How To Find a 7 days water supply during an emergency
Why do you need a 7-Days Emergency Water supply for survival during an emergency?
Without water, you can't live more than a few days. During an emergency, is that even more accurate. You'll need to have at least one liter of drinking water per person available every day. Bottled water for emergencies is sold in packs of 6, 12, or 24 bottles. The rule of thumb is that you need about 2 liters of water per person every day. If the emergency lasts longer than a week, you should think about other possibilities to get drinking water.
Water from rivers and lakes can be polluted and make you sick if it's not cleaned correctly (for example, with iodine tablets). Depending on how long the emergency will last, these sources might dry out completely or get polluted/contaminated.
Water that comes from the ground is pure and clean, of course, depending on where you live (deserts and other dry areas tend to have groundwater that's saltier than water from wetter regions).
However, it can be hard to extract that water without the right equipment. Various methods include pumping with a manual pump or drilling down into the ground and removing water through a hand-pump-operated drill pipe.
Wells
If you have access to a well, you can use our home water treatment system or any other product that can remove contaminants from water to make the groundwater drinkable again. Several products on the market can treat, purify and even filter groundwater, making it clean enough for drinking. Of course, you should do some research first before investing in an expensive filtration/treatment system just in case you don't need it.
If you have a well, you should take safety precautions just in case the emergency is severe enough to contaminate groundwater, including Keeping your well covered and checking that it's still covered after an emergency happens. Use a properly installed treatment system if needed. Drill a backup well for emergencies. Drilling a backup well can be a good idea if your central well is too far from the house or close to a river that might contaminate it. A backup well can help you provide water to the house even after a disaster has struck and flooded/contaminated your current well.
Water from rivers and lakes Even though this might be a viable source of drinking water in some emergencies, you'll need to take the same precautions as when using groundwater. Ensure it's filtered or treated before drinking (check this for river water, of course). Lake/pond If you live close to a lake or even a pond, get some barrels and start filling them with water. Depending on how big your barrel is, you can store a lot of clean drinking water if you have the proper method to transport the water from the lake or pond to where you need it.
There are some simple ways to get your barrels filled up with water, like using a small electric pump and a long hose so you can pump water from a boat onto land, for example. This way, you can transport a few barrels at once. If you do it while people are fishing, they might even give you some of their catch in return while you're filling up your barrels with lake or pond water. Of course, always ask before taking someone else's catch! River If there is a river near the house, make sure to collect rainwater too. Rain is free drinking water, as long as you have an easy way to make it accessible for everyone in the house.
Water barrels are great for collecting rainwater, but you can also make a simple device with materials lying around your yard. This piece of equipment is called a rain barrel, and it's beneficial during the rainy season, and it's even more helpful during emergencies when you suddenly need a lot of water. Rainwater is free of contaminants and, therefore, the best choice for drinking water is if you have barrels put them under every drainpipe from your roof so you'll collect as much rain as possible. Of course, this device can also be used to direct water from the roofs of sheds and other buildings on your property towards a specific location, like that barrel you filled up with lake water before.
Supplies needed to make a rain barrel: a few meters of flexible hose (garden hose), nails and rope, plastic sheeting 2x4 lumber, screws or nails some containers to catch the water.
Tools needed to make a rain barrel: saw or hacksaw drill or screwdriver shovel or spade. Making a rainwater harvesting system has never been easier; follow this simple tutorial, and you'll be making your water catcher in no time! Check out this video to see how it's done.
What if there is no water nearby?
Not all emergencies happen near a lake, river, or pond. In some cases, you might be stranded in the desert or somewhere else where there is no water nearby. In this case, you need to have some portable ways to collect and purify groundwater for drinking purposes. A reliable way to do this is a solar still. The easiest way to make a water purification system from the sun is with a simple plastic bag, but it will only work if you have enough sunlight and clear skies during your emergency. The 5-gallon solar bag is the perfect device that allows you to use the sun's energy for at least five gallons of water. It comes with a connector, so you can attach a standard garden hose and direct the purified water into a container of your choice. The bag will heat up in the sun and evaporate ground/rainwater inside it; this vapor condenses on the plastic walls and drips off to collect as drinking water. Note that solar stills only work in hot climates.
Another important note is that these devices don't sterilize the water, so if the water you are collecting has micro-organisms in it, they can cause serious health problems when you drink them. It doesn't mean you shouldn't purify the water, though! If there are no dangerous micro-organisms in the water and it looks reasonably clean, you can boil it before drinking it. This way, you will kill those hazardous bacteria that cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems.
