I have done some research and have some further comments of my own and clarifications on water storage. Thanks for the excellent article on water storage by Terry Fitzroy of Survival Solutions published in a previous post here on Bulk Survival Food.

There was a suggestion in that article that you should drink 8 glasses or 64 ounces of water a day. This is a myth so pervasive medical professionals sometimes say it. Medical journals found no research supports this anywhere and have traced the myth back to a mis-interpretation of a 1945 medical report.

The fact is most of the 64 ounces of water is contained in the food we eat. That is if what you are eating is a healthy well balanced diet. Read this British Medical Journal article that quotes the 1945 report “One origin may be a 1945 recommendation that stated: A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 litres daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 millilitre for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods“.

Over time it appears most people, even doctors, have forgotten the key second sentence in bold above.

If you are eating MRE food reserve in a disaster, most of the 64 ounces (~2.5 liters) of the water is already in the food. If you use a Freeze Dried Food food reserve , you need store more water to hydrate the food when you eat, but the water you use to hydrate the food all ends up in your body when you eat it.

That said, then what is the real amount water storage needed for emergency preparedness?

The Red Cross and FEMA say one gallon of water per day in their “Preparing for Disaster” pdf (on page 8), but this for a “3 day supply kit”. So perhaps this does not include water requirements for hygiene? Does it assume you have also included in your 3 day kit mostly canned food that has water in the food as opposed dry grains and cereals which will need a lot more clean drinkable water to cook?

www.72hours.org offered this advice on water “Store one gallon of water, per person, per day. This amount will be adequate for general drinking purposes. Three gallons per person per day will give you enough to cook and for limited personal hygiene.”

They also advised to replace unopened stored bottled water once a year.

Perhaps you can plan to replace the water each year the day before or the day after your birthday so you will remember to do it. Or Perhaps we should have a “Preparedness Day” holiday so that we can do once a year whatever needs to be done that year like throwing out the canned food and bottled water and replace it with a new supply for another year. I am sure the food industry will be all for this holiday, they should take the cue from the chocolate and flower people for what they did to create Valentine’s day. Let’s move on.

So the answer, in terms of clean water storage for consumption, appears to be 1 to 3 gallons per person per day depending on whether you are using water for cooking.

If your survival food store is MRE then your requirement will be closer to 1 gallon per day, and 1.5 gallons if you use Freeze Dried Food.

You may think there is an advantage to MRE here but you will need the same if not more storage space for the same period of food support for MRE due to package density of MRE. As well you will always have more options in terms of water resource allocation as the additional water you store for Freeze Dried Food can be used for other purposes if it makes sense, while with MRE the water that is already in the food can’t be practically extracted out.

The best way to safely store water is in food grade containers like the ones below. With stabilizer applied and containers properly sealed water will be good to drink for 5 years. Click on the pictures of the containers to get more information on them;

30 gallon container, 4 per package at Nitro-Pak

55 gallon container, 4 per package at Nitro-Pak

What if you did not prepare water before an emergency?

Here is some excellent information from Public Heath of Seattle and King county on “How to prepare safe water after a disaster”.

Water Storage Will Save Your Life Better Than Food

by terryfitzroy
Did you know that it is more important to store clean water in case of an emergency than it is to store food? There are many reasons for this fact, but the first may or may not be obvious to you.

Did you know that if there were a terrorist attack, that water supply would most likely be the first thing that gets cut off? Did you know that your city water supply is at a higher risk to be contaminated than the food in the grocery store is? In case of an emergency, you are going to want to stock up on both food, and water. But if you have to choose one, it needs to be as much clean drinking water as possible.

You can live longer without food than you can without water. This is the second reason why it is more important. The human body needs water like a car needs gas and oil. It is said by some biologist that 75% of our bodies are made up of water. When your body has a lack of water, immediately you will start to show signs of dehydration. Many people feel like food is more important mainly because they can feel hunger pains, and recognize them much better than they can feel dehydration beginning to affect their bodies. Some of the common symptoms of dehydration are muscle twitching, headaches, dryness of mouth, and blurry vision.

