Be Ready: An Emergency Water Supply

Most people don’t know what it involves to keep a clean water supply in times of natural disaster. This article will enable you to understand what you are supposed to do so you can keep your family healthy during an emergency. It will inform you about the reason you should maintain a emergency water supply just in case.

When any sort of emergency happens, having a ready supply of clean water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene must be a major priority. Even though it may not seem probable you will ever have a use for an emergency water supply, you never know when an earthquake, tornado, flood, blizzard, or other disaster will knock out your power supply and leave you without a way to get food or water for days or even weeks. Keeping an emergency water supply in reserve would then be an important necessity of your ability to survive.

When planning for an emergency, you will need to arrange for a gallon of water per user per day. Keep enough on hand to last a minimum of three days. In fact, the best amount of emergency water supply to keep in reserve, per FEMA guidelines, would be enough for two weeks. That would mean that a family of 4 should keep 52 gallons of water in storage, plus more for pets. It is also advised that this water be refreshed every 6 months. The price and room to store this much water may seemingly be prohibitive to the majority of people. Therefore, make an effort to keep at least 3 days worth of water in a cool, dark environment.

Amidst an emergency, if water supplies happen to run low, don’t ever ration water. We all require 8 cups of water every day for optimum health. Stick with drinking enough water. It could come to pass that by the time your supply runs out the power and water will have been restored. If they aren’t, you can always concern yourself about locating more water when you need it. You can minimize the amount you require, however, by limiting activity and staying cool.

It is advised that the emergency water supply that you keep in reserve be commercially-bottled water. Keep it in its original, sealed container. Water that is open or empty milk jugs filled with tap water aren’t the best options when it comes to an emergency water supply. Storing water in a container that once held milk or fruit juice isn’t recommended. Milk protein and fruit sugars can never be completely washed from these containers, and if they are eventually used to store water, these containers will become the perfect environment for bacteria growth.

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