How to Make Emergency Water Storage Last
How much water do you think you use on a daily basis? Depending on your personal hygiene preferences: 5 gallons? 10 gallons? 20 gallons? According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the average American uses 80 - 100 gallons of water per day! In fact, over 410 billion gallons of water are withdrawn from the country’s water supply each day!
Now imagine that supply wasn’t available. What would you do? That’s why having an emergency water storage supply is so important - not only for natural disasters but water outages and other problems.
It's recommended that you have 1/2 gallon of drinking water per day. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, recommends that you have 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking AND hygiene. That means if you want to prepare for a month for a family of four, you’d need about 120 gallons of water! You can see how water storage preparations would begin to add up! That's why It's so important to store enough water for your family.
Good material.
All of our water containers are made from BPA-free plastic with heavy-duty walls that are ¼” thick. The walls are made from food-grade high-density polyethylene. That means you can store water in it and not worry about harsh, man-made chemicals. All of our containers are made with food-grade plastic and an opaque lining that protects your water and prevents bacteria from growing.
How long will water storage last?
If you follow FEMA’s recommendation of preparing 1 gallon of water per person per day, you’ll obviously be cutting back on your water consumption. If you chose to use more water per day, the 500-gallon tank would still last! You can use this chart to plan for your family’s needs:
| How long would 500 gallons of water last your family? | |||||
| # of family members | 1 gallon per day | 2 gallons per day | 3 gallons per day | 4 gallons per day | 5 gallons per day |
| 1 | 500 days | 250 days | 167 days | 125 days | 100 days |
| 2 | 250 days | 125 days | 84 days | 63 days | 50 days |
| 3 | 167 days | 84 days | 56 days | 42 days | 34 days |
| 4 | 125 days | 63 days | 42 days | 32 days | 25 days |
| 5 | 100 days | 50 days | 34 days | 25 days | 20 days |
| 6 | 84 days | 42 days | 28 days | 21 days | 17 days |
| 7 | 72 days | 36 days | 24 days | 18 days | 15 days |
| 8 | 63 days | 32 days | 21 days | 16 days | 13 days |
| 9 | 56 days | 28 days | 19 days | 14 days | 12 days |
| 10 | 50 days | 25 days | 17 days | 13 days | 10 days |
Questions? If you have any questions about your water storage needs, we’d love to help! Post your questions below and we’ll answer! Also feel free to browse our full selection of water storage items and water accessories.