Combining boiling the water and collecting rainwater is a suitable method, too, as long as you boil all the collected rainwater first (and remember to let it cool down again) before storing it in clean containers.
If you are collecting water from rivers, ponds, or lakes, find out what types of creatures live in the water and if they can transfer diseases when consumed. Ponds with fish in them, like carp, should be fine to drink as long as there aren't any dead animals (like cows) or plants in the pond. If you have to purify water with chemicals because of an emergency, use only the recommended amount of chlorine. Please don't leave it in contact with the water for longer than necessary.
What if you are stuck inside your house during an emergency? Is there a way to collect rainwater then?
Sure there is! When the rain comes pouring down, you can just put out a container in front of that window that is leaking or pour out any tub, bucket, or another container to accumulate rainwater. If you have some water storage tanks for your garden, this is also a great way to collect extra water while it's raining. Just make sure to cover the container with a lid to prevent insects from getting inside and make it more convenient to store the collected water.
Another method is to collect rainwater by hanging out a long tube or hose from your roof, and this way, water will run down the surface of the tubing and order in a container at its end. Place an empty barrel under the end of the tubing, make sure to secure it firmly so there is no chance the container gets knocked over.
It doesn't matter how small, or large your emergency water supply is, as long as you have one and know how to use it! So why not make a 7-days emergency water supply for survival? It's straightforward and includes all the water you need for drinking, cooking, and basic hygiene. You have to store seven one-liter bottles of water per person for a week! That's no different than buying three big 1-gallon jugs of bottled water.
It makes very little difference if you are thirsty or not, so it's useless to conserve water when your basic needs aren't met. It's better to drink a little bit more during an emergency instead of saving every drop.
Accordingly, all members of the family need to have seven one-liter bottles of water in their home. How can they store that much water? Well, you could use a couple of water storage tanks or just put seven full one-gallon jugs on the table. This is just an estimate though, if you happen to have water purification tablets available (or bleach), you could reduce the amount of stored water. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Most importantly, all family members know how to use the water storage system during an emergency! It means they should also know how to open and pour water bottles and how to drink them.
During an emergency event, you might be too busy or stressed out to think about this stuff. So make sure your children or other household members know what to do if the water supply suddenly disappears. It might sound not very easy at first, but it's not! Just let your family members play around with the bottles of water until they are all empty. That way, everyone can be sure that they know how to open and drink from a bottle of water when the time comes for real!
What if the water supplies are cut off, and you cannot collect rainwater or use your emergency storage during an emergency?
Then look for some other means of collecting, storing, and purifying water. If that doesn't work out either, then it's time to get creative! Dig a well if there is enough ground on your property. If not, find a neighbor with a ditch for irrigation and dig down until you reach the water table. If you don't have a shovel, make one from wood or other improvised materials using only what you can find inside your house.
The key to survival is ensuring everyone knows how to open and drink from a water bottle during an emergency! You have to keep a 7-days supply of water in your home. It's that simple! Just make sure you know how to get the water out of the bottles and don't let it run out... Even if you can't get any more after day 6 or 7, you should still have enough water for two people for another 2-3 days. That's why you always need to keep a seven-day emergency water supply on hand, and it makes no difference if you're thirsty or not! Remember that the only important thing is to know how to get water out of the bottles and use them in critical situations.
If everyone knows this simple rule, it will be sufficient to store only 1-2 gallon jugs of water instead of 7 one-liter bottles. It makes very little difference if you are thirsty or not, so it's useless to conserve water when your basic needs aren't met. It's better to drink a little bit more during an emergency instead of conserving every drop. Just make sure you know how to pour out the water during an emergency.
You'll be able to take comfort knowing that even though there may be no running water, electricity, gas stations operating, etc., at least you will always have clean drinking water. If anything else happens where we need to evacuate our homes quickly due to unsafe conditions outside (like fire), then I know my family will still be safe inside. After all, they can't survive without food and drinkable water, so now I feel safer.
I just recently purchased a couple of these packs for my home and family members. Although I am not expecting anything to happen, it's still better to be safe than sorry, especially since it won't take up much space in our tiny apartment. I'm already thinking about ordering more! We could add them to our other survival kits and other supplies we already have for an extra layer of protection.
The price is excellent too, which makes it even better! The fact that they are not bulky at all means I can bring them anywhere I want. Because they are already packaged, I can take them with me when hiking or camping, which is a bonus. Use our Survival Store to get all emergency kit items you need to be safe and protect your family!