The storage of water is one of the most critical elements in properly preparing for an emergency. The amount of clean water you have access to during an emergency can greatly affect whether or not you are able to survive.

You can contract severe diseases from contaminated water that will be untreatable with the stretched medical services and emergency services. Risking disease is not a point you should come to at any point during an emergency situation.

Avoid risking disease by properly preparing for a potential disaster. You do not necessarily have to purchase the bottled water from the store to store.

If you have empty liters of soda or water jugs, fill these with water from the tap if you receive city water. Do not use empty milk jugs as the milk is very difficult to clean out.

Spring or well water also should not be used as storage water. They tend to have bacteria and other things in it that can become harmful if they are stored over a long period of time.

Even if you treat you water system or use purification pitchers, not all of the potentially harmful things in the water will be removed. However, a taken care of municipal water supply can be used in storage.

If your water supply is not properly taken care of, the quality of your water may even be worse than it was originally. Contaminants tend to build up in a water system if the system is not cleaned regularly, which will add contaminants into the water instead of removing them like it should.

The only type of personal water supply system that might be safe to store would be water systems properly installed that use methods such as distillation or osmosis. However, these systems are fairly expense and most people will not have access to these things.

When you treat water for contaminants, it is best if the water is already at drinkable standards. The best homemade way to clean water is to use some liquid household chlorine bleach with 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite.

Other bleaches or soaps should not be added to drinking water. Use a clean medicine dropper to drop four drops of the bleach per quart or liter container of water.

Eight drops of bleach should be used for every 2-quart, 2-liter, or 1/2 gallon container of water. 16 drops of bleach, or the equivalent of 1/4 teaspoon, should be used for every gallon or 4 liter container of water.

After adding the bleach, stir the water to make sure that it is completely mixed in. Let the water stand for 30 minutes.

If you added the correct amount, you should be able to smell the chlorine in the water at the end of the 30 minutes. However, if the water does not smell like chlorine, add the bleach again and let it sit for another 15 minutes after stirring.

When the water is done, put the lids on the containers and mark when you cleaned and began storing the water. Due to the chlorines ability to corrode most metals, water that is to be stored in metal containers should not need to be cleaned.

This water should already be pure and clean. Then, place the containers in a cool, but dry, place that is not directly in the sunlight during any part of the day.

Most plastic containers degrade over time. This makes them weaker and more susceptible to breaking and leaking the water.

To protect these containers so that they will not develop leaks it is best to keep the containers out of the heat. It is also best to store these containers away from gasoline, kerosene, pesticides and anything else that may give of a hydrocarbon vapor.

Hydrocarbon vapor can move through the polyethylene plastics and contaminate your water. You will also want to make sure that the shelves you will be storing water on are strong enough to carry the weight.

Water is very heavy. A typical gallon of water will weigh more the eight pounds.

In addition, you will not want your water to get too old. The best quality of water should always be stored.

When the water on your shelves gets too old, you will need to replace it. Commercially provided cialis cheap water usually contains an expiration date that the water should be replaced by.

Water is one Brand Viagra of the key and most critical components of you food storage supply.

Author Bio: Jack R. Landry is an accomplished expert in family preparedness and has been giving seminars for over 15 years. He recommends that everyone have on hand a food storage in case of any emergency or disaster.

Contact Info:
Jack R. Landry
JackRLandry@gmail.com
(http://www.foodinsurance.com)

Category: Food and Drink
Keywords: Food Storage