In fact, most of your common body aches can be traced back to a single cause: Not drinking enough water.
You should drink 64 ounces of water per day. That equals eight, 8 ounce glasses of water per each set of 24 hours.

That might seem like a lot of water to you, but truthfully, it ’s the recommended minimum amount. Drinking more won’t hurt. The easiest way to accomplish this is to keep a water bottle with you at all times and as soon as it is empty, fill it up again.
Food is important, don’t get me wrong. But you can potentially go weeks without eating, while you most likely won’t make it one week with no clean drinking water. So what are we to do? Start saving every single milk jug container you can.

Most families go through a gallon or more per week, sometimes two. Instead of throwing them away, wash them out thoroughly, and fill them with filtered, clean drinking water. Start stashing them away someplace safe, like in your basement or in your garage. In a few short months you’ll have a few dozen gallons of clean water, and if you somehow face a crisis, you’ll be prepared to make it for the long haul.

Another thing you can do is start stocking up on it at the grocery store when you see a sale. Water is pretty cheap. Even if you buy the brand name stuff, you can usually find a 24 pack of water for less than five bucks. Many grocery stores also sell jugs of water. Each time you go grocery shopping, make it a point to buy one.

This will also maintain your supply if you build it up over time. 50 gallons or more may be needed if drinking water is contaminated. 50 gallons can get you through for several weeks until you are able to go elsewhere, so make it your goal to save at least that much water. It could save your life, and others you know.

About the Author

Terry Fitzroy is a professional writer specializing in freeze dried food and disaster preparedness To learn more about Water Storage visit SurvivalSolutions.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

kemct Said;

Water is important and proper preparedness absolutely must include a water storage strategy. A well planned water storage strategy should include proper safe food grade bulk containers or at least containers with food grade liners. Also the water needs a stabilizer if you want it stored safely for an extended period of time.

Per Nitro-Pak’s website on water storage;

“Civil defense experts have for years suggested that you store approximately 2 gallons per day per person for two weeks.”

For their 30 gallon water container they say;

“Now you can purchase a water storage package that comes complete with everything you need. Just fill with tap water, add the 5 year stabilizer, and seal the caps with the included bung wrench. That’s it! For businesses, this package can also supply water for up to 3 days for 36 people. This unit uses 30 gallon size containers that will supply a family of four for 2 weeks. We also offer a 55 gallon size container unit which will provide up to 4 weeks of water for the same family. Both use our heavy-duty water barrels sold in the Storage Barrel Category. Each container is brand new, never used.

• No water rotation for 5 years!
• Everything you need including 4 - 30 gallon water containers and 5 year Water Stabilizer!

Included items:

• 4 - 30 Gallon Water Barrels1
• Siphon/Manual Hand Pump1
• 5 Year Water Stabilizer (Oxystabile/Aerobic 07)
• 1 Aluminum Bung Wrench (for opening & seal barrel caps)
• 8 Protective Seal Caps (protects caps from dirt & debris)”

Will You Have Edible Survival Food When You Need It?

Can you rely on adequate government support, especially food, within 72 hours or even a week of a major disaster?

I think everyone agrees now the answer is definitely not.

Yet only 7% of us have taken action ourselves to be prepared for disasters, according to the American Red Cross. Why?

Most people want to be prepared, but what we need is a food reserve that easily obtained only once and requires little or no maintenance until it is needed. In terms of food preparedness, that means food that doesn’t need to be thrown out and replaced every year or two.

An emergency food reserve should not be food that is radically different from the types of food we regularly eat, nor should preparing it require a huge effort.  It should not be rotten, rancid, or otherwise barely edible when you may need it, next week, or years from now.

What food reserves best avoid these problems?

