July Week 2: Water, solar shower, filter

This week's food storage item is:

July Week 2: Water: fill jugs or buy bottled water, water filter, solar shower

Water is oh, so important to have in your storage!

We keep large water barrels that we'll be using for hygiene (bathing, cleaning, washing clothes and dishes).

Notice the pump that I keep right with the barrels. If we need to use the water from the barrels, we just screw that pump into the hole, and then we can pump the water out, as needed. If we didn't have that, we would have to figure out how to siphon it out with some sort of food-safe hose.

In smaller containers, we keep the drinking water.

At one point I thought it would be such a smart idea to just buy a gallon or two of water each week when I did my grocery shopping. I began to get a great supply of water on my shelves. Then, one by one, the jugs that the water was in (basically like a milk jug), started leaking on my shelves. At first I thought it was just a random jug that must have had a flaw. So, I cleaned up the water that had leaked out, and forgot about it for a couple of weeks. Soon I had leaks in several of them. Apparently those jugs aren't made to hold liquids for long periods of time.  I ended up emptying the jugs into my flower beds, and then replaced them with good, solid, larger water containers. These will last longer than I'll be around, so I should be good!

We also have a solar shower, which would come in handy in an emergency. We would just use water from our big blue barrels, then put it in the container of the solar shower, and could have a little shower if needed (and I'm sure it would be needed!)

We also have a little filter. The water that I have stored for drinking water shouldn't need a filter, but if we need additional water, and have to use a source that may not be entirely clean, we would use our filter for that.

As far as amounts to store, the rule of thumb is to store one gallon per person per day, for at least three days. Even better is to have enough for 10 days, and the best scenario is to have enough for 30 days. So, for the two members of my family who are living in our home at this time, I would need a total of 60 gallons for a 30 day supply.

There is some good, pertinent information on lds.org about storing water. To read more on that, click here. It goes over containers, water pre-treatment, storage, and purification. Good information to have as you think about your water storage.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.