Water

[building2017]

We are a family of four and I'm thinking about how much water to store in the event of main supplies becoming unavailable.

Am I right to think approx 3 litres per person per day? So if I wanted to store 10 days worth I should have 120 litres?

Thanks.

[Manclife]

Yeah, it's a lot but then himens use a lot. Drinking, cooking, hygiene etc. Perhaps look into rain barrels and a filter to add an extra level of protection.

[Kursk]

Don't forget to include pets in your calculations!

[building2017]

Turns out you can buy 10l boxes of water for camping etc, so I will get 12 of those to keep in the shed. They will stack nicely out of the way. Thanks for reminding me about pets too.

[Manclife]

@building2017 ones I saw are £5 each, you can get 4 x 2l bottles (wrapped so they will stack) for £1.05. Easier to handle, loads cheaper and if you open the boxed ones you'll have to use the full 10l.

[cozietoesie]

Remember that you'll need to forego bathing for the duration. And, particularly, using toilets. It's staggering how much water a cistern takes for just one flush - I'd be going round the house taping up toilet handles - just to remind people - the second water failed.

[building2017]

Gosh, yes, good tip about the toilets. And I've added the bottled water rather than the boxed to my order. Will gradually increase my stash over the next while.

[cozietoesie]

Remember to buy only date stamped things that can be worked into your normal living arrangements if necessary. No point in having a cupboard full of things that are too aged to use.

[shhhfastasleep]

Look at boiling and purification options for contaminated water. Consider a life straw thing or similar. And yes, don’t forget the pets.

[AdoraBell]

Not a full on prepper but I second buying bottles rather than boxes.

Also, I was browsing on YouTube recently, as you do, and one prepper suggests a spray bottle with a rough flannel for general hygiene if the water supply stops.

So instead of filling a bath just spray a small amount of water on yourself and use the flannel to kind of polish/exfoliate. I would suggest a bar of soap as opposed to shower gel in these circumstances, much easier to rinse/wipe off. And I would also stock up on cheap kitchen towels for washing the nether regions so that I could keep the flannel relatively clean.

Other than that, when we lived in an earthquake zone and the water was off for 6 days we had alcohol gel and wipes for hand “washing” , and more canned than dried foods.

And there was me thinking I’m not a prepper.

[shhhfastasleep]

Look up compressed towels in amazon. You can get stacks that are smaller in diameter than a pound coin although a bit thicker. Lightweight and sold in bulk. Cheap as the proverbial. Recommended by some bushcraft types for face wiping then arse wiping . Biodegradable. Easier to manage than stacks of loo roll and more robust. A drop of Water opens them up.

[shhhfastasleep]

Or “on Amazon “, even. Don’t recommend a trip to the Amazon.