Store Two Weeks Of Water Without Buying Barrels

Water Is The Gap Most Homes Have

Most homes have some food in the pantry. Very few homes have much water. When the tap stops or a notice says the water is not safe to drink, the shelves at the store empty fast.

A common planning number is one gallon per person each day. That covers drinking and basic cleaning. For a family of four, two weeks comes to about 56 gallons. That sounds like a lot. It is really just a few shelves and a closet floor.

You do not need a rain barrel or a big blue drum to start. You can build most of this with containers already in your kitchen and garage. The goal is not perfect. The goal is having water in the house before you need it.

Use Containers You Already Own

Walk through your home and look for food grade containers with tight lids. These are the ones that already held something you eat or drink.

Good options you may already have:

• Empty two liter soda bottles. These are strong and made for liquid under pressure.
• Store bought water jugs and gallon jugs. Reuse them once they are empty and clean.
• Juice bottles with screw caps. Rinse well so no sugar is left behind.
• Clean pitchers with lids for water you plan to use in a day or two.
• A large stock pot with a lid for short term storage during a warning.

Skip milk jugs for long storage. The plastic is thin and milk protein is hard to rinse out fully. They also crack at the seams over time. If a milk jug is all you have, use it for washing water and mark it that way.

Also skip any container that held soap, bleach, or chemicals. Even a good rinse can leave residue behind.

Fill, Label, And Place

Wash each bottle with warm soapy water. Rinse until you smell nothing. Then fill from the cold tap unless your utility has told you the water is not safe.

Write two things on tape on every bottle. Write the word DRINKING or WASHING. Write the date you filled it. That takes five seconds and saves confusion later when you are tired and the lights are out.

Now spread the bottles out. Do not stack all of them in one corner. Water is heavy and a single spot can be hard to reach if that room is blocked or flooded.

Spots that work well in most homes:

• Bottom shelf of a hall closet
• Under a bed in flat rows
• Back of the lowest kitchen cabinet
• Basement shelf off the concrete floor on a board or mat
• Bottom of a bedroom closet behind shoes

Keep bottles out of direct sun and away from gasoline, paint, and pesticides. Plastic can pick up strong odors from nearby containers. A dark cool spot is best.

If you have a garage that freezes, leave a few inches of air at the top of each bottle. Water expands when it freezes and a full rigid bottle can split.

Add Washing Water And A Refill Habit

Drinking water is only part of the need. You also want water for dishes, hand washing, and flushing. This water does not need to be as clean, so you can store more of it cheaply.

A five gallon bucket with a lid works well. So does a clean trash can lined with a fresh bag, though that is better for a short warning than long storage. Some people keep two or three buckets in a laundry room and call it good.

Also learn the fast fill trick. When you hear a storm warning or a repair notice, fill the bathtub. A tub holds a lot of washing water. Rinse the tub first and know that the drain may leak slowly. A simple tub liner bag sold for this purpose costs a few dollars and holds the water better.

Once a year, swap out the stored drinking water. Pour old bottles on the garden or into the washing machine. Refill and write the new date. Pick a day you already remember, like a birthday or the time change, so you do not have to track it.

Know Your Backup Sources

Your house already holds water you may forget about. Learning these now is free.

The water heater tank holds many gallons. There is a drain valve near the bottom. Find it today and see if a hose fits. Learn how to shut off power or gas to the heater first, since heating an empty tank can damage it. If you are unsure about any of this, ask a plumber during a normal service visit.

The pipes in your home also hold water. If the supply stops, a faucet at the lowest point in the house can drain some of it out. Toilet tanks hold clean water, though not the bowl, and not if you use tank cleaning tablets.

For cloudy or questionable water, most public health guidance points to boiling as the simple method at home. A rolling boil for one minute is the common instruction. Check with your local water utility or health department for the advice that applies where you live, since local rules and conditions differ.

What To Do Today

Set a timer for ten minutes. Find every empty two liter bottle, juice bottle, and water jug in your recycling and cabinets. Wash three of them with soap and hot water, rinse them well, and fill them from the cold tap. Put a strip of tape on each one and write DRINKING plus today’s date.

Put those three bottles in three different spots. One under a bed. One in a hall closet. One in the lowest kitchen cabinet. That is three gallons you did not have this morning, and it cost nothing.

Next week, wash three more. Keep going until you hit your two week number.