Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by Lisa Vargas
Storing water is probably the most important component of a good survival plan. But oftentimes it seems that most people have adequate amounts of food, gear, tools, and other prepping items, but fall short when it comes to the most important part of prepping.
More than likely this is because it can sometimes seem daunting to store enough water for a family of four or six in your garage. Usually, in the collapse of society, water is one of the first things that is compromised, along with electricity, due to the fact that these are public utilities that are run by the city.
According to the National Association of Search And Rescue (NASAR), the necessities of life include the following:
- Positive Mental Attitude
- Air/Oxygen
- Shelter/Clothing, Warmth
- Rest
- Signals (if you are lost and trying to be found)
- Water
- Food
On this list, how long a human can live without each item will be different, but in regards to food and water, it is widely known that you can go three weeks without food, but only three days without water. So think about that when you are prioritizing your prepping items. Before you go and buy another $200 in dehydrated food, you might want to make sure you have enough emergency water storage containers for your family.
With that said, Let’s first look at some important components of water storage before we do a review of some of the emergency water storage options that you have.
How Much Water Should You Store?
Typically the rule when it comes to emergency water storage is one gallon/person per day. How much of a water supply you want is up to you. So if you have a family of six, that means you will have to have 84 gallons of water stored just to drink.
Now, this isn’t including water that you may use if you are going to bathe, wash dishes, or water your garden. Again, the amount of water you store really depends on your personal preference, but to be safe, two weeks worth is a good place to start.
How Should You Store Water?
Storing water can seem a little complicated but it really doesn’t have to be. Some people think that water can go bad. But I’m here to tell you that this just isn’t the case. As long as you keep your water sealed tightly and stored properly, your water will be just fine. It’s more so in the treatment of the water before you drink it that needs to be paid special attention to.
I also hear a lot of talk around rain barrels and how they work and if the water from these barrels is safe to drink. Rainwater can be a little tricky because even though it’s gone through the hydrologic cycle, you will still need to treat it before you drink it because as it falls to the earth, it can pick up contaminants from the air.
Going back to the actual storing of water, do not store water in anything but food-grade water containers. Do not store in cardboard or metal containers. Metal containers can rust over a long period of time. You are only allowed to store in stainless steel containers.
But how do you tell if a container is food grade and safe to store water? Well, it’s actually more simple than you think. Turn over the container and look for the recycle symbol and it must match one of the following:
- #1 PETE (polyethylene terephthalate)
- #2 HDPE (high-density polyethylene). Make sure any #2 HDPE container is rated Food Safe.
- #4 LDPE (low-density polyethylene)
- #5 PP (polypropylene)
Don’t store water in food-grade containers that have stored other items such as milk, orange juice, or whatever because you can almost guarantee that you will never be able to wash all of the bacteria from the other items out completely.
Never store water in direct sunlight and always try and keep it as cool as possible. If a garage is all you have, you need to check and make sure it doesn’t get too hot during the summer.
Water Safety
Just because water is crystal clear, doesn’t mean it’s safe to drink. The quickest and surest way to know that your water is safe to drink is to boil it.
Secondly, water doesn’t go “bad,” but if you don’t store it correctly, you can actually die. It’s a harsh reality, but if you follow directions and do your research, you will be just fine.
Make sure you understand how to purify water using bleach or water-purifying tablets. Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate, commonly known as NaDCC is one of the active ingredients which helps kill bacteria that may be harmful to your health and cause things like parasites and dysentery.
When you add these tablets to your water, the tablets release hypochlorous acid that is recognized by many organizations, including the EPA, to be a safe disinfectant of water.
The best way to use these tablets is to use them for the water you are getting ready to drink, and not necessarily put them directly into your storage barrels, although you can pick up a bottle of water preserver concentration for your 50-gallon barrels if you wanted. The recommended dosage is one package of these water-purifying tablets for every .75 liters
Large Or Small Water Storage Containers?
One huge consideration is whether to buy large or small water containers. This question is going to depend on several different factors.
There are several things to consider when determining which type of emergency water container will work best for you including:
- How much space do you have to store your water?
- How much money do you to spend on your emergency water containers?
- How many people are in your family?
- In the case off a shtf event, will you be needing water to be portable or are you storing water at a separate bug out location?
- How long are you planning to store your water?
- Do you live in the city or do you live in the country?
As you will see below, there are large and small varieties of emergency water storage containers, depending on how you answered the above questions.
Food Grade Water Storage Containers
3.5 Gallon WaterBrick 1833-0003 Stackable Water
If you’re looking for smaller sized water storage containers, the 3.5-gallon stackable containers are perfect. If you don’t have a lot of room in your pantry, these can make for a great substitute for the larger sized 5-gallon containers.
Whether or not these smaller containers will work for you, depends on what you are preparing for. These little water storage containers are convenient, small, and portable and will fit nicely in the back of a closet or a pantry.
- 3.5 gallon containers (weighs 27 pounds at full capacity)
- Height: 6 inches
- Inside diameter: 3.25 inches
- Stackable containers
- You can store food, water, and anything else you want to keep dry
- Made in the USA (we love that!)
