A simple starting point for keeping a little emergency water at home.
We rarely think about water until it isn’t coming out of the tap.
A burst main, local supply problem or planned maintenance can leave a household without running water for a few hours — and occasionally longer.
You don’t need to turn your home into a water warehouse. Keeping a sensible amount of drinking water, and knowing what you would do if the supply stopped, is a good place to start.
Start small. Store it safely. Have a plan to top it up.
1. Start with drinking water
As a practical starting point, the UK government recommends keeping 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, with 10 litres per person per day described as a more comfortable amount that also allows for basic cooking and hygiene.
You don’t have to reach that amount immediately. Start with enough drinking water for a short disruption and gradually increase it if you have the space.
2. Don’t forget everyday uses
If the taps stopped working, drinking wouldn’t be your only concern.
You may also need water for preparing food, making drinks, brushing teeth, washing hands and basic cleaning. If the disruption lasts longer, flushing the toilet can also become an issue.
This is why a little extra stored water can make a surprisingly big difference.
3. Store what works for your home
Bottled water is an easy option because it’s already sealed and convenient to store.
Keep it somewhere cool and away from direct sunlight, check the manufacturer’s date and rotate it when necessary.
If space is limited, don’t feel you need to store enormous containers. A few manageable bottles tucked into available cupboard space are far more useful than a preparedness plan you can’t realistically maintain.
4. Know what you’ll do if the water goes off
If you know about a planned interruption, fill suitable containers beforehand.
For an unexpected outage, check information from your water supplier and follow any advice they issue about drinking or boiling water.
It’s also worth knowing where your home’s internal stop tap is before you ever need to use it.
Your next Quietly Prepared challenge
Work out how much drinking water your household would need for three days.
Number of people × 3 litres × 3 days
For example, a household of three:
3 × 3 × 3 = 27 litres
Don’t worry if you can’t store the full amount today.
Official guidance: The UK Government’s Prepare website recommends considering keeping bottled water at home. It states that a minimum of 2.5–3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended by the World Health Organisation, while 10 litres per person per day provides more comfortably for drinking, basic cooking and hygiene needs.
UK Government — Prepare: Water supply interruptions or outages