How Much Water to Store for Prepping Makes Long Term Sense?

I was reading about how much water is important for all the important functions of the body and how much we need it to survive, and that made me realize that most people worry about stockpiling food for survival situations but forget about water storage for prepping completely.

So, I started looking for a satisfactory answer for water storage for prepping. After all, it is important to know how much you’re going to need. It is important to point out first that there are a few variables that must not be ignored and that we’ll expand on later but for now, how much water to store for prepping? The answer is simple. According to science, you need half a gallon per day for drinking. This ensures that your body will function well. Now, include another half for hygiene and then you have the final math. 1 gallon per day per for each person(minimum).

What you have to think about when you’re doing this math is that you may need additional water for other things such as cooking and cleaning. You also may have to think about pets. Anyway, maybe it is best to store even more than 1 gallon per day. Just to make sure that you are prepared for anything.

Expiration Date

It isn’t uncommon to wonder whether or not is okay to store water. After all, what if when you need that water, and it is not good for consumption? When you think about it, you are storing gallons of water, taking up all this space in your house and you may be doing all for nothing. After all, without drinking water, you only last 3 days.

This all means that you have to make sure you’re able to follow the rules of 3. This rule dictates that you without air you only last 3 minutes. Without shelter for 3 hours. Without water for 3 days. Without food for 3 weeks. Assuming that when STHF (sh@t hits the fan) happens you are in your house and you have oxygen, you’re going to have to think about water immediately.

So, the good news is that water does not have an expiration date. You can store water for years and still be good to drink it. Since water is made of oxygen and hydrogen, it will not have deterioration problems.

Now, there’s a catch. It is possible for microorganisms to grow in the stored water. If that happens, all you have to do is use a few techniques to clean the water.

A good tip would be to change the stored water every month or so. This ensures that you always have water ready for consumption. It will be more work for you, but it’s worth the time.

How to Store

At first, storing water doesn’t seem like a hard job or anything that needs a lot of thought put into it. Now, when you begin to know more about the subject or when you start storing it in your home, you soon realize that it’s not actually true.

The first thing you’re going to realize is that water is heavier than food. This is already a big problem in itself. You’re going to need a space that supports the heavy load and you may have a problem if you need to move all that water from place to place.

To make things even more difficult, depending on the container that you use, the water will take a lot of space. For example, if you store the water in those big plastic containers you’re going to need less space than if you store it in 1-gallon plastic bottles.

The advantage of the 1-gallon bottle is that they’re easier for you to move them around. Again, the problem is that they usually take up double space when compared to those big blue plastic containers.

A final thing you’re going to consider, besides how much space the water container is taking, is that there are sterile containers that ensure that the water does not get contaminated. They prevent against the microorganisms that might grow in the water.

They are obviously more expensive but worth the money. You never know what the situation in which you’re going to need the water, so it’s important that you store in the best containers that you can. You may not have the resources to clean the water.

There are a few choices that I recommend. You may want to get 5 gallon water containers that are easily stack-able. Click here to find get the latest one available through Amazon. In the instance that space is limited you might want to consider collapsible containers . Here is one that I highly recommend that is also available on Amazon.

Pets (Should You Eat Them?)

So, all that math about 1 gallon for drinking and for hygiene is great, but what about pets? Should you get rid of them? Honestly, if we’re really talking about pets, the truth is you’re never getting rid of them. They’re part of the family. In this case, here’s what you’re going to do.

First thing is to establish what type of pet you have. Every animal is different, so they’re going to need different amounts of water daily. Determining that it’s essential to make sure they survive as well.

Dogs tend to need half to 1 ounce of water per pound each day, so the total obviously depends on the breed. Cats usually need 2-4 ounces of water. This math takes into consideration the amount the pet needs for drinking. Obviously, hygiene is another story and more difficult to determine since they don’t take a bath every day.

Now, obviously, the ideal situation is that you have the least number of pets you possibly can. They may be difficult to move around, in case you have, and they will require a lot of care in case of catastrophic events. Still, this is not a moment to be only rational. So, the best you can do is to prepare for them as well.

Moving During The Apocalypse?

Everyone talks about how to store water and everything else like how much you need it, the best containers, and anything you can possibly think on the subject. Still, there’s this one thing that is largely overlooked. How to move all this water around if you have to flee your home.

If you want to prepare for everything, you have to prepare for this as well. In certain events, the best thing you can do is to stay home for a long period of time. For example, in an atomic catastrophe, the radioactive dust will remain in the air, in a critically dangerous state, for a few weeks. This means that the best you can do is to stay inside your house.

Now, when we’re talking about other events, you may be forced to leave your house. In this case, you have to have a plan to move a portion of that stored water in your vehicle.

Considering that you prep for 90 days for a family of 4, you’re going to have 360 gallons of water (1X4= 4X90= 360). This is just impractical to be moved around. You can’t carry that much water around. So, what to do then?

You have to have 2 things. An amount of water to last you until you can get more. For example, until you get to a place you know will have water. And you need to have a cart. It sounds a little silly but water is really heavy. Remember when water and food are not abundantly available you need to keep as much energy as you can.

How to Clean And Get More Water

Now, let’s assume for a moment that you forgot to change the water for a few months and something happens and now you have to use that water that is not perfect for consumption. So, what do you do?

The answer is simple, yet not easy. You have to purify that water. You can do that by boiling the water or filtering the water through a chemical process. Either way, you have to make sure that you kill the microorganisms before drinking it.

Now, another thing that might eventually come up is where to get more water. This may be a difficult task since there may not be any available or if there’s a lake or river nearby, they may be contaminated. The best thing you can do in these situations is to look for natural sources.

Because there is a need to be flexible in regards to potential emergency threats, it may make sense to have a portable and compact water filter to have around just in case that you can use at home or on the road. One solution is a filter called a Lifestraw. It can provide over 1000 gallons of water filtration. It is also easy to use (you use it like a straw). Click here to get the latest pricing on Amazon,

Final thoughts

So, this is how you prepare for any possible event. Just to recap, you’re going to need a minimum of 1 gallon of water per day for each person. Now, you multiply that for the number of people in the family and the number of days you want to prepare for.

Also, remember to try to not store the water for too long, making sure you replace it from time to time and also make sure you store it in the right containers. If you take all these measures, you’ll be on your way to make sure you’re prepared for everything.