Finally you also want an affordable food reserve that has a reasonable cost per meal, not much more than what you pay per meal everyday for you and your family. A food supply large enough that it will last weeks or months if you need it.

I have sorted through the pros and cons of various survival food options below with these needs in mind.

Two options that you may not be as familiar with are MRE (meals ready to eat) and Freeze Dried Food. MRE is what the military uses for mobile activities, but it is available from the same manufactures as civilian MRE.

Freeze dried food is a more longer storing type of food reserve that is also used by the military and government agencies.

Both freeze dried and MRE are often overlooked. When we first start thinking about food preparedness, we think bulk food storage such as bulk rice, bulk wheat, bulk flour, bulk sugar, and canned food reserves. These bulk foods have some real drawbacks. So you would be severely limiting your choices if you did not consider MRE and freeze dried food.

Freeze dried food and MRE have long to very long storage life for emergency food reserves and most importantly require little or no preparation, water, and no cooking equipment.

Here are some commercial examples of MRE & freeze dried food;

Bulk Freeze Dried Food Examples
Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at Nitro-Pak

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at The ReadyStore

MRE Case & Pallet Examples
Various Bulk MRE (meals ready to eat)

If you take just a few minutes to read below about the advantages and disadvantages of survival food options to make a wiser more well informed choice.

Survival Food Options

What are the options for food emergency preparedness?

The conventional wisdom offered by our governments and dedicated survivalists is to go to your local supermarket or big box store and buy canned food and dry grains and carefully store them. There are limitations to this survival food strategy that are highlighted below.

Survival Food Option 1 - Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains

Buy the canned foods, grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.

Advantages

• Can be done in a few hours or less for a 72-hour or one week reserve.

Disadvantages

• Most will forget and some will not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed. Did you do this years ago? Go look at this food now and check the expiry dates on canned goods and check grains for mold infestations, rodent invasions, etc.
• Canned foods are bulky and heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce in a disaster.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods destroy appetites and morale quickly. Even unexpected allergic type reactions can occur if the types of food in a diet are drastically changed.

Survival Food Option 2 - Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains and use them regularly on an “inventory cycle” plan

Same strategy as the first option, except you actively manage storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods. As you buy new food you use up the old canned food so that the food store is less than the expiry date of the canned food.

Advantages

• Food will not be bad when you need it

Disadvantages

• Most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods will destroy appetites and morale quickly

Survival Food Option 3 - Buy MRE’s

See Various MRE (meals ready to eat) Reserves

Advantages

• Easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.
• Easiest and fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

Disadvantages

• Relatively expensive per meal ($6-$7) and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.
• Lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve relatively soon. Hopefully you do not live in a place where there is a disaster that often.
• Tastes like canned food which will destroy appetites and morale quickly

Survival Food Option 4 - Buy Freeze Dried Food

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at Nitro-Pak

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at The ReadyStore

Advantages

• Easy to store and can last up to 30 years.
• Fast simple preparation just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.
• Once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.
• Light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.
• Good economical choice - cost can be less than $3.00 per meal.

As you can see there are a lot of benefits to Freeze Dried Food over the other options making it the superior choice as a bulk survival food.

KT

Bulk Emergency Food - Freeze Dried Food and MRE Options

Freeze Dried Food
Family One year Food Reserves

Group Food Reserve 50 people X 7 days or 10 people X 35 days

45 day - 6 weeks Freeze Dried Food

MRE
Bulk MRE (meals ready to eat)

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For additional information on survival food planning see Planning Survival Food - Short and Long Term

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Freeze Dried Food Reserve Packages

Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak”

True food preparedness means;

1. A food reserve with variety that tastes good so people can eat and be satisfied
2. Food that is simple and easy to prepare even in a disaster
3. Food that is easy to store and transport

The new Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak” meets all of these conditions and at low price per meal.

Priced at $1053 this package offers an affordable peace of mind for preparedness for your family that easy to use.

