It is difficult to store a lot of water. It is heavy and takes up a lot of space. It is important to have a basic supply of water in storage though. You should have a minimum of one gallon per person per day for 3-5 days, and more is better if you can practically store more. Many people can’t. So what happens if you run out of water and clean running water has not been restored?
You are going to need to look for water that can be purified and used. You will need a container to carry it in, and a way to purify it. There is a good chance it will need to be strained. Then you can either boil it, treat it chemically, or filter it through special water filters. There are emergency water straws and tubes, filtering drink bottles, and even counter-top filtration systems that are good. However, these can be expensive to meet the needs of a family. If you do not have filtering equipment right now, but you want to be prepared, here is a simple $5.00 water treatment system to start with. You can upgrade as time and money will afford.
Start with a simple 2 1/2 gallon plastic bucket that has a tight fitting. lid. You can buy a new one from the food storage store in Alpine, sometimes WinCo in Orem, or I got mine free from the bakery department at Smith’s. If you get it from a grocery store bakery you will have to ask, and you may even have to clean out the old frosting that came in it and wash it well with a lot of good dish detergent and hot water. However, a nice free bucket keeps this in budget.
You will need – a bucket, a strainer, a package of coffee filters, a 4 cup measuring cup, a small bottle of plain unscented chlorine bleach, and a 6 pack of water bottles. You can get these things at the local dollar store. If you already have water bottles for an emergency, and you are going to hang on to them when they are empty, get a little kitchen timer instead. (My upgrade on this system is a timer and a dropper.)
The first thing to do to get your kit ready is mark the side of your bucket with a permanent marker. Using the measuring cup, measure 4 cups (one quart) of water from your tap and pour it in the bucket. With the permanent marker, make a line where the water comes to. If you are doing this where there is enough light you will be able to see this through the side. Pour in another quart and mark the side again. Do this all the way up the bucket.
When you have the quarts marked, turn the bucket around and write the instructions on it so you will know when the time comes what to do.
For every quart of water you need to purify you should add 3 drops of the bleach, and wait 30 minutes. If it smells just a little bit like bleach you should have safe water. If it doesn’t at all, you should repeat the steps one more time. I like the little dropper and timer just to make sure I have it right. Leave the little battery tab in the back of the timer until you really need it. Then you can pull it out and time.
Your kit is ready for an emergency now. You can pack it all away in the bucket. To make it fit, you will have to put the strainer in first. *If using bleach, you should rotate it every 3 months with a new bottle.
When you need to use this kit, place a coffee filter in the strainer and place the strainer on the edge of the bucket. Now slowly pour the water from the container you collected it in, through the coffee strainer. This takes out any debris.
After you have the water strained, check the side of the bucket to see how many quarts you have in the bucket.
Add three drops of bleach for each quart you have. If you have a timer, set it for 30 minutes. If your water has a slight chlorine smell, fill your water bottles so you each have drinking water, and a new batch can be started in the bucket or stored there with the lid on it.
Used carefully, this system can keep you in drinking water for at least a couple of weeks until you have a way to boil it. If you want to upgrade and have a purifier that stores better and gives you more weeks of purification, look on line for calcium hypochlorite Ca9CIO)2 granular. I now keep a bottle of this in my bucket.