Provident Living-Water!

Let's face it-most bodies cannot sustain life after a couple days without water, plain and simple. Yes, I have heard of people going for a week or longer, but what kind of state are they in by then. I'm not willing to try it and find out. If you do nothing else, store some water!

Here are some quick tips:

• Most sites recommend that you store at least 1 gallon of water, per person, per day, for 14 days.**
• If water comes directly from a good, pretreated source, no additional purification needed.
• Store in sturdy, leak-proof, breakage-resistant containers. Consider using plastic bottles commonly used for juices and sodas. (Do NOT use Milk containers as they will break!)
• Be sure to clean, rinse, and sanitize any containers that previously stored food products.
• Do not store your water on concrete-it eventually will start tasting like concrete. Put cardboard or wooden pallets under it to keep it off the floor.
• Keep water containers away from heat sources and direct sunlight.
• If you're storing it in your garage and you have cold winters, make sure you do not fill the container completely-to allow for expansion when the water freezes.
• Rotate your water at least every year (6 months is better). We do it General Conf. weekend so we remember.

Additional information:

***I've read several blogs of families that had to use their water after natural disasters. The one resounding comment was that the 1 gallon, per person, per day, was NOT enough. Yes, it will be enough to drink/cook a little, but you won't have any for sanitation/bathing, etc. They all recommended storing more.

Vary the containers that you store your water in so at least some is portable. A 55 gallon barrel is great if you're in your home the entire time, but you aren't going to be able to move it if you have to evacuate. There are several different options out there. I'm attaching a worksheet that discusses several of them. We have enough room to store water in our garage, so for our family of 4, we have 2-55 gallon barrels, several 5 gallon containers (think we got them at Walmart-they have a spigot on them), and then our 72 hour kits have the juice bottles that we've filled up. We also have some containers in our freezer, in case we loose power, we will use them to help keep the freezer cold.

If you need to treat your water, use 1/8 teaspoon (about 8 drops) of liquid chlorine bleach (5-6% sodium hypochlorite).  Let it sit for 30 minutes. If there isn't a slight smell of chlorine, retreat.Make sure that it does not have any scents, colorings, or additives in it. It's recommended that you have at least a gallon of bleach on hand in your storage. However, because liquid bleach is bulk and has instibility over time, many are turning to the chlorine used in hot tubs. See the attached sheet for more information.

Boiling is the safest way to purify water.

If you have to, you can use the water in your toilet tank (not the bowl) and your water heater. If you want more information on getting it out of your water heater, let me know.

Plan ahead. I live in Ohio and a couple years ago we felt the force on a hurricane that hit the coast. Yep, all the way up here we got it and hundreds of thousands lost power, some for a couple weeks. If I know that something like this is on the way, I fill my tubs. I do the same if I know there is an ice storm on the way, or a blizzard that's knocking out power.

Water Barrels

You can order used 55 gallon water barrels from Joe at www.ohiobarrel.com. If you order in bulk, you can get the price down to $7. 

We also have a local drum company that sales 55 gallon NEW drums for $50. They have smaller sizes, but they aren't much cheaper.

I know there are several emergency preparedness companies online that sale them, but they are pricy, especially with shipping. So check your local area first before you drop $100 for one barrel that you may have been able to get for FREE!

If nothing else, plan a trip up here to see me and we'll go get barrels for you!!!!

FYI-barrels come in different colors-blue, gray, white. Which is better you say? Blue. Why? Blue stands for water so it will let everyone know that water is stored in that barrel. Second, the blue is opaque so it keeps the sunlight out, thus reducing your chance of microorganisms growing in your water. If you have white, don't throw them out. If you're worried, just grab a large black lawn garbage bag and throw it over the top to block out the sun. Problem solved!

If you have questions about water storage, please comment or email me. I have a ton other information about different ways to treat water, but I don't want to post it all and overwhelm you.

Download Water Storage Handout

One last thing, for anyone who gets paranoid easily (yes, I do sometimes, I admit it). As I've done my research on water storage, I started finding articles that said if I used my garden hose to fill up my water containers, I was poisoning my family with lead. Additionally, if I used PETE containers (those that hold juices, etc), that chemicals from the plastic leak into the water and can be toxic. My poor husband probably thought I had gone insane. I was calling him up at work telling him that we needed a new hose, and that our garden was being filled with lead water, etc. I read and read (probably read way more than I needed) and this is what we have decided. Yes, some water hoses are made with stuff that has lead in them. And the water in the hoses has been tested by companies like Consumer Reports, and shows that after the water has sat in the hoses for extended periods of time, the lead does leak out. But I feel, #1-if I'm using new water, and just filling a barrel, the water isn't sitting in the hose long enough to get the lead. And #2-this is emergency water. When all is said and done, I may end up drinking water that is a lot worse off then a little leaded water, if I really need to use it. If you're worried about the lead in your hoses, go online and you can purchase "unleaded" hoses. As far as the chemicals leaking from the plastic bottles, well, if it's really leaking, I'm probably getting a higher dose from things I do in my "daily living" than with what I'd get if I had to use this water in an EMERGENCY.

If I sit around and wait for the perfect water storage containers, stored in the perfect location, etc, I'll never get it done. We live in an imperfect world and we need to do the best with what we have. If you ONLY have milk jugs, fill them up. (Just store them somewhere where they won't harm stuff if they burst). But it's better than nothing.