Of all the pillars of autonomy, water is both the most vital and the simplest to secure. A few well-made decisions are enough to see your household through a multi-day outage.
How much water to plan for?
The reference figure is 3 litres per person per day: 2 litres for drinking, 1 litre for basic hygiene and cooking. To cover 72 hours of autonomy:
- 1 person: 9 litres
- 2 people: 18 litres
- 4 people: 36 litres
Don't forget pets — plan generously, an average dog drinks about 1 litre a day.
Choosing the right containers
Three complementary approaches, from simplest to most durable:
- Bottled water packs — the immediate solution. Stored away from light and heat, they keep very well, and the format makes rotation easy.
- Reusable food-grade jerrycans — 10 to 20 litres, stackable, some with a tap. Fill them with tap water and renew the water every six months.
- Filtration — a filter bottle or pump filter turns almost any source (rain barrel, river) into drinking water. It is the addition that extends your reserve beyond its stored volume.
Rotation: the habit that changes everything
A water reserve stays trustworthy by being used. Apply first in, first out: drink the oldest containers in your everyday routine and replace them straight away. Write the filling date on each jerrycan with a marker — the simplest trick is also the most effective.
Where to store it
Somewhere cool, dark and stable: a cellar, a pantry, the bottom of a cupboard. Avoid the garage at the height of summer, and keep plastic containers off bare concrete. Split the reserve across two spots if you can — redundancy is a good resilience habit.
In short
Start with one pack of bottles per person this week. Add reusable jerrycans next month, then a means of filtration. In three steps your household has a dependable reserve that takes minutes per half-year to maintain — and you will have laid the first pillar of your autonomy.