Tips - Storing Drinking Water

My tip for Tuesday is on storing water for emergency purposes.  It's important to have water stored in your emergency 72 hour kits (enough for 2l per person per day).  It's also a good idea to have up to two weeks of water stored at home, in case there is a disruption of the water supply.  We've all seen the news reels of people rushing to the grocery stores to clean out the bottled water when a storm is coming, or if a disaster has happened.  Why not have the peace of mind to know you're already prepared for such an eventuality? 

This is an inexpensive family preparedness project that can be accomplished over a long period of time.  There are two types of water you need, drinking water and water for washing.  Water for washing is easy to store, I do what my sweet, smart mother did when I was a kid.  Every time I empty a bottle of bleach, I fill it with water and date it on the outside with a sharpie.  Because the water is stored in a bleach container, it will be clean, and ready to use for washing dishes, etcetera. 

As far as drinking water is concerned, you can re-use soft drink bottles as water storage containers.  We don't drink a lot of soda pop, usually only on birthdays or special occasions, or as a special treat.  When we do have a pop bottle that has been emptied, we wash it out really well with soap and water, then rinse it until all the soap residue is gone.  Then we fill it up with water, label it, and put it downstairs in our storage room.  Over the last few years we have ended up with over 40 2L bottles of drinking water.  Since we are using municipal treated water, we don't have to add a disinfectant to the water.  If you're using well water, you will have to add some bleach to your water.  It's also a good idea to store some water purification tablets with your water storage.  You can usually pick these up at a camping supply store or Scout shop.  Here's a link to the Provident Living website with specifics on how to store water.