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The Only Emergency Water Storage Guide You’ll Ever Need — Transcript · YTtoTranscript

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The Only Emergency Water Storage Guide You’ll Ever Need

The Ready Life · 2,561 words · 13 min read · EN-ORIG

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Below is the complete, readable transcript of The Only Emergency Water Storage Guide You’ll Ever Need by The Ready Life on YouTube. Read the full text, copy any part you need, or generate a transcript for any video with our free tool.

imagine waking up one morning walking over and turning on the tap and nothing comes out you have no water for cooking drinking or even flushing the toilet how long would you last without clean water things can go bad fast so in this video we're going to give you the ultimate emergency water storage guide we'll

cover exactly how much water you need the best storage options including some that you probably already have and how to keep it safe to drink and make sure you stick around to the end because we'll share a little known trick that lets you store water for up to 5 years without constant rotation the ready life into the

country hey there I'm Nick Meisner and I'm Lisa his wife and we want to welcome you back to the ready life where we help you become as independent as possible for basic necessities like water food heat and power and today we're going to help you live the ready life and start your path to prepar this step one is to

stock up with the supplies you'd need to survive two weeks and at the top of that list is water most people underestimate how much water they actually use every day but they also overestimate how much it might take to survive if you're storing water for an emergency you need to consider two factors number one how

many days or weeks are you going to be storing water for and then number two how much water are you going to be using each day so let's break these two down you know if you're preparing for a short-term blackout like power outage that lasts only a few days a week's worth of water is probably enough for

you but what if something bigger happens I mean what about like a large disaster a hurricane or an earthquake that knocks out all of the utilities A month's supply of water would be very well welcome and for truly long-term emergencies well storing water forever isn't practical the only way to prepare for that is by having a sustainable

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water source like a well rainwater collection or at the very least some surface water like a creek and then you need a way to purify that water so how much water would you actually need to store if you're using water only for drinking and for cooking needs and most folks can get by with somewhere in the

neighborhood of one gallon per person per day if you also want some water for basic sanitation like sponge baths and handwashing then you're going to need at least 2 gallons per person per day that means that a family of four storing water for one week would need at least 28 gallons of potable water for cooking

and drinking but I highly recommend storing at least 2 weeks worth that gives you a little bit of breathing room before you have to go and find other water sources and beyond that a good water filter is going to let you extend your supply indefinitely where you can tap into non-potable sources such as

creeks and sources like that and listen if you're serious about making sure your family never runs out of water we actually go way deeper into this inside the ready Life Academy in fact we help you set up a truly independent water system so you're not just storing water you're making sure you never run out and

it's not just water we'll also help you get squared away with food heat and even power life's basic necessities right now you can get 30 days free inside the academy so you can check it out just visit the ready life.com trry or click the link in the description to get the full experience

it's totally free for 30 days and you can cancel anytime that's the ready life.com trry all right now that we know how much water we need to store let's talk about the best ways to store it before you spend a dime let's first look at what you already have now we have a

tankless water heater but if we had a conventional water heater that could be a great source for clean water that holds 30 to 50 gallons so just use the drain valve at the bottom and you got a nice little stash of water waiting for you right there bathtubs also can be used and if you're know in advance that

something's coming a storm or an outage or something like that can have 40 to 80 gallons but since you might not have advanced warning let's look at dedicated storage options one of the quickest and easiest ways to store emergency water is simply buying cases of bottled water there's a lot of Pros to this option

it's cheap sometimes as low as a dollar a gallon it's ready to drink right away no treatment or filtering is needed it's portable so you can grab just a few bottles if you want and go if you need to evacuate but there are some downsides for instance plastic breaks down over time these thin bottles aren't designed

for long-term storage over time chemicals from the plastic can leech into the water especially if they're stored in heat or in direct sunlight because of this you're going to want to rotate them every 6 to 12 months to be safe especially if they're exposed to direct sunlight or heat but even with these downsides it's always good to keep

a few cases of bottled water or some gallon jugs on hand they're super handy if you ever need to give water to friends or family or Neighbors in an emergency and they stack easily in a closet or a garage or in the pantry but if you want something that's a little bit sturdier and more reusable let's

move up to the next

option food grade 5 gallon buckets are another affordable option now not all buckets are safe for drinking water you need ones that are specifically f food grade so that harmful chemicals won't leech into your water on the bottom of the bucket is a recycling symbol and make sure it says one two or five number

two is the most common but you might run into fives also both of those are good you can often find free food grade buckets from places like bakeries or restaurants just make sure you clean them out really well before using them for water storage and since plastic is porous never use a used bucket that was

previously storing something you wouldn't want to drink for instance pickles if you want brand new buckets I have a link down in the comments below what are some pros they're super cheap especially if you can get them free uh the only cost would be your lid they're also stackable they don't take up as

much space they're fairly durable compared to the bottled water some cons the standard Lids are hard to remove making it very difficult to get water out also depending on the lid they may be completely airtight meaning that over time contamination is possible since they're not bottled in a sanitized environment it's best to filter the

