Water is essential to life; therefore water is an essential part of your three-month supply. Having properly stored drinking water could save your life in an emergency.
There certain guidelines to storing water that must be followed in order to ensure that your water safe to drink.
You Need the Right Container
An ideal container for storing water blocks out the light and is either small enough to be easily emptied or is a larger container that is designed to be easy to empty for rotation and cleaning.
The reason why you want containers that block out light is because all water has microorganisms that if allowed to grow and multiply can cause harm to humans. If the water is exposed to the light the microbes in the water have more energy to grow to concentrations that can harm you. If you make sure that your water is exposed to light, and then it’s easier to make sure that the water remains safe to drink for a longer period of time.
When choosing water container, you need to be careful about the types of materials they use. It’s best to use containers, made out of opaque food grade plastics that won’t easily decompose. He needs to be careful about the type of container you use certain types of containers such as milk jugs are made out of plastics that quickly degrade, and can leak or contaminate your water.
If do choose a storage container that lets light in, the water inside needs to be replaced every six months even if you treated it with chlorine.
What about Soft Drink Bottles?
Larger soft drink bottles can be excellent for your three-month supply as long as you make sure they’re kept in a dark location, and not exposed to light (although they will probably need to be changed more frequently than other type of containers). Soft drink bottles are small, so changing the water is easy. Because of their size they’ll also fit into smaller spaces such as under beds, in the back of closets, etc. and so can be ideal if you have a smaller living space such as an apartment. Just make sure that the bottles are properly stored, not exposed to light, and tested every few months.
Make sure that all the water containers you use are cleaned out and sterilized before storing your water in them.
Storing your water
Your water container should never be stored directly on concrete. Place cardboard or plywood on top of the concrete before storing the water containers on the floor.
If you store bacteria free water in an airtight opaque container it can be kept nearly indefinitely, the only problem is, how can you be sure the water is bacteria free? The best thing to do is to treat the water with chlorine, iodine, or stabilized oxygen and make sure you stored in a dark area and also test your water for purity every six months. When properly stored your water shouldn’t need to be replaced for several years.
Make sure to store enough water. In addition to enough water for drinking, you will need enough for washing and bathing. In general, a person needs about 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking. You’ll need more water when you factor in washing and bathing and hygiene, etc. In addition to storing your water you should be familiar with basic methods of purifying your water, this is especially useful if you only have limited space and can’t store as much as you’d like.
