I'm in a pretty safe part of the country, at least geographically. I store about 30 gallons of water at all times, and I feel bad/lazy that I don't keep more. For a while I've been meaning to get a couple of the 55 gallon barrels and the water treatment but I've never "got around to it" yet. Better get it done this summer!

Water is so amazingly cheap and plentiful when weighed against the consequences of not having it. I've always been amazed at folks that don't store any at all! We take it for granted that when we turn on the tap, water will flow. In many parts of the world that's a luxury people don't have. Lots of things could temporarily disrupt the water supply. In the last few years I can recall at least one boil order and one time when part of the town was w/o water briefly after a big main broke.

I keep in rotation a stock of at least 9 Kirkland bottled water cases (47.5 gallons). In other words, I use the oldest first. That's 47.5 gallons for a family of 3. I should probably up that to at least 12 cases (63.3 gallons) because most of my family and surrounding neighbors are clueless.

I store enough for about a week. But the truth is, if I lose water where I live (Washington, D.C.), I'd be leaving the city within a couple days (well, probably a couple hours). Have a place to go that's on a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay and which has well water, a backup generator and two very large propane tanks that would power everything, including the a/c, for a couple weeks.

If I can't get to that place in an emergency it will be Mad Max for real on the east coast.



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Plus some for the pets...

Water, and Sanitation. No mattter how primative the level of technology or infrastructure, the need to get potable water in and non-potable waste out is a universal need for all human settlements.

Water is cheap, and soap and emergency toilets aren't that expensive.

If you build it, they will come!