water before drinking it now if you're going to go this route I highly recommend swapping the regular lid out with a gamma seal lid these make it super easy to open and close the bucket without breaking your fingers trying to pry it off the downside is the gamma Lids don't seal quite as well as the

regular lids and if you want to make water bucket more convenient you can install a spigot near the bottom so you don't have to remove the lid at all you just turn the spigot and you've got water on demand a 5 gallon water jug is a great step up these are often made of

thicker BPA free plastic and some even have built-in spets for easy access the pros to these would be that they're more durable than bottled waters containers or buckets they're Compact and portable great for throwing in a vehicle or using for camping and they're designed specifically for drinking water storage some of the cons though they can be a

little pricey or a lot pricey usually around $4 a gallon or more also they're hard to clean inside since the openings are often kind of small if you're looking for a long-term reusable water storage option these are a great choice just make sure that you clean and rotate the water every 6 months or so for a

more advanced option you can get a food grade 55 gallon uh Barrel or drum to store water in these are big heavy duty barrels that can store a lot of water in a relatively small footprint but they do have some downsides first the pros are that it can hold a ton of water one of

these can supply a family of four for a couple of weeks also it's very cost effective if you buy used you can sometimes find them for as low as 30 cents per gallon also they're very durable and can last for years if they're stored properly some of the cons it's almost impossible to move one of

these once they're full once it's full it can weigh almost 450 lbs it's also difficult to clean you'll need a special siphon pump to access the water easily since they're not bottled in a sanitized Factory and probably won't be completely clean you should filter the water before you drink from one of these barrels

these drums can make a great backup Reserve though you store small containers for easy daily use and if an emergency lasts long enough you dip into the 55gal drum when needed finally if you're looking for a truly long-term water storage solution you might want to consider a large water tank or sistern like this these can hold hundreds or

even thousands of gallons and this particular one holds 1,500 gallons this one holds 350 gallons as far as the pros it's the best option for long-term preparedness you can have sufficient water for extended periods of time or for dealing with fires and such and at 28 gallons per week for emergency use this could last a family of four for a

whole year of drinking and cooking now what about cons well it is expensive while the cost per gallon might not be bad at only a buck or two per gallon it still is a good chunk of money at one time and also it takes more effort to install especially for an underground tank if it's an above ground tank they

do require maintenance to prevent algae and contamination if not rotated and sanitized regularly any drinking water should be filtered before using now if you're going this route an underground tank is ideal it protects the water from ultraviolet light and heat which is going to cut down on growth inside the tank underground tanks have ribs molded

into them so they don't collapse with the dirt on top just make sure that you're getting a tank that's made for drinking water not a septic tank which can look almost identical it's also possible to use a less expensive above ground tank like this one if you put it undercover and keep it sanitized with

bleach or a water stabilizer and that takes us to how to store water there are four key things that will determine whether your stored water stays fresh and safe or turns into a breeding ground for bacteria and algae first keep it out of the sunlight UV rays degrade plastic and encourage algae growth so store your water in a dark

shaded area like a closet or basement or covered garage if you're using large tanks outside keep them covered with a UV resistant tarp or store them underground if possible store in a cool place just like with UV light heat speeds up bacteria and plastic breakdown so choose your location carefully and if possible store it in a climate control

controlled environment or underground also use airtight food grade containers if your container isn't airtight contaminants can slowly sneak in over time and if your container isn't food grade it could actually leech harmful chemicals into your water so how long can you actually store water for well first off the best practice is to rotate

it regularly in theory commercially bottled water could last indefinitely but it's a good idea to rotate it every six to 12 months for most containers plastic degrades with time and especially with non-sealed water containers there's a lot of potential for growth to start up but to get the longest time frame start with sanitized

water in containers this is for refillable containers that you are going to be filling be sure to add some sort of additive to sanitize the water and keep that growth to a minimum this can help you to buy more time between rotations typically you're going to want to pre- clean the container with a

bleach solution of 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 qu of water then we're going to pour this in the container that we're sanitizing and then we're going to shake it [Applause] up okay pour that out and then you want to let this air dry but for the sake of demonstration we'll go ahead and add our water so

we're going to add a gallon of water and partway through while I'm filling it we want to add 1/8 teaspoon of bleach and this is just to sanitize the water as is it'll be safe to drink but it'll keep the water uh you know kill anything that might be in there I'll finish filling it

up here okay so we got about a gallon in there and now we'll just give it a little shake and we're good to go and that's actually safe to drink believe it or not since I don't like drinking bleach we're also going to link to a couple of other options in the comments like for

instance berky's bofilm drops that use silver and copper to preserve water for up to 5 years they say and remember in a long-term emergency you'll need more than just water storage you'll need a reliable way to get clean water anytime you need it that's exactly what we teach inside the ready Life Academy right now

you can get 30 days of free access inside the academy where we'll show you how to set up a truly independent water system plus how to secure your food power and heat for your family just go to the ready life.com trry to start your free trial today or click the link in the

description and remember if there's any doubt about the purity of your stored water be sure to run it through a filter before drinking or cooking with it hey and be sure to check out these videos here to learn more about how to become more ready that was cheesy [Music]