It’s been 36 hours since the earthquake. The shaking stopped, you checked on your neighbors, your family is accounted for. Things are hard, but you’re managing.
Then someone turns on the kitchen faucet out of habit. And nothing comes out. Not a trickle. Not even a groan from the pipes. Just – nothing.
The water main broke somewhere up the street. You don’t know when it will be fixed. Could be hours. Could be days. Could be longer.
You open the fridge. There’s half a pitcher of filtered water and a couple of sports drinks. Maybe enough for today. Maybe.
Now what?
If you’ve never thought about this before, you’re not alone. We turn on the tap dozens of times a day without thinking about it. Water is just one of the things we don’t think about until it’s not there.
But here’s the good news: storing water is simple, it’s cheap, and once you’ve done it, it’s done. Let’s make sure that when the tap runs dry, you’re ready.
How Much Water Do You Actually Need?
According to FEMA and the American Red Cross, the minimum recommendation is one gallon per person per day – half a gallon for drinking, half a gallon for basic hygiene and food preparation. That’s the baseline, not the ceiling.
In reality, you may need more. Hot weather increases your water needs. Physical activity increases your water needs. If someone in your household is sick, pregnant, or nursing, they’ll need more water. Children may need less, but not as much less as you’d think.
For your household, here’s how to think about it:
Minimum target: 3 days. Multiply the number of people in your household by 3 gallons each. For a family of four, that’s 12 gallons. This is the bare minimum that emergency management agencies recommend.
Better target: 2 weeks. That same family of four would need 56 gallons for two weeks. It sounds like a lot, but it’s achievable – and in a major disaster like a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, infrastructure could be down for that long or longer.
Don’t forget your pets. Dogs need about an ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. Cats need about half that. Factor them into your calculations.
How to Store Water Safely
The good news is that water storage doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s what works:
Commercial bottled water is the easiest option. It’s already sealed, it’s food-safe, and rotation is simple – just use it and replace it. Cases of bottled water from the grocery store work perfectly fine.
Food-grade water containers designed for storage are another solid choice. Look for containers marked “food-safe” or “HDPE” plastic (that’s the #2 recycling symbol). Blue water storage containers from camping or emergency supply stores are designed specifically for this purpose.
Don’t use milk jugs. This is a common mistake. Milk jugs are made from thin plastic that degrades over time, and the milk proteins are nearly impossible to fully remove – they can promote bacterial growth even after washing.
Store water in a cool, dark place away from chemicals, gasoline, or anything with strong odors. Plastic can absorb odors over time, and heat accelerates the breakdown of plastic containers.
Rotate your stored water every 6-12 months. Tap water treated with chlorine will stay safe for a long time, but rotation keeps your supply fresh and gives you a regular reminder to check your containers for leaks or damage.
One more thing: Not everyone can handle a 40-pound water container. If you’re older, if you have mobility issues, if you have a bad back or arthritis – don’t let that stop you from storing water. Just store it in containers you can actually use. A dozen 1-gallon jugs is the same amount of water as a 12-gallon container. It takes up a little more space, but you can move it, pour it, and use it without hurting yourself or asking for help. The best water storage system is the one you can actually use when you need it.
The Emergency Water Source Already in Your Home
Here’s something most people don’t know: your water heater is an emergency water reserve. A standard residential water heater holds 30 to 50 gallons of drinkable water – and it’s already in your house.
In an emergency where tap water is no longer flowing, you can drain your water heater to access that water. Here’s how:
- Turn off the power or gas to the water heater first. For electric heaters, flip the breaker. For gas heaters, turn the gas valve to “off” or “pilot.”
- Turn off the water supply to the heater (there’s a valve on the cold water inlet pipe at the top).
- Let the water cool if the heater has been running recently. You don’t want to drain scalding water.
- Attach a hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank, or place a bucket underneath it.
- Open a hot water faucet somewhere in the house to break the vacuum and allow the tank to drain.
- Open the drain valve and let gravity do the work.
This is a one-time reserve, not a renewable source. Once it’s drained, it’s gone until water service is restored. But 30-50 gallons can make a significant difference in an extended outage.
Know how to do this before you need to. Consider doing a practice drain during routine water heater maintenance – it’s a good way to flush sediment from the tank anyway.
Water Purification Basics
Stored water in clean containers is safe to drink. But what if you need to use water from an uncertain source – a creek, a rain barrel, a neighbor’s pool that’s been sitting without chemicals?
Here’s what you need to know about making water safe:
Boiling is the gold standard. Bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute. If you’re at elevations above 6,500 feet, boil for three minutes. Boiling kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites. It works every time.
Household bleach works too. Use regular, unscented liquid chlorine bleach with 5-9% sodium hypochlorite – check the label. Add 8 drops (about 1/8 teaspoon) per gallon of clear water, stir, and let stand for 30 minutes before drinking. The water should have a slight chlorine smell. If it doesn’t, repeat the dose and wait another 15 minutes.
If the water is cloudy, filter it through a clean cloth, coffee filter, or paper towel first. Then boil or treat with bleach as above. Cloudy water requires double the amount of bleach.
Purification tablets and portable filters are useful additions to your supplies. Water purification tablets (iodine or chlorine dioxide) are lightweight and easy to store in a go-bag. Portable filters like the Sawyer Mini or LifeStraw can filter thousands of gallons. Read the instructions for your specific product – not all filters remove viruses.
Know the limitations. Boiling and chemical treatment kill living pathogens, but they don’t remove chemical contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, or petroleum products. If you suspect chemical contamination, don’t use that water source at all.
Your Action Steps This Week
Here’s what I want you to actually do – this week, not someday:
- Calculate your household’s water needs for 3 days. Number of people times 3 gallons. Write that number down.
- Buy or set aside that amount. Even if it’s just cases of bottled water from the grocery store – that counts.
- Locate your water heater’s drain valve and make sure you know how to access it in an emergency.
- Pick up a small bottle of unscented bleach and write the purification ratio on it with a permanent marker: “8 drops per gallon, 30 minutes.”
That’s it. None of those steps cost much money. None of them require special skills. They just require a little time and intention.
Free Download
To go with this episode, we’ve put together a free Water Storage Guide – a printable PDF with storage amounts by household size, container guidance, purification ratios, and the water heater drain procedure step-by-step.
A PDF Water Storage Guide is available for download.
Water storage isn’t glamorous. It’s not the exciting part of emergency preparedness. But when the tap runs dry, nothing else matters until you solve this problem first.
Get your water squared away. Then you’re ready for what comes next.
– Cascadia Ready Radio
“Be ready at home. Be ready to help.”
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform or at cascadiareadyradio.com.