What does water have to do with food storage? Well, you can have all the food in the world but if you don’t have water you won’t be living long enough to enjoy that food. In most cases, you’ll be around for only three days. One easy way to remember this is with the 3-3-3 rule. Generally speaking you cannot live longer than 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food.

In an ideal world, we would all have a years supply of water stored away. However for most people, storing a years supply of water is not practical and in many cases not necessary (I’ll be covering water filtration methods later). At a minimum you should store at least 2 weeks (14 days) worth of water.

You should have at least one gallon per person, per day, for 14 days Store the water in a cool, dry, dark place Ideally PETE or food-grade plastic containers should be used Thoroughly wash your containers before filling them up Treat non-chlorinated water with bleach Rotate the water regularly

• You should have at least one gallon per person, per day, for 14 days: 14 days acts as a buffer zone that gives you time until the infrastructure problem is fixed or at least until you can figure out other water-procurement methods.

  If you live in an arid area where water is hard to come by then it’s absolutely important that you store as much as is practical. If you have the space, look into purchasing some 55 Gallon Water Barrels.

• Store the water in a cool, dark place: Light and heat break down plastics and can contribute to bacterial growth. Limit exposure to both. Preferably avoid moist areas where mold easily forms.
• Ideally PETE or food-grade plastic containers should be used: Used soda bottles work great in a pinch. Just be sure to clean it out well. I wouldn’t recommend used plastic milk jugs though. Milk contains a protein that doesn’t easily wash out and may contribute to bacterial growth. Plastic ‘water’ jugs with screw-on tops can be used although they need to be rotated yearly due to becoming brittle with time.
• Thoroughly wash your containers before filling them up: Wash the containers with warm, soapy water and sanitize them by putting a teaspoon of household bleach (non-scented) in a gallon of water. Pour this solution into the container and let it sit for about two minutes. Then rinse out with potable (suitable for drinking) water.
• Treat non-chlorinated water with bleach: Most municipal water sources are chlorinated so bottles can be filled up right from the tap. If you get your water from a well or other water source than adding bleach will prepare the water for storage. The general rule is 8 drops of non-scented liquid household chlorine bleach per gallon of water (2 drops per quart).
• Rotate the water regularly: If you are not storing commercially bottled water then it’s a good idea to rotate the water every six months. I find it easiest to just use the water, then when finished I’ll follow the steps above putting the newly-filled water container in the back of the storage queue FIFO style (first-in first-out).

Storing water is an easy step. Instead of throwing out your used water jugs or soda bottles, clean them out and fill them up with water. With time the process becomes a regular habit and you’ll have your minimum 2 weeks of stored water in no time. Just be sure to start now!

In the upcoming article, I’ll be covering the next step in food storage: the 3-month supply…

Here are the links to all the articles in this series:

• Getting Started with Food Storage
• Food Storage Basics: Step 1 – Water
• Food Storage Basics: Step 2 – Building a Three-Month Supply
• Food Storage Basics: Step 3 – Long Term Storage
• Food Storage Basics: Step 4 – Non-Food Items
• Food Storage Basics: The Basics and Beyond

Related posts:

1. Food Storage Basics: Step 4 – Non-Food Items
2. Food Storage Basics: Step 2 – Building a Three-Month Supply
3. Food Storage Basics: Step 3 – Long Term Storage
4. Food Storage Basics: The Basics and Beyond
5. Getting Started with Food Storage

• Posted in Food Storage, The Basics