How much water to keep at home, and how to store it
Water is the one to start with. You can go a surprisingly long time without much, but not without water, and a burst main or a planned repair can cut your supply for a day or more with little warning. The good news is that a useful store is cheap and takes minutes to set up.
How much
The government’s Prepare campaign suggests keeping bottled water at home for emergencies. A common planning figure for drinking is around three litres per person per day. That covers drinking only. You will use more for cooking, washing and flushing, so treat three litres as the floor, not the target.
A sensible starting point is a few days’ worth for everyone in the home, then build up from there if you have the space. Do not forget pets.
How to store it
- Shop-bought bottled water is simplest: keep a few multipacks somewhere cool and dark, and rotate them as you would any store-cupboard item, using the best-before date.
- If you fill your own containers, use clean ones with tight lids, and label each with the date you filled it. Swap tap-filled water for fresh every six months.
- Keep some of it somewhere you could reach even if a room floods, so it stays clean and usable.
A quick sense-check
Being ready is less about a big stockpile and more about not being caught with nothing. A few large bottles in the bottom of a cupboard is enough to turn a water outage from a real problem into a minor inconvenience. Start there.