How Much Water to Store for an Emergency

Water is the first thing to run out and the hardest thing to carry. Store it before you need it.

How much

• At least one gallon per person per day, for drinking and sanitation, for several days. FEMA does not give a fixed number of days. Many households aim for two weeks or more because supply chains can take that long to recover.
• Store more for children, nursing mothers and anyone who is sick. In very hot weather, water needs can double.
• Don’t forget pets.

A family of four storing two weeks at one gallon per person per day needs 56 gallons. That is the sort of number that makes people start rotating cases of bottled water and buying 5-gallon jugs.

Containers

• Commercially bottled water is simplest. Keep it sealed in its original container, somewhere cool and dark.
• If you fill your own, use food-grade water containers. Wash them with dish soap, rinse, then sanitize with 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach per quart of water, and rinse again.
• Never use containers that held chemicals, or milk jugs, which are hard to clean and break down.

Rotation

• Replace water you bottled yourself every six months.
• Don’t count on carbonated drinks, coffee or alcohol: they dehydrate you.

If stored water runs out, treat what you can find: boil it or disinfect it with bleach.