In some emergency conditions we are given advance notice, such as where a hurricane is about to land two or three days out. In these situations, we have an opportunity, without elbowing others out of our way to acquire and store emergency water supplies at our house. We have all seen pictures of empty shelves before or after an event slams a community. Earlier, we covered Long Term Water Storage. In this article we're going to cover ways you can quickly have water available when you haven’t stored water in advance.
U.S. FEMA recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day. My experience is that very few of us can get by on 1 gallon per day, we need at least 2. National statistics show that indoor use nationally averages 68 gallons per day so cutting back into just 1 gallon is quite a reduction. At a minimum we need to calculate the number of individuals in our household, and don’t forget your pets, when factoring in our usage. A family of four with a dog, for example, should have a minimum of 140 gallons of water available to work through for a two-week emergency. Hopefully, clean water will be restored promptly, but we see many instances where safe drinking water is not available from the tap for several weeks or longer.
One option is to purchase a $35 bathtub water container that holds about 65 gallons. If you have two or three tubs you can hold a lot of water safely. Emergency managers often talk about the importance of filling your bathtub, and in the absence of other options, this is a good step. However, the storage container has a few advantages: water won’t seep through a leaky drain and you won’t worry about flies and insects dropping in to take their fill of your drinking water.
Water heaters are another source which are easily overlooked for storing water. You can either use water through your hot water taps or you may decide to use the drain valve at the bottom. Make sure you turn off your electricity or gas pilot lights, so you don’t overheat what is left in the unit.
Other simple options are to take every pot, pan and plastic container you can find in your kitchen and storage area and fill it with water for emergency use. Use pails and other non-sanitary containers to store additional water which may be used to flush toilets. Most of us want to be able to flush toilets from time to time. Consider keeping some plastic gallon milk containers labeled in your garage filled with “potable water”. Just don’t mix it up with drinking water!
By taking steps in advance and thinking through what steps you’ll take if you are facing a potential serious emergency, you’ll simply need to implement your plan and take action. The time to order bathtub water containers is not to click on the Internet 24 hours before the storm hits.
Become a ReadyChristian!
“A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them. The simpleton never looks, and suffers the consequences.” Proverbs 27:12
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