5 Gallon Water Storage Containers - API Kirk Containers Samson Stackers
The next size bigger are these nice API Kirk 5-gallon size water containers that are one of the most popular, well made, and sturdy containers on the market. I have some of these myself and I love them! They are stackable, and most important they are portable so that you can take them with you at a moments notice.
This is probably about the last size you can truly handle before it gets too heavy to move yourself (one of these full equals 40 pounds).
You should use these to store extra water in my garage for the short term, and then have a reliable, much larger backup source somewhere else such as your bug out location if you have one.
- Each container is approximately 11.25″ x 10″ x 14.25″ tall with the top approximately 1/4″ engaging with the bottom of a stacked container.
- High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) is a preferred polymer and is very safe
- Comes with a factory installed dust plug
- Includes a reusable gasketed cap
The manufacturer suggests that you can stack these containers four high, but it is suggested by other users that it is better, and more sensible, to stack only two to three high for safety reasons. Make sure you keep these containers from freezing as well, because they are not guaranteed in those conditions.
Also, during the summer, make sure if you live in hotter environments that you don’t store your emergency water storage containers in your garage where the temperature can rise about 110 degrees fahrenheit.
Reliance Products Aqua-Tainer 7 Gallon Rigid Water Container
This emergency water storage container can be used for a variety of different purposes, and is especially important as a water source to quickly load in a bug out vehicle and hit the road if you have to. It’s nice, compact, and easy to carry along with a unique space-saving design.
- Reversible hideaway spigot and screw-on vent.
- Stackable when empty.
- Material: Rigid and recyclable, BPA-free polyethylene (#2).
- Capacity: 7-gallons/26.5-liters.
- Dimensions: 15.75″H x 11″W x 11″D.
30-Gallon Water Container By Bay Tec
You can also go with a 30-gallon emergency water storage container such as this Bay Tec barrel. Again, it will depend on how long you plan on storing water, how many people you are storing for, and how much storage space you have.
- Made with high density polyethelyne
- Closed, non-removable top
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 19 x 31 inches ; 19 pounds
- UN Rating: Liquid UN1H1/Y1.8/100
- 2” NPS & 2” buttress fittings
You’re probably wondering what the NPS and buttress fittings mean exactly. Well, you can find some more information here about how important they are to providing tightly fitting caps..
Augason Farms Water Storage Barrel 55-Gallon Drum
Augason Farms is one of the most trusted brands among survivalists and preppers. They always produce high-quality products in a variety of different categories, and emergency water storage is no different.
Their 55-gallon water drum scores 4.8 stars out of 5, not surprisingly, and brings lots of positive reviews to the table. The 55-gallon water barrel, like most of the bigger models, does not have a removable lid but rather a cap that has a siphon attached to the cap.
These water storage barrels have been reported to do very well in high-heat temperatures, so storing them in your garage won’t be a problem. But remember, water weighs 8 pounds per gallon, so this barrel isn’t going anywhere without a forklift, so keep that in mind.
Some of its primary features include the following:
- BPA free (which is a must)
- Water storage barrel meets EPA standards
- The water storage barrel is made from food-grade polyethylene
- Weights 25.2 pounds
- Product dimensions: 25x25x35 inches
Now, after all of this said, you might have heard that you can store your emergency water supply in stainless steel barrels. Well, there’s one impractical fact about that – the price. Believe it or not, a
55-gallon stainless steal water storage can run run you close to $799! I ran across this pretty interesting story about stainless steel water barrels which you might want to read. At any rate, they aren’t very practical for the average prepper.
Good Ideas RW50-OAK Rain Wizard Rain Barrel 50 Gallon, Oak
I wanted to make sure to include rain barrels as part of this article, because storing as much water as possible is vital to prepping for disasters rain barrels are a fantastic, natural way to grab some extra water.
People have been harvesting rainwater for centuries, and as you can imagine, the techniques have gotten more and more sophisticated over time.
Back in the 1600s sailors that were at sea would store their water in wooden casks. There’s an obvious problem with that, as they quickly learned, that the barrels would rot, leak, and form bacteria.
Because of these issues, they had to get more ingenious on storing water, and one of those ways was using several feet of sand to filter the rain water from their barrels, and then they would boil the water after that to ensure it was free of microorganisms.
Today, luckily, we have it much easier and have modern technology and safely made plastic rain barrels, like the one pictures below.
Granite, you will have to make sure you filter this water because it can become contaminated from particles in the air as it falls to the earth, but it’s much easier than our ancestors.
You can pick up a nice 50-gallon rain barrel from Amazon very easily, and have it for the future if you run out of your regular water storage.
- Classic whiskey barrel look; Made of the industry’s strongest UV-resistant polyethylene resin
- BPA Free
- Will not rust, mold, or rot
- Brass spigot
- Debris and bug screen
You may want to get the rain spout and stand that is made to go with it. They are sold separately, but it will make it a complete set for you and makes everything easier.
The rain barrel has plastic mesh screen that is essentially make to keep at all of the little critters like bugs, debris, and even animals. It’s all very easy to clean.
