What if you turned on your faucet and no water came out? That will never happen, right? Well, if the power grid went down, the municipal water supply would soon be interrupted. A power grid failure could happen from terrorist hackers or simply from an overload like happened on August 14, 2003 Northeast United States, which plunged 55 million Americans and Canadians into darkness. A major economic collapse would be much worse, disrupting transportation and delivery of chemicals needed to treat the water. Don’t count on bottled water being available – store shelves are emptied within hours of a crisis.
The good news is that you YETI ONE GALLON can be self reliant very easily. While everyone might not want to be so prepared as to be able to fetch water from rivers and retention ponds and drink it without worry, you can be that prepared very easily. However, it is critical to understand what is in the water that can make you very sick and what you can do about it.
Step 1: Start by Storing Some Water
Do I need to buy water jugs?
While you can buy 6 gallon plastic water jugs at Walmart for $10, this is not recommended. They cost too much money and too hard to move around (a full 6 gallon jug weighs about 50 lbs.). Instead, just rinse out 2 liter pop bottles and use them. They are free and you don’t even need a special “storage area” as you can put them in the back of the closet, in the car, or wherever you have a little space. The thicker two quart and gallon fruit juice bottles are also great. While they seem popular on a lot of ‘preparedness supply’ websites, the blue 50 gallon water drums seem impractical for anyone without a dedicated survival retreat. If a hurricane is coming and you fear water may be interrupted, or just want a larger supply, there is an economical, hundred gallon bladder worth looking into called the WaterBob, which you set in your bathtub and fill. It is worth looking into building a bathtub sized box in your basement and putting one of these in for only $25.
Do NOT use gallon milk jugs, as they are a pain in the neck. The plastic is too thin and will degrade in a few months, and unlike a two liter bottle, if you drop it you will have a big mess.
How much should I store?
The rule of thumb is that you need to store a gallon per day per person to ensure a good supply for drinking, cooking and minimal sanitation (hand washing, dish washing and brushing teeth). This does not take into account bathing and laundry. Your water will go farther if you have some paper plates and cups and plastic utensils in your cupboard
