How much water do you think you use on a daily basis? Depending on your personal hygiene preferences:  5 gallons? 10 gallons? 20 gallons?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the average American uses 80 – 100 gallons of water per day! In fact, over 410 billion gallons of water are withdrawn from the country’s water supply each day!

Now imagine that supply wasn’t available. What would you do? That’s why having an emergency water supply is so important – not only for natural disasters but water outages and other problems.

It’s recommended that you have 1/2 gallon of drinking water per day. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, recommends that you have 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking AND hygiene. That means if you want to prepare for a month for a family of four, you’d need about 120 gallons of water!

You can see how water storage preparations would begin to add up!

That’s why our new 500 gallon water tank is a great way to help you prepare. This behemoth tank is a great way to prepare for a long time to come!

Good material. The lining is BPA-free with heavy-duty walls that are ¼” thick. The walls are made from food-grade high-density polyethylene. That means you can store water in it and not worry about harsh, man-made chemicals.

Space saving comparison. With the 500 gallon tank, you’ll save on space compared to 500 gallons of the equivalent tanks. The 500 gallon tank measures 4 feet wide by 5 ½ feet tall. That’s not much space when considering how much water you get!

How long will it last? If you follow FEMA’s recommendation of preparing 1 gallon of water per person per day, you’ll obviously be cutting back on your water consumption. If you chose to use more water per day, the 500 gallon tank would still last! You can use this chart to plan for your family’s needs:

Questions?
If you have any questions about the 500 gallon tank, we’d love to help! Post your questions below and we’ll answer!

WaterBricks began as a smart way to transport water to impoverished countries while helping them build their communities. Now, WaterBricks have become a durable, vertsatile water storage option for millions of Americans!

Check out how WaterBrick started, how you might be able to use the WaterBrick and demonstrations on just how durable a WaterBrick can be!

History
Adams came up with the idea of the WaterBrick – an interlocking brick water container that could double as housing. The water would be delivered to those in need and then they would be able to use the bricks to create shelter and housing for their communities.

The Ready Store was the first company in the nation to begin selling WaterBricks back in 2010. Now, they are recognized as a high-quality, dependable source of water storage in the industry!

Building A House
WaterBricks were designed so that once the contents were emptied, you can reuse the container to create a transitional housing. It doesn’t require a foundation or mortar, just stack them and run a ¾” PVC pipe vertically along the grooves and it joins together. They are surprisingly strong.

Please note that WaterBricks are not an approved building product in the United States.

Storage Variety
WaterBricks are great for camping, home water storage, boating or even transporting other materials in a food-grade container. Some people use them for transporting ammo, paintballs or other materials. You can even freeze the WaterBricks to make giant ice cubes.

With the interlocking peices, you can strap them to campers, RVs or even use them handles to carry them around.

Durable
The WaterBricks are so durable that they can stop a bullet! The bricks are 9 inches long and most bullets didn’t get half way through the brick.

We even decided to throw one off our roof to see what happened. Take a look:

Judy in Chicago had just purchased a new hose for her grandchildren to use as they played in the backyard during the summer.

However, she immediately returned the hose when she got home and read on the label, “Wash hands after use” due to the possibility of leached lead!

Findings
Many commercially bought water hoses contain dangerously high levels of lead which leech into the water flowing through them. In fact, according to Consumer Reports, water sitting in a garden hose that has been left in the sun can contain a level of lead that reaches 100 times over what is considered a safe amount.

Many garden hoses are made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) – a toxic plastic – and lead is often used as a stabilizer in PVC. The dangerous levels of lead in garden hoses could potentially cause lead poisoning, cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm. (Read the Natural News article.)

A few years ago, ABC did a report where they purchased 10 garden hoses from nation-wide distributors. They filled the hoses with water, sealed both ends, and allowed them to sit in the sun for a day. The water was then tested for lead.

Four of the 10 hoses were found to leak extremely high levels of lead into the water.

Filling your water storage with a hose
Many people use a simple garden hose to fill their water containers or tanks. This means that if you’re using an unsafe type of hose, you could be storing lead in your water tank!

Obviously, you don’t want to fill your emergency water supplies with lead! By purchasing a lead-free hose or a filter, you can ensure that this won’t happen.

What hoses are safe?
We’d answer that question by saying it’s OK to drink from a hose only if it’s labeled safe or if you flush it first. Otherwise, the water standing inside may contain worrisome amounts of lead and other chemicals that leach from the hose itself. Many hoses are made of polyvinyl chloride, which uses lead as a stabilizer…

When you buy a hose, choose one labeled safe for drinking. With any hose, flush it by letting
the water run for a minute or so before you drink. (Read the Consumer Report article.)

Previously, we addressed why rotating your water storage was so important. However, we had a lot of questions from people asking how to set up water storage. Here are a few tips to consider:

Type of container
Size. Make sure that the container is big enough for your needs. It’s recommended that you have 14 gallons per person in your family.

UV coated. You want to make sure that light isn’t getting in to your water. This can increase the possibility of contaminant growth inside the container or barrel. You want to make sure that it’s dark inside that tank!

