You can be loaded to the max with all the gear and equipment in the world, but without water, you won’t survive three days.
Water is often the most overlooked survival item, despite being the most vital.
Stocking up on water may not be considered “fun,” but it should still be at the top of your list. First, let’s discuss what your priorities should be. How many people are in your group? Maybe you’re alone, or you have a family of six. As a general rule of thumb, you should have enough water set aside for each person to have one gallon per day.
If you can make it past the first three days of a crisis, then your chances of survival increase dramatically. Therefore, you should store or have reliable access to a minimum of three gallons of water per person.
Let’s look at your options:
Bottled Water
Having clean water to drink and cook with is vitally important. For short-term storage, simply buying plastic water bottles and gallon containers from the store is certainly one way to stock up on large quantities of it. The water within the bottles have an indefinite shelf life, but the plastic containers certainly do not (after all, they have an expiration date as required by law). The shelf life of plastic water bottles is generally between one to two years, but it will be increased if you can keep all of the bottles in a dry, cool and dark location away from light and heat.
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One obvious way to deal with the shelf life of plastic water bottles is to rotate all of your plastic bottles out every few years, but a more economical and simpler option may be to invest in containers that are designed specifically for storing water. These containers vary in size from 50-gallon immobile containers to small containers that you can carry with you. Having a variety of different sized water containers will come in handy.
Remember, for short-term survival you will need a minimum of three gallons of water per person, plus extra water for cooking and personal hygiene. But for the long term, you’ll have to increase your timescale from three days to several months. Yes, that’s a lot of water. Even if a natural disaster only lasts a day, the power grid can be out for weeks or even months. You’ll be glad you had all of this water stored properly if the need ever arises.
There are, of course, other options: natural water sources.
Natural Water Sources
You also must not discount natural water sources as a viable means of getting the water you need. Some natural sources are safe to drink, but other natural sources like rivers or lakes require you to have purification tablets or some sort of a water filter. Of course, you should have both water purification tablets and a water filter.
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Most water purification tablets are extremely effective for making water safe to drink. The primary ingredients in water purification tablets are chlorine, chlorine dioxide and iodine. They work by killing the pathogens in the water. Purification tablets can be stored in great quantities in small bottles and are effective for months or even years.
The other option: A good water filter. There are many reputable brands that, after being primed, work very well in allowing you to drink water straight from its natural source. Most of these water filters can also filter over 1,000 liters of water or more before going bad, making them a valuable addition to any survival pack. Some even can fit in your pocket.
So what should you do? Try covering all your bases: Store bottled water and – if you live near a water source – use tables and a water filter. After all, in a survival situation, you never can have enough water.
What water survival tips would you add? Share them in the section below: