Amount of water

You should have at least four liters of water per person per day, to drink, to prepare food and also for personal hygiene and dish washing. For example, if your family has 3 people, you should have twelve 12 liters of water per day during at least three days, so 36 liters of bottled water, that you’ll keep in plastic bottles easy to carry, that have been cleaned and disinfected. They must be stored in a cool and dark place. Write on the label at what date the water was bottled and stored. Replace the bottled water every six months and the water bought in stores once each year. If you have pets or a service animal, don’t forget to keep approximately 30 millilitres of water per kilogram of the animal’s weight per day. For example, on average, a cat or small dog would need at least 1/5 of a liter (half a cup) of water per day.

To store the water

If you local water is treated commercially by a water treatment utility, you do not have to treat your water before storing it. However, if your water comes from a public well or other public, non-treated system, follow the instructions of your local public health agency about water storage. Only that service should tell you if your local water can be stored safely, how much time you can keep it and how to treat it. In every case, it is very important to change the water at least every six months.

Water treatment

You should treat any water which purity is uncertain before drinking it, using it to cook or for personal hygiene. Treatment methods can vary depending on the nature of the contamination, but in case of doubt, you must not drink water in which you doubt the quality. There are many ways to treat water but none is perfect. The best solution is often to combine multiple methods. It is possible to destroy most microbes with boiling and disinfection but only distillation will remove other contaminants such as heavy metals, salts and most other chemicals. Before treating the water, let all suspended particles settle to the bottom, or strain them through layers of paper towel or clean cloth.

• Boiling Water: Boiling is the safest method of treating water. Bring water to a rolling boil for 10 minutes, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drinking.
• Disinfection: You can use household liquid bleach to kill micro-organisms. Use only regular household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient. Do not use scented bleaches, colour-safe bleaches or bleaches with added cleaners. Add one to two drops of bleach per litre of clear water. If the water is cloudy, treat with three to four drops of bleach per litre. Stir and let stand for 30 minutes. If the water does not have a slight bleach odour, repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes.
• Distillation: Distillation involves boiling water and then collecting the vapour that condenses back to water. The condensed vapour will not include salt and other impurities. To distil, fill a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid so that the cup will hang right-side-up when the lid is upside-down. Make sure the cup is not hanging into the water and boil the water for 20 minutes. The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.

For more information about the safety of tap water, contact your municipality officials or their website.