One of the essentials in emergency preparedness is water. It is the thing that your body can go the least amount of time without. When you become dehydrated your body has a harder time regulating temperature and completing other important functions. It can be difficult if you don’t have the water on hand to take care of your family.
When I was in third grade a main waterline into my city broke. The entire city was without drinking water for at least two days. The water was still running, so we could use the bathroom and such, but there was no water to drink, to cook with or to the wash the dishes with. I remember that you could boil the amount of water you needed, but that quickly became tedious. For dinner my dad went out to buy us something to eat and drink. He had to drive about thirty minutes away (we lived in the suburbs, so that was pretty far) before he could find a restaurant that was able to give him food and drinks that were not contaminated. The school had to ship in drinking water in for the students, and it was carefully rationed, with each student being limited on the amount they could drink each day.
My family could have avoided a lot of the worry if we had simply had an emergency water supply on hand. It is recommended that you have a gallon per day per person of drinking water stored. You should start with a 72-hour supply. If you have a place to store the water, it is better to have a two-week supply on hand. You will also want to store water for your pets, and a little extra for the cooking and cleaning.
It is important that you store water safely. One of the easiest ways to do this is to just go and pick up cases of bottled water from a Sam’s Club or a Costco. If you decided to store water yourself there are some basic guidelines that you should follow. You will need to make sure that you store the water in clean containers that are food grade quality. Never store water in old chemical containers, because the chemicals can leak into your water supply and can contaminate it.
Once you have a water supply you will need to rotate it. If you buy bottled water, just make sure you follow the dates on the packaging. If you store the water yourself, you should rotate it every six months. You will also want to make sure that at least part of your water supply (a good amount would be a 72-hour supply of water) is easily portable. This would be something that you would want to take with you if you ever had to evacuate. I think that the small water bottles are perfect for this.
Water emergencies can accompany natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes. They can also happen unexpectedly, such as when a main waterline breaks. I have seen several reports of a city’s water supply being unsafe to drink in the last two years. It is good to be prepared, so you don’t have to rush to the store, and just hope that there is some water left there.