Is The 10L Water Bottle Good For Emergencies?

Every year, a number of natural calamities occur that may cut off basic services including your household's water supply. In some disasters such as bushfires and floods, your family may have to leave your home and evacuate to a safer area. While these instances may be rare in your part of Western Australia, it is worth looking into the option of using a 10l water bottle for emergencies.

Why is it important to have water stored for emergencies?

Water is essential for health and to maintain life. In emergency situations, water service may be interrupted. When you have several days' supply of clean water, you and your family will be able to meet your basic needs. There may be water sources around such as streams or rivers but these may not be clean enough for consumption. Drinking contaminated water is one of the main causes of illness during and after calamities.

How much water should I store?

A typical household uses water for various activities of varying importance - drinking, personal hygiene, doing laundry, watering the garden, etc. In an emergency, some of these would be dropped because of limited water supply. In 2004, several relief agencies calculated the minimum water required for basic survival and published their findings and recommendations in a document called Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. According to the Sphere Standards, a person would need a total of at least 7.5 L per day for basic survival (food and drink), cooking, and hygiene. Multiply three times this figure by the number of people in your household to get at least three days' worth of water to cover your household's basic needs during an emergency situation.

What is the best container for storing water?

Containers made of high density polyethylene are ideal for storing water. HDPE is low on the risk scale when it comes to leaching chemicals such as phthalates and BPA into the water. For drinking water in a 10l water bottle Perth WA communities enjoy clean spring water from Aussie Natural Spring Water in fully recyclable bottles made of HDPE.

Buying bottled water vs DIY?

Local authorities often recommend using only boiled, disinfected or bottled water in an emergency situation. Some households choose to boil or disinfect their water before storing but these will not remove all contaminants. This means that while this water may be good enough for bathing, it may not be safe for drinking. Disinfecting your own water means you also have to disinfect your containers. In some households that subscribe to a water delivery service, they order extra bottles for their emergency drinking water supply as it is more convenient and saves time.

Why should I refresh our household's emergency water supply?

Water that has been properly disinfected can technically be stored indefinitely. However, HDPE containers are slightly porous and can absorb odours and flavours from the environment. Thus, aside from storing your emergency drinking water in a cool, dark place with no strong smells, you'll have to rotate and refresh those containers so you can still drink good tasting water, disaster or not.

Why should I use 10L water bottles if there are bigger containers?

While it makes better sense to store several days' worth of water in containers larger than 10l water bottle Perth households still have these smaller bottles for their emergency supply in case they have to evacuate. In a grab and go situation, you won't be able to take a barrel of water with you. In contrast, several members of the household can carry a 10L water bottle or two.

Alan Scott is a writer across several reputed industrial web posts. He writes for many online journals and portals that are related to natural spring water.