Emergency Water Supply
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http://www.i4at.org/surv/watersup.htm
8/30/01
Emergency Water Supply
Health department and public water safety officials use many safeguards to protect the
sanitary quality of your daily drinking water. However, this protection may break down
during emergencies caused by natural disasters.
During times of serious emergency, the normal water supply to your home may be cut off
or become so polluted that it is undrinkable. A supply of stored water could be your
most precious survival item!
You and your family may then be on your own to provide a safe and adequate water
supply. Remember that typhoid fever, Dysentery, and infectious hepatitis are diseases
often associated with unsafe water.
Don't take a chance! Generally, under serious disaster conditions, no water can be
presumed safe--all drinking and cooking water should be purified.
Required Amounts of Drinking Water Per Person
A minimum of two quarts and up to one gallon of water is needed per day, depending on
the size of the person, the amount of exertion, weather, and perspiration loss. A minimum
of seven gallons pure water per person would be needed for a two-week survival supply.
With careful rationing, this amount would be sufficient for drinking, food preparation,
brushing teeth, etc. Fourteen gallons per person will allow for hygiene care.
Keep an emergency supply of drinking water in plastic containers. Commercially bottled
drinking water is available. It stays pure for months and has the expiration date clearly
marked on it.
There are several other sources of water if your water supply is turned off--water drained
from the hot water tank (usually contains 30 to 60 gallons of usable water), clear water
from the toilet flush-tank, if kept constantly clean ( not the bowl !), melted ice cubes,
canned fruits and vegetable juices, and liquid from other canned goods.
How to Purify Water for Drinking
1.
If water is cloudy, smelly, or otherwise polluted, strain it through a paper towel or
severa