Emergency Water Supply- Identifying Existing Sources of Water in Your House

The first step I took in creating my Emergency Water Supply was to check out existing sources of water in my house.

The Water Heater
The water heater has 50 gallons of water in it and apparently is fairly drinkable. I found this great article on How to Get Emergency Water from a Water Heater that explains how to get the water from the heater and use it as drinking water. Based on this I made a kit so I can use this water and I keep it by the water tank along with instructions. (Never assume that you can go all over the house to get a bucket, screwdriver and other items you may need. One thing I have learnt is always have the things you need in an emergency right where you need them) The kit has the following items in.

• 2 5 Gallon buckets with lids (Have 2 because you may need to filter the water which will involve pouring the water from one bucket to another.
• Flat screwdriver - for undoing the water valve
• A length of hose - to attach to the valve and feed water into the bucket
• A T-shirt or white cloth - for filtering any sediment out of the water
• A small bottle of chlorine with dropper to purify water if you think necessary.

Other tips
• Clearly label the in and out valves, the electricity switch and how to turn off the gas. In an emergency you may be working with only a flashlight.

Toilet Cisterns
As unpalatable as it may sound the water in your toilet cistern or tank is very usable in an emergency. But make sure you do not have any bleach or toilet cleaner in there. You can get this out by using a pump siphon that you can pick up at Walmart.

The Hot Tub
Hundred gallons of water usable for washing and flushing toilets BUT you cannot assume in an emergency that you will be able to go outside and you certainly cannot drink it so do not calculate it into your 30 gallons per person per month

Rain Water
In my state of Colorado they have just changed the law allowing householders to collect rain water. With filtering this could prove a valuable source of water but once again you cannot assume you will be able to go outside to get it so do not factor it in to your 30 day supply.

1) Emergency Water Supply – Creating a Plan
2) Existing Sources of Emergency Water in Your House
3) Emergency Water Storage for One Month
4)Creatng an Emergency Water Kit for Evacuation
5) Outside Sources of Emergency Water - Carrying and Filtering