Prepping Basics - Water Storage

Being prepared is a great feeling. Water is a top priority. A human can be without food for quite some time and live (not thrive), but being completely without water can kill you within days.

The usual recommendations for water needs are 3 to 5 liters of water per day per person. When I calculate water needs, I usually use 4 liters per person and day as a benchmark.

In my country our government recommends that each household have enough food and water for one full week. One week is a great start, but personally I’m aiming for food and water for 30 days.

I’m aiming to have at least 150 liters of clean water stored up safely. This would be enough for drinking water and some for cleaning, for a family of two humans and three cats.

I’m not there yet, I need more food grade water containers. This was a great starting point, and now I’m adding a few containers a time.

The shelf life of water in storage is dependent on its cleanness and how it’s stored. Where I live we have super clean communal water in our houses, and I’m using this to fill the water cans. There’s no risk of bacterial contamination from the water source.

The water cans are food grade, new and completely clean. They were throughly cleaned before filled with water.

Stored correctly, clean non-contaminated drinking water will basically never go bad. Buts its quality will degrade over time. Still, that takes years usually. But don’t follow any of my recommendations blindly, do your own research.

Also, as an extra precaution, if I ever need to use this water for drinking, it’ll be boiled hard first to be extra safe.

To manage the degradation of quality, this water storage will be rotated every two years. I’ll do this in the summer by cleaning the cans thoroughly and re-refill the cans with new fresh water. The old water from storage will be used to water crops, clean our cars, and other non-drinking purposes as not to waste it.

These cans are thoroughly cleaned, and stored in a cool, dark place. In my case, our garage which usually keeps temperatures just above freezing to around 20 degrees Celsius. Also, covered by a tarp to block out any sunlight.

This time, as a start of our new prepping plan here at our house, I stored a total of four 10 liter cans, one 20 liter can, and one 5 liter can. A total of 65 liters of clean water.

If you looking to start being a bit more prepared for emergencies, I’d definitely suggest starting with building a water storage.

Stay frosty!