How to Store Water

Over recent years we have seen natural disasters and emergencies strike all over the world. Earthquakes, fires, floods, power outages strike all around us and at times we feel like it will never "happen to us" but in reality they could happen to us at any time. Grocery store shelves are emptied in minutes during times of crisis. The most important item to have during an emergency is WATER. It is more important than food or anything else. A person can survive without food for many weeks if necessary if they are properly hydrated. However, if a person does not have enough water, you can dehydrate and die in only a few days.

Water is an absolute necessity for drinking but it is also a "must have" for cooking, cleaning wounds, washing and other hygiene needs. During an emergency, water supplies are either shut off due to damage (as from an earthquake) or they can become contaminated from broken lines and are not safe to drink. It literally could take several weeks or longer for normal water supplies to be returned to normal.

So how much water does a person need? A person needs at least 1 gallon per person per day to survive an emergency. If you have not tried living with that amount of water, a person will quickly see that this is a bare-bones minimum and is what a person needs to "survive". Having more water on hand so that you have enough for cooking your food and washing yourself is a better idea. 3 gallons per person for each day is a much better amount to make sure that all of your water needs are taken care of.

Most people do not have any water stored away for emergencies and when something happens...they are in trouble. Storing water is not difficult. First you need to determine how much water you and your family will need. Let's say you have a family of 4. It is recommended that you have enough on hand for at least 2 weeks to allow for normal water sources to be restored. If each person needs 3 gallons per day then you will need 12 gallons for each day. (3 gallons x 4 people) 2 weeks would be 14 days so (12 gallons x 14 days= 168 gallons). A family of 4 will need 168 gallons of water to survive independently for a 2 week period. Storing that much water in water bottles would be very cumbersome but there are some very easy ways to store and access that amount of water to make sure your family is taken care of. The FDA recommends food grade polyethylene barrels. You will most often find these in 55 gallon size and are normally blue. They are very durable and the dark blue color limits the growth of any algae in the water from being exposed to sunlight.

Next to air...water is the most important thing that people need to survive. The best thing to do is start today, decide how much you need and start storing water now so that if/when an emergency happens you already have your clean supply of water to take care of you and your family's needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6609155
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