September is USA National Preparedness Month!

In an emergency water is ESSENTIAL to survival!

According to the Mayo Clinic drinking water does more than just quench your thirst — it’s essential to keeping your body functioning properly and feeling healthy. Nearly all of your body’s major systems depend on water to function and survive. Water is especially important in an emergency or disaster situation, when water from the city becomes undrinkable or stops flowing for any reason.

What you need to save water:

At least 1 gallon of water per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation. Keep in mind that individual needs will vary depending on health, age, physical condition, diet, and activity levels. Also, climate, here in Texas some of our worst storms hit when the temperature is very high- stay prepared for your family on an individual level, then assist others. You can only assist others if you are taken care of first.

How to store water before disaster strikes:

It is recommended to purchase commercially bottled water and store it in the sealed container in a cool dark place. If you must prepare your own containers of water, purchase food-grade water storage containers, and fill them with safe drinking water. Remember water that has not been commercially bottled needs to be replaced every six months. To be sure the water you are using is of good clean quality consider filtration options available to you here. Water Filtration

Stored water will have a better taste if you put oxygen back into it. To achieve this pour the water back and forth between two containers, this will also improve the taste!

Back up water storage option in an emergency:

If no containers are available fill your bathtub with water. This can be used for drinking water, washing, and flushing the toilets. PLEASE use pre-cautions if there are small children in the home to prevent drowning accidents from taking place.

Treating the water in an emergency:

After all the safe clean drink able water is gone you should treat suspicious water before consuming. Boiling is the safest method of treating water. Before treating the water allow any thing floating to the water to settle to the bottom or strain the water through a clean cloth or coffee filter before boiling. Bring water to a rolling boil for one full minute, keeping in mind stove water will evaporate.  Let the water cool down before drinking. Failure to properly treat the water could cause diseases.

Consider these tips from ready.gov

• Never ration drinking water unless ordered to do so by authorities.
• Drink water that you know is not contaminated first
• Do not drink carbonated or caffeinated beverages instead of drinking water.