Water

What to do about water for home storage? Most of the articles I have read recommend one or two gallons per person per day with a maximum of about 2 weeks worth. Remember you are not only storing water for drinking but for cooking and washing.

Family of 5

5 family members times 2 gallons = 10 gallons per day.
10 gallons times 14 days = 140 gallons.

OK, so how would you store 140 gallons? First of all how much space would that take up?

The most common barrel sizes are shown here:

A good deal on a 55 gallon barrel around here is about $55. Some times you can get them for less but they don't last long. I heard Walmart had them for around $35 dollars a week or so ago. The smaller sizes are usually not much cheaper than the cost of a 55 Gallon barrel, so if you have enough space I would get the larger one.

Three 55 Gallon barrels would work for our example. These water barrels are made to hold water but you will still want to re-fill them at least once a year to keep them from taking on a plastic taste. Another thing you will want to do is raise them up off the ground if you are going to store them in a basement on concrete. Basically anything the barrels touch or vapors that are in the air where they are stored will eventually get pulled through the plastic and into the water. Don't store them in a room with chemicals, paint, etc.

I store ours raised up on small blocks of wood to keep them off the concrete floor. To make sure I remember to change the water, I make it a habit to do it during the Fall conference weekend. Another thing to think about is how you will get the water out. I like these pumps:

They are usually around $15 each. Be sure to test it though, I have heard that people have bought some that don't work and it would be bad to discover that when you needed to use it.

You might also want a bung wrench:

These will make it easier to open the barrel and should also be around $15.

Storing more water than this could get impractical very fast. Considering that one gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds our three 55 gallon barrels would weigh around 1,370 pounds!

Having a way to purify water is also a good idea but if you are filling these with house tap water it will already be treated. I will go over filtering and purifying another time.

With an average sedan you should be able to fit it into the back seat lying down. When I bought mine I had a Ford Taurus and was able to fit one in the back seat. It was a tight fit but it did work.