Five Mistakes You Need To Avoid When Storing Water

Storing water for emergency situations can save your life. However, certain mistakes can also cause the water you have in storage to make your or others ill once you finally need it. The following are five important mistakes you need to avoid to protect your emergency supply of water:

Storing water that does not contain any additives to prevent biological growth.

Additives in water are important because they prevent bacteria from proliferating and causing illness when stored water is consumed. Some common additives that preserve water are chlorine, iodine, and calcium hypochlorite.

While these additives are important to ensuring the safety of drinking water, it's also important that these additives are put in water at the right concentration because they can potentially be harmful to the body at excessively high concentrations.

Neglecting to consider the safety of the area where you're storing water.

Drinking water should not be stored in an area that is exposed to direct sunlight. Sunlight can detract from the ability of certain additives to keep water pure and safe. Also, emergency water containers stored in certain areas could be at risk of damage from natural disasters or other hazards. Ideally, you want to store water containers in a dark closet that is protected from fire and animal/insect pests. 

Storing water for a long period of time without changing it.

It's a good idea to routinely change stored water. Biological contaminants in water are likely to multiply over time. If you occasionally empty out water containers, clean them, and refill them you can rest assured that your water supply will remain in good condition over time. 

Storing water in the wrong type of container.

Water containers need to be food grade safe so that chemicals from which they are constructed don't leech into the water over time and create health hazards. A stainless steel tank is ideal for water storage because stainless steel is so durable and is less likely than plastics to allow chemicals to leech into stored water. 

For more information about water containers., contact a business such as WaterBrick International.

Storing only enough water for drinking and not considering other water needs like bathing and cleaning.

If you're setting aside water for emergency preparedness, you should remember that water is not only needed for drinking in an emergency situation. It's also needed for cleaning and bathing. Cleaning is especially important in emergency situations where it may become difficult to maintain sanitary conditions that prevent infection and illness. 

When figuring out how much water you need to store, try to estimate how much water you'll need for cleaning and add it to any drinking water storage you have planned for. 

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