Emergency Water Storage: Ensuring Your Lifeline
Water is the most essential element for survival. In an emergency, access to clean, safe drinking water can be compromised. This guide provides detailed information on how to source, treat, store, and manage water to ensure your household's needs are met during any crisis.
💧 WHY WATER STORAGE MATTERS
- Humans can survive 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water
- In disasters, water systems fail first—boil advisories, contamination, or shutoffs are common
- You’ll need water for: drinking, cooking, hygiene, sanitation, pets, and cleaning wounds
Purpose
This page helps households reduce preventable illness and dehydration during emergencies by:
Recognizing when water may be unsafe
Storing safer water ahead of time
Using only government guidance for emergency treatment decisions
Avoiding common, high-risk mistakes
Scope and limits
This is not a chemistry manual and does not teach advanced purification for industrial contamination.
If officials issue “Do Not Use” or chemical contamination is possible, your safest move is to use an approved safe source, not improvisation.
CRITICAL SAFETY WARNINGS
If you suspect chemicals, fuel, pesticides, heavy metals, or radiation, boiling and bleach may NOT make water safe. Do not drink it. Use an alternate safe source and follow official advisories.
After flooding, well water can be contaminated without any change in taste, smell, or clarity. Do not assume it is safe.
If your community issues a “Do Not Use” notice, stop using the water for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, or making baby formula until authorities clear it.
WHY WATER STORAGE MATTERS
Key reality
People can become seriously impaired by dehydration quickly.
During disasters, water can become unavailable or unsafe due to:
Power loss at treatment facilities
Broken mains and backflow
Flood contamination
Wildfire damage to watersheds and systems
Boil water advisories and “Do Not Use” notices
Government baseline for planning quantities
United States guidance commonly recommends at least 1 gallon (about 3.8 L) per person per day for drinking and sanitation, with 3 days minimum, and a 2-week supply if possible.
Ready.gov also uses the “one gallon per person per day” planning rule.
Canada uses litres in most guidance.
A practical cross-border planning translation is:
1 gallon ≈ 4 litres per person per day
What increases water needs
Hot conditions and heat events
Illness
Pregnancy or nursing
Children
Pets
WHAT NOT TO DO
Do not drink floodwater or water that touched floodwater.
Do not assume “clear” water is safe. Many hazards are invisible.
Do not rely on boiling to remove chemicals, heavy metals, salts, or most chemical contaminants.
Do not store water in containers that previously held chemicals, fuels, or pesticides.
Do not store water near gasoline, solvents, pesticides, or strong chemicals where vapors could contaminate containers.
Do not use “Do Not Use” water for making infant formula or brushing teeth. Follow the notice.
THE SAFEST WATER SOURCES FOR EMERGENCIES
Preferred order for lowest risk
Factory-sealed commercially bottled water
Stored tap water from a safe municipal supply (prepared in advance)
Officially provided water distribution sites during emergencies
Private well water only after it is confirmed safe following emergencies, and based on local public health direction
High-risk sources that require strict caution
Surface water (rivers, lakes, ditches)
Water with visible sheen, strong odor, nearby industrial runoff, or heavy agricultural runoff
Any water in areas affected by chemical spills, wildfire ash contamination, or flooding
If chemical contamination is plausible, do not improvise. Use an approved safe source and follow official instructions.
WELL WATER RULES AFTER FLOODS AND EMERGENCIES
Why this matters
Wells can be contaminated by microorganisms or chemicals without obvious signs.
Minimum safe posture
After an emergency event (flood, wildfire, drought impacts), assume the well may be unsafe until you confirm safety through appropriate local authority guidance and testing.
Government references for well owners in Canada
Health Canada well testing guidance:
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environment/drinking-water/well/test.html
Health Canada well safety during and after emergencies:
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environment/drinking-water/well/safety-during-after-emergencies.html
WATER TREATMENT DECISION RULES
This section is intentionally conservative to reduce harm and liability.
Follow your local water notice first
If you are on a regulated system, your local authority notice tells you which category you are in:
Water quality advisory
Boil water notice
Do not use notice
Understand what “boiling” can and cannot do
Boiling and disinfection target germs.
They do not remove heavy metals, salts, or most chemicals.
Use official instruction pages for any emergency disinfection
United States EPA emergency disinfection page (official):
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water
CDC emergency water storage and planning (official):
https://www.cdc.gov/water-emergency/about/how-to-create-and-store-an-emergency-water-supply.html
Ready.gov water basics (official):
https://www.ready.gov/water
Practical safety note
If you are not confident the source is only “microbiologically unsafe,” do not guess. Treating the wrong problem can create a false sense of safety.
HOW TO STORE WATER SAFER
Storage priorities (low-risk, high-impact)
Use food-safe containers intended for drinking water
Keep containers sealed
Store cool, dark, and away from chemicals
Label containers with date and intended use
Rotation and planning standard
CDC encourages storing at least a 3-day supply, and ideally 2 weeks if possible.
If you choose to rotate for freshness, use a simple “oldest used first” approach.
CONTAMINATION AWARENESS
Why “dirty water” can be lethal even if it looks normal
Microorganisms can cause severe illness quickly.
Chemical contamination can cause serious harm and may not be removed by common emergency methods.
High-risk scenarios where you should default to “alternate source”
Floodwater anywhere near the source
Industrial areas, rail corridors, farms with heavy chemical use
Wildfire aftermath where ash and debris entered reservoirs or local supply lines
Any official “Do Not Use” notice
FAMILY SAFETY NOTES
Infants and formula
Use only safe, approved water sources. If you are under a notice, follow local public health instructions before mixing formula.
People with medical vulnerabilities
If someone cannot tolerate dehydration risk (kidney disease, certain medications), plan for more stored water and earlier relocation when safe water access is threatened.
RESOURCES
United States
Ready.gov Water
https://www.ready.gov/water
CDC Emergency Water Supply
https://www.cdc.gov/water-emergency/about/how-to-create-and-store-an-emergency-water-supply.html
US EPA Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water
Canada
Health Canada: Test your well water
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environment/drinking-water/well/test.html
Health Canada: Well safety during and after emergencies
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environment/drinking-water/well/safety-during-after-emergencies.html
British Columbia drinking water notifications (explains advisory levels)
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-quality/drinking-water-quality/notices-boil-water-advisories
Indigenous Services Canada: Drinking water advisories (context and definitions)
https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1538160229321/1538160276874