How to Get Started - Water Considerations

After much discussion with people who have been prepping, the general thought is to begin or start with the notion of having food and water storage to allow for one's family to survive for at least 3 days to a week. Depending upon one's seriousness of intent, many try to develop stores for a longer period of time up to a year or more. The notion of creating such stores can be daunting in terms of cost, space, logistics and more.

I was advised to begin with water. Why? We can all survive without food for 24-48 hours, but try to do that without water is incredibly difficult. Also, if we have extra water available, we can always use that to pour into toilets to get them to flush, in case of water outages. Creature comforts are important considerations when preparing our selves for survival.

Ideally we would have at least a gallon of water per individual per day. For my own personal preps, I have and maintain 3-4 5 gallon water bottles, and have several cases of water bottles put away on shelves. Some people have suggested keeping water in soda bottles, frozen, in an extra freezer. That can be useful in keeping the freezer cold in case of an electrical outage.

There are many types and methods of water purification available. Bleach, sophisticated water filtration systems, simple straw type purifiers exist to also help with obtaining drinkable water in case of water outage. In later posts, I will describe various methods that I or others I know of, have used personally. My next post will focus on beginning food stores.