.
Another problem is these barrels are not portable. You can’t take them with you if you decide to bug out.
If you choose to have barrels, keep them in a temperature-controlled space. You don’t want them to sit out in a shed where it gets hot in the summer.
No matter how much water you store there will be a time when you need more. This is why rain barrels are a good option if you live anywhere that it rains.
Place barrels under your gutter pipe and collect the water.
You’ll want to filter the rainwater before drinking but it could provide a renewable source.
Water filters:
If you drink bad water, it could make you sick and likely dehydrate you.
So, no matter how you store your water you should always have a quality water filter too. (Maybe you need to go to a lake or pond to get water.)
Water is one of the most critical things that we cannot live without, so you need to be prepared for a shortage.
America’s water infrastructure is aging and bad actors know it’s vulnerable.
So, whether it’s a natural disaster, or a coordinated attack, it’s not a matter of if your water system will fail, but when.