Also note, you will need to make sure to check the pH levels of your rainwater before drinking it. Natural pH levels of rainwater are about 5.6. For more on understanding pH levels of safe drinking water click here.
260 Gallon Emergency Water Storage Tank
If you have a larger group that you need more water for, you can start getting into larger tanks such as this 260 gallon emergency water storage tank by Sure Water.
- Made in the USA
- Food Grade, FDA Approved, BPA Free, NSF Certified
- 28.75″ Wide: Fits through all standard door frames.
- Maximize Floor Space: One 260 gallon Sure Water tank instead of 5 standard water barrels)
- Comes with brass valves.
All of Sure Water’s tanks are BPA-free, food-safe, and are independently certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). They are high-capacity, structurally sound, and have two valves for easy use and water rotation.
Their 260 gallon tank fits through standard doorways and considerably maximizes your floor space over water barrels or drums of the same capacity.
RomoTech Vertical Polyethylene Reservoir, 550 Gallon
This next long term water storage is some serious business. The RomoTech Vertical Polyethylene Reservoir holds 550 gallons of water. This is the perfect tank-like container for a large group of people or for a family that needs to store water for a longer period of time.
- 550 gallon capacity
- Thick walled, heavy-duty design
- Molded-in graduation marks (in gallons & liters)
- Translucent material for easy visibility of fluids
- Molded-in channels for saddle straps
Emergency Water Storage Container Bathtub - WaterBOB Bathtub Emergency Water Storage Container (100 Gallon)
The water BOB is an ingenious idea that makes it easy to store water in your bathtub. Think of a water bed, but in your bathtub. It’s easy to fill up as you simply lay the water BOB in your bathtub, put the opening to the faucet, and fill up the plastic container. It only takes about 20 minutes to do this.
Just in case you’re wondering, a siphon is included so that you can fill jugs of water, or whatever else you need. The water BOB made of food-grade plastic that is FDA approved for storing food. The water BOB is intended for one-time use, so make sure if you think you will wnat more, get a few of them.
- Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 6 x 3 inches
- BPA Free
- 100-gallon storage
- Siphon included
- Weight: 1.64 pounds
What’s nice about the water BOB is the manufacturer has commented on the shelf-life of the product and says, “We have tested the product shelf life in a controlled environment (heated/air conditioned) at 80° and recommend replacement after 5 years to avoid potential product failure.”
Other Helpful Related Products
It was only fitting to share a few important water filtration products to go along with the emergency water storage containers. These are good items to have in your emergency survival kits and also even your bug out bag.
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
The LifeStraw personal water filter is probably one of the most highly-regarded water filters on the market. This is more designed to put in your bug out bag and use if you can’t find any clean drinking water immediately.
I’ve used these on my high-Sierra backbacking trips and have drank water right out of the lakes. They are really handy to have in an emergency situation.
- Filters up to 1000 liters of contaminated water without iodine, chlorine, or other chemicals
- BPA- free materials
- No batteries required
- Removes minimum 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria
- Weight: 2 ounces
- Dimensions: 9 x 1 x 1 inches
You can buy this water filter in a two or three-pack as well. Make sure not to use this water filter if you think the water source could be contaminated with any type of chemicals. It’s also not meant to be used to purify the salt out of sea water.
This little water purifier can continue to purify water for up to 1000 liters (264 gallons) before you need to think about getting a new one. Just make sure you keep it dry and in a cool place because it will help extend the shelf-life.
LifeStraw Family 1.0 Portable Gravity Powered Water Purifier
Another water filtration system by LifeStraw, but this one has a gravity filter which you pour water in the top and clean water comes out the bottom. It has an attached hose so that hooks to the top of the filter, which creates the flow of water to the glass or water bottle you are filling up.
Technically you could take the water that you have stored in your 50-gallon storage containers and filter it through here before drinking it. .
- Surpasses EPA standards for water filters
- Purifies 18,000 liters/4755 gallons WITHOUT iodine
- Flow rate of 9 -12 liters per hour
- Will last a family of 5 up to 3 years
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 4.5 inches
- Weight: 1.15 pounds
Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets with PA Plus
These Potable Aqua water purification tablets with PA plus, make the perfect portable, on-the-go solution to quickly purifying the water in your water bottle, for example.
I used these when I went to Peru last summer, as I was told the drinking water in Cusco was not safe to drink. Therefore, if I filled my water bottle up with sink water, I would drop one of these purification tablets in and let it sit for 30 minutes before I drank it. Worked Like a charm and I never got sick.
- Used by militaries and relief organizations
- Portable Aqua plus are neutralizing tablets for use after water has been treated with Portable Aqua
- 2 Portable Aqua tablets are required to treat 1 quart (1 liter) of water
- Can be used at the same time with a camping or emergency water filter
Conclusion
As you can see, there are multiple ways to store water for emergencies. It will depend on a variety of different factors as mentioned earlier in beginning of the post such as the number of family members, how long you decide to store water for, how much space you have, if you have a bug out location or not, etc.