Water is an essential for life. The human body is approximately 78% for babies, and between 55 and 60% for adults (per Wikipedia). An average adult can live for about 3 days without water, and infants less than that. (We can live without food for weeks to months.)

Experts state that approximately 14 gallons of drinking water should be stored per year per adult. The resources that I perused stated approximately the same amount for children under the age of 6. Personally, I would store at least half again as much water for a child, infant or person who is ill. This estimate is for drinking water only and does not include water for bathing, personal care or cooking.

Water sources: city water supply, hot water tank, toilet tank, melted ice cubes, well water, ponds, streams or lakes. Canned milk, juice, infant formula or meal replacements such as Ensure*, Slim Fast* or something similar. Even juices from canned vegetables and fruits can serve as fluid replacement in an emergency. If you plan to use your well for emergency water supply, remember that pumps won't work in the event of a power failure. Generators can be used to power pumps, but I've heard several stories of burning up a pump motor using generator power. Pumps are not cheap to replace. My suggestion is to have a hand pump or use a system that allows you to draw water from the well by hand. There is a link under my emergency preparedness section for a system such as this. It is simple and inexpensive to make and use.

Disinfection of water.
Most of the time, water from city resources can be trusted, however in the event of an emergency such as a pipe line break (earthquakes, tornados, terrorist activities), I would decontaminate all my drinking water. This can be handled many different ways. Boiling: Boil water for at least 3-5 minutes to kill most bacteria such as giardia, cryptosporidium and ecoli. Bleach, at the rate of 1/8 teaspoon or 8 drops should be added to water. Use only plain bleach, not those with additives such as scents or fabric softeners, etc. Water should be strained if it has debris in it. This can be accomplished by using a piece of pantyhose or stocking and pouring the water through it into a clean container. Commercial water filters may be used, but they tend to be expensive and do not do any better of a job than using the above methods. Cloudy water should be clarified by allowing it to sit in a container, allowing the sediment to settle to the bottom and carefully dipping out the clear water on the top. Commercial water purification tablets may be purchased and used according to directions. In our emergency backpack, we also have a small water purification kit that contains an iodine type solution. We also packed a pair of pantyhose in each backpack. The commercial kits and tablets can be purchased at any sporting goods store or in the sporting goods section of larger department stores. They are relatively inexpensive.

Storage: Stored drinking water can be stored in any clean, sanitized, heavy duty container and should be kept covered. In the event of an emergency, water from the hot water tank may be ingested. We purchased 2-55 gallon barrels, disinfected them with bleach and filled them with water. I would suggest that if you use something of this sort, secure the barrels to a sturdy structure (wall, support post) with metal straps to keep them from tipping over in the event of an earthquake. These containers, when filled, weigh in excess of 400 pounds and could be dangerous if tipped over. Also, if you decide to use a large barrel, be sure to have a siphon pump to get your water from the barrel. There's no tipping the barrel over for a pitcher of water. (smiles) We also have 7 gallon plastic containers that we've filled with water. Since we don't have a spring, pond or creek running closeby, we keep our 16 foot diameter by 40 inch deep swimming pool filled year round with water. It came in handy for bathing during last year's ice storm when our power was out for 2 1/2 weeks. (No, we didn't go swimming in the frigid January weather, we carried water in, heated and used it to bathe. However, I did use cool water to wash my hair. It can create a "brain freeze" when you pour it on your head, but cool water is a lot more gentle to your hair and makes it softer.) There is a year round creek but it is about 1/2 mile from the house. Carrying water that far would be tedious, but could be done if necessary. Add bleach to stored drinking water at the rate of 1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of water. Stored water tends to have an odd taste, it seems "flat". This can be remedied somewhat by aerating the water. To aerate water, pour it back and forth between 2 containers several times. I've even stored water during inclement weather in the bathtub, washer and in pitchers stored in the refrigerator. One word of caution, don't store water in the plastic jugs such as those that come from the grocery store. These deteriorate over time, and as we have found out much to our dismay, will leak profusely. Fortunately our water was stored in a bottom level room with a concrete floor, but we still had a huge mess to clean. Can you imagine what would have happened had this been stored in an apartment or an upper floor? The containers that deteriorated were purchased only a year ago. Replace all stored water annually. We do this during the summer months and use the stored water to water our gardens. It's a good way to use, rather than waste that which we've stored. Label your storage containers with the contents of the container and the date it was stored.



resources:
http://www.preparedness.com
www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/emergency/water.html
providentliving.org/content/display