So you don’t need to be a dedicated trained survival enthusiast to be prepared. You just need to make the right prepardedness choice.

Platinum Food Reserve
Food supports 4 People for 3 Months or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is (at the time of this post) for $3375 , with free shipping and a 120-day ‘no-risk’ guarantee.

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large restaurant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

Nitro-Pak is where you can get;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• MRE (meals ready to eat)

• Free Shipping on orders over $100

• 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee

KT

Mountain House #10 Cans Versus Pouches

The image on the left shows boxes of Mountain House #10 cans. The image on the right shows Mountain House pouches.

Pouches are popular with hikers, rock climbers and back-packers. Mountain house also sells them in cases as a food reserve.

They are a meal in pouch, just add water.

A Mountain House pouch can be used as a survival food reserve and are specifically packaged as such in the “just in case unit” 7 day food supply box pictured above.

This is comparable to MRE with the distinction they taste better, are easier to digest but require more preparation since you need to add water.

When you compare a pouch to a #10 can the main difference is that pouches are an individual meal. Mountain house #10 cans are a bulk, 8-10 serving food reserve unit.

More important however, pouches will store for up to 7 years at 75° F (24° C), while #10 cans will last 25 years under the same conditions.

While it is more convenient to have the pouches and they are a good alternative to MRE if you can’t stand the taste or digest MREs, #10 cans are a much longer lasting and better investment for disaster preparedness.

The exception are those people who find the contents of the pouches comparable enough to fresh food, and will consume pouches periodically for regular meals and continuously re-stock them as a food reserve for disasters. Then the 7 year shelf life is not an issue.

Finally a food reserve of the same duration in #10 cans will store in a smaller space than the pouches due to the cans being a bulk (less packaging) food supply.

In summary;

Mountain House Pouch

• More convenient package as a meal
• taste better than MRE
• Store for up to 7 years

Mountain House #10 Can

• bulk, 8-10 one cup servings of one item
• store for up top 25 years
• store more efficiently than pouches

Buy Mountain House Just In Case Unit

Buy Mountain House #10 can Food Reserve

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MRE Information

MRE or “Meals Ready to eat” are military style food rations.

Some reasons why they are a popular choice for survival food;

• MRE’s paks are a complete meal with main course, side dish, crackers with spread, dessert, and a powdered drink mix.
• MRE packs last 4-10 years depending on storage temperature, longer than most canned food.
• They are pre-cooked and in a pouch “ready to eat”, nothing needs to be added
• Usually you buy MRE with flameless heaters so you can eat your meal hot (cold is ok too)

USAGE

You can best use MRE for emergency situations where you “are on the go” . Also if you do not want to waste time cooking or do not want the hassle of bring cooking equipment with you. MRE’s are the most convenient survival food choice.

MRE cost is about $6 per meal plus shipping for a case of 12. You can get discounts if you buy larger quantities.

For a food reserve for periods longer than a week however, a “freeze dried food” reserve is better in terms of space and cost per meal. You will need water for freeze dried food which, although hydrates quickly, is nevertheless is not as “ready to eat”

Emergency Food - What are the options?

Emergency Food Option 1) Buy the can goods, grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.

- Good, can be done in 2 hours or less

- Bad, most will forget or not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed

- Bad, Goods are heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much

- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.

- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food

- Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 2) Same as 1 except be more careful in storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods buying new food so that food store is always edible.

- Good, food will not be bad when you need it
- Bad, most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this

- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.

- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
-Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 3) Buy MRE’s (military style - Meals Ready to Eat)

- Good, easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.

- Good, fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”

- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

- Bad, relatively expensive per meal and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.

- Bad, lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve

- Bad, tastes like can food which can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 4) Buy Freeze Dried Food

- Good, easy to store and lasts up to 30 years.

- Good, fast simple preparation - just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.

- Good, once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.

- Good, light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!

- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.