HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD I STORE?
- 1 gallon of water per day for each member of your family. 1/2 gallon for drinking, 1/2 gallon for cooking and washing dishes. Two weeks of water is a reasonable, feasible amount to store. For my family of five, that means about 100 gallons of water.
- My family went camping over Spring Break and we used about 4 gallons of water each day for our family of 5, and that included washing dishes, cooking, and drinking. If you plan on cleaning your body, you might need a little more . . .!
- Store water in sturdy, leak-proof, breakage-resistant containers. For the budget-conscious (and who’s not?!?), re-use plastic (PETE) juice or soft drink bottles. For the lazy, you can buy commercially packaged water in many sizes. Check the expiration date and have a plan to use it in the car or otherwise. I like to keep a few cases of bottled water in my garage to grab-and-go and avoid those midsummer trips to Wendy’s for a drink that invariably leads me to buy something else my thighs don’t need!
- Do not use plastic milk jugs, because they do not seal well and tend to become brittle over time. Do not use containers previously used to store non-food products.
- Heavier plastic buckets or drums work well too, but if you get giant ones, make sure you can get the water out and transport it if needed.
- Store water only where potential leakage would not damage your home. And be careful to store it where it won’t leach the taste or odor from something icky like a gas container or pesticides. A cool and dark place is best, but ours go in the garage on a piece of plywood because that’s the best we can do.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I ROTATE IT?
- If you have commercially bottled water in PETE (or PET) plastic containers, follow the container’s “best if used by” dates as a rotation guideline.
- If you fill your own bottles, empty your water containers (onto your grass!) and refill them every six months.
WHERE CAN I GET CONTAINERS?
You can pick them up locally for cheap at this place in Round Rock:
www.survivaloutpost.com
15 gal: $10 (this is my favorite size because I can actually pick it up by myself)
30 gal: $20
55 gal: $30
(some of these once held soda syrup, but if you can handle that, it an awesome deal)
DO I NEED TO TREAT THE WATER I STORE?
- If it comes from the chlorinated municipal water supply (your tap unless you have a well), then no.
- You should clean, sanitize, and thoroughly rinse all containers prior to use. A sanitizing solution can be prepared by adding 1 teaspoon bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) to one quart (1 liter) water. Don’t use bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives.
- Non-chlorinated water should be treated with bleach. Add 1/8 of a teaspoon (8 drops) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) for every gallon (4 liters) of water. Again, stick to simply bleach without additives.
- The taste of stored water can be improved by pouring it back and forth between two containers before use.
FOR MORE INFO
www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/water
www.redcross.org/services/prepare
FAMILY PRAYER
As always, we should focus just as much or more on spiritual preparedness as physical preparedness in our families. How are you doing with family prayer? Our stake president has challenged us to pray morning and evening with our families and as couples. It can be difficult to get everyone together on both ends of the day, but let’s all do our best to try a little harder to do a little better on this one.
Last week we were visiting some relatives of relatives and there were a lot of people in the house late at night, not all members. I was impressed that the father and mother of the home walked into the living room where we were all talking and simply knelt down and invited us all to pray with them. It felt so natural and right, but I don’t know if we would have done the same in our house in a similar situation. I hope we will in the future.
From lds.org:
“The Savior has exhorted us to pray with our families. He said, ‘Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed’ (3 Nephi 18:21). Through regular family prayer, our family members will draw nearer to God and to each other. Our children will learn to communicate with their Father in Heaven. We will all be better prepared to serve others and withstand temptations. Our homes will be places of spiritual strength, a refuge from the evil influences of the world.”
Those are blessings we could stand to receive in our home! Have a great week!
