Seven Things You Aren’t Doing To Be Water Prepared

55 gallon blue plastic drums aside, water preparedness is more than a drum of water and a dash of chlorine bleach. Admittedly, anything is better than nothing, but there’s a lot that’s better than just ‘anything,’ when it comes to making the most of serious water preparedness.

After all, if you aren’t water prepared, nothing else much matters after three days, does it?

If we are serious about survival, our preparedness has to be based on reality. That’s what preppers strive for – ahead-of-time solutions to real problems in a catastrophic emergency.

I propose that there are seven things that 99% of us aren’t doing. Yep. 99%. Preppers and survivalists included. Compare this list with your own pantry and preps and see how you do.

1. Enough Water. It’s looking more and more like water emergencies are not going to be 2 or 3 day ‘boil alert’ events, but long term shortages of potable water in many areas. That’s what this summer is starting to look like anyway. Our website has a simple calculator that you can use to figure how much you need for your family for various periods of time. This is definitely one of those cases where less is not more! Ask yourself this – Could you and your family survive for 6 months without a drop of water from your faucet? Then you need to get enough water to be more water prepared. Remember, having one tank in an emergency is better than having none.
2. Enough Water Purification tablets. Filters are great and useful, but there’s nothing easier to use and lighter to carry for making clean water than a refillable canteen and a bottle of water tabs. These are inexpensive, and widely available and therefore often devalued in the minds of many, but they should be a primary and plentiful item in every pantry, bug-out bag, long term storage plan or travel tote. I never leave home without them. Never. Neither should you.
3. Water Collection. Replenishing your water supply is easier than most people realize, but often a last thought when considering their water preps. Catching the rain running off of your roof is easy to set up. Many stores, Sam’s and Costco, even some camping and sporting good stores, have these unassuming looking barrels for catching water. This is important because even in a drought, water falling from the sky should not be underestimated. Gather what falls on your house into small to medium sized tanks for a variety of uses, from hygiene to watering a parched garden. When water is scarce, every drop matters. Best of all, these are easy to put away from view in the yard, near a deck, besides a garden and blend in with the rest of your yard and house.
4. Enough Flavored drink mixes. Most  folks think of powdery sugary packets to color water, but even that’s not bad.. My favorite – Tang. Yes, that astronautical marvel from the days of the Apollo missions is still available and still a bargain, at your local Sam’s, Costco, and just about any grocery store in America. Stock up. Throw some grape Kool-Aid in there, too, just for good measure! And when it is cold, as it has been across a great section of the US, can you even have enough hot cocoa? Let’s not forget Coffee (what Americans will do for a comforting cup of Joe), a multitude of teas, powdered juices. Need some chamomile tea to get to sleep? You know what to do.
5. Travel Containers. Unexpected things do happen. Avalanches close roads, fires cause evacuations (so do chemical spills, terrorist attacks, etc. but you get the idea) and emergencies send us to visit relatives. Do you take water with you? If not, why not? Because you don’t have something ready to go to take it. A pack or two of bottled water will suffice, if you have it ready to go, but if not, try a collapsable 5 gallon carry bag. Any store with camping gear will have these, and 5 gallons is a lot of water. It can be refilled as you go if necessary, and you can put it in a trunk, a truck bed or the back seat and not worry about it again. If you do take it, don’t forget
6. Disposable Plastic Cups. The mighty Red Solo Cup is one such receptacle. These have great value when water conservation is at a premium, and there should be some set aside just for emergencies (or big parties, which if you ask me is the same thing). A quick rinse and it’s ready for use again, or used again in a multitude of uses when survival is important. They are easy to find, cheap to buy and simple to store. Finally, it can be disposed of quickly and easily when its usefulness has run out.
7. Rotating Your Water. When rotation does occur, it usually falls on a teenager in the family to accomplish this. After all, it’s work and no fun at all. Let’s empty a big barrel of water, using a hand pump, and then fill it up again. Wasted work is all it feels like. The right emergency storage tank makes rotation a breeze and no work at all. Water Prepared makes the best. It’s easy to do. No pumping, no tipping a barrel or three. Attach a hose and empty. Done! Disconnect the hose and attach to faucet, turn on the water. When it’s filled, turn off. Done!

You can see that the word ‘enough’ is prominent on the list. After all, a two liter bottle of water is water storage, but it is not ‘enough’ for more than a day for one person. Same with the rest of the list. We may actually have everything on the list, but we don’t have ‘enough’ for an extended emergency or serious water preparedness.

It’s easy to think that this is a game with no end – “it’s never enough!” might seem to be the only correct answer, but it’s not. Depending on our needs, our families, where we live and what we can reasonably do, the right answer to ‘enough’ is different for each household. It really is! Everything else is a tool or a reminder.

This list is both a tool and a reminder.

Start at the top of the list now. Here is your priority list.

What do you need? What is enough?

What do you have ‘enough’ of right now?