Material. Besides making sure that you have a UV coating on the barrel, you’ll want to make sure that it’s BPA free. With some containers, BPA can seep into the water and create some problems.

Quality. You’ll also want to make sure that each of the containers is durable and won’t warp, crack or split easily.

Preparing the container
When you first purchase the tank or container, it might come with preparation directions. To ensure that the inside is clean, you can use a mild dish soap and clean water to wash out the inside walls, base and lid of the container.

We recommend using a Water Preserver to keep your water safe for 5 years. If you don’t use a water preserver, you’ll have to rotate your water storage every 6 – 12 months.

Installing the container
Place the tank or container in it’s final resting place.

You’ll want to place a wood board or block between the barrel and the cement. If you don’t, toxins from the cement can seep into your water supply. Don’t store water barrels directly on cement!

Fill the container half way. After you fill it half way you can check the seams the valves on your container, if you have them. (This is when you add the preserver.) Once the seals are checked, fill the rest of the container.

If you’re container is larger, you may want to strap the barrel or tank to the wall. This will prevent it from falling in an earthquake. I’ve seen many photos out there of people who staking their water barrels on home-made shelves and if you do this, you need to make sure that they are strapped down securely in case of an earthquake.

If you’d like to see a video demonstration, here ya go!

Step 1: Before filling a water container makes sure you clean it thoroughly before any other steps. You can safely clean a Food-Grade water container with dish soap and water. Another way to clean it is by adding 1 tsp. of liquid house bleach to 1-quart of water. Make sure all soap residues is out before filling the container with water.

Step 2: Fill container with regular tap water, for your lager containers like a 15-30 Gallons you might want to use your garden hose. WARNING: Your standard garden hose could contain a lead lining and is not recommended for water storage. If you are unable to know if your hose doesn’t contain lead, please check with your local home improvement store to locate a Lead-Free or Food-Grade Garden Hose.

Step 3: When using your standard tap water, it will render a 6-Month Shelf Life. To maximize the water supply it should be treated with water preserver (Add 8 drops of for every gallon of water). That will render the water a 5-Year Storage Life.

Step 4: Be sure to place the date on the water container so you know when you filled it, and when you’ll need to fill it, again. If you used chlorine treated water, rotate every 6 months. If you used water preserver or tablets rotate as often as the package indicates. Please feel free to use the Water Storage document bellow for your water storage needs.

Step 5: Store in a cool, dark place. It’s ideal to store water in a location where nothing in the home will be damaged if the container leaks. It’s also helpful to remember that you can improve the taste of the water by pouring it back and forth between containers before use.

Storing water is a very tricky thing to do. Shelf life is the biggest challenge. You can store water in large barrels, smaller 5 gallon containers and even with bottled water. Each method has different challenges, advantages and shelf life issues. Water that is stored by you out of the tap should be rotated annually. Bottled water purchased at your local retailer has about a 2 year shelf life. I recommend that you have some bottled water in your home if you are using it on a daily basis. Your price per ounce for bottled water is relatively inexpensive.

But the biggest problem with storing water is that people do not rotate the water as often as they need to. So when it comes time to use it, the water is not safe to drink and needs to be treated or filtered. Therefore, finding stored water that has an extended shelf life becomes very important for your emergency supplies. There are two options that I really like for portable, water storage. They are pouched water and boxed water. Both packaging options have a 5 year shelf life and are an excellent choice for portable, easy to store and carry water. I do not recommend pouched water for bulk water storage as your price per ounce becomes very expensive.

Let me give you a quick comparison of the water pouches and boxed water. Both taste great and don’t have any kind of aftertaste. Like I said both have a 5 year shelf life, which is far better than other water storage methods. So the difference boils down to packaging.

The Datrex water pouches are come in a 4.2 ounce foil pouch. These pouches were originally designed for use on lifeboats. 4.2 ounces is the recommended amount of water to drink with each meal during an emergency according the American Red Cross, so the portion is the right amount. The pouches are extremely durable and can take up to 600 psi before bursting. They can be frozen without bursting which allows them to be used for first-aid purposes. The shelf life is not affected by temperature and so they can withstand a large amount of temperature fluctuation. The pouches are about 6”x4” and are about ½” inch thick. Their biggest drawback is that after they are opened, you need to drink the whole amount. Normally, with 4.2 ounces that is not a big deal, but it might be with smaller children. There is a tare notch at the top of each pouch to make the easy to open.

AquaBlox is the boxed water brand and the small box contains 8.5 ounces of water. Think of juice box full of water instead of juice. Each box comes with its own straw attached. The box is 4” x 2 ½” x 1 ½” inches in size. AquaBlox shares all the same attributes as the Datrex water pouches except that it comes in this small box. The two biggest drawbacks with the boxed water is durability and portion size. Like most juice boxes, boxed water can crush easily. So if it is in a 72 hour emergency survival kit with other supplies it can get crushed and leak. The portion size is a plus and a minus. It is more water than you would need at one meal, but is also more water than what comes in the Datrex water pouch. The advantages are that they come in an easy use box with a straw and are very simple to use for children. AquaBlox work very well in institutional settings like a school where children will be using the product.