How To Store Water In An Apartment For Survival
It’s critical to store water in an apartment for survival. Apartments are more compact, and stairs will be problematic if zero water is stored on the second or third floor. I can’t imagine the sixth floor if the elevators are not working and you must haul water up that many floors.
Now, we could talk about families, college students, and maybe even some older people. Let’s discuss what we must do now, not next week or month. We need to be prepared as soon as possible for the unexpected. I’m not a doomsday prepper, but I know what’s happening in the USA and worldwide.
The events in Florida and nearby states over the past few weeks have been devastating! Families have lost homes and businesses and had their property covered with flood water and deep sand. Winds have caused buildings to lose their roofs and siding. It’s scary to see the news reports showing what people are going through. Keep in mind that many apartment complexes have also been affected. Whether in a home or an apartment, you still need water to hydrate properly, prepare food, maintain personal hygiene, and perform limited laundry chores.
There Have Been Severe Storms All Over the Southeast
I have a sister who lives in Austin, Texas. Recently, torrential rains and flooding affected her neighborhood. My sister mentioned that the city asked people not to venture out on the roads unless necessary. She doesn’t live in an apartment, but the issues are the same. She was glad she had water stored and enough food that they could be comfortable for several days.
Last year, a young mother emailed me explaining she had zero food or milk in the house, and the roads were icy and unsafe to drive on. She vowed that would never happen to her family again. It’s interesting that once you have an “incident,” you understand why you must stock food and water.
It sometimes takes a drastic emergency to realize the importance of having a few gallons of water and food in the house when we are trying to be prepared for the unexpected. You can start by getting some water storage containers and storing a little water at a time according to your budget.
How To Store Water In An Apartment
Blue Cans for an Apartment
In our small new home, we have one bedroom and little storage space. These are lined up along one wall of our bedroom. That’s how I roll, my friends. I won’t stand in line for water EVER after a disaster! Please stock up for your family.
1. Blue Can water is hermetically sealed in aluminum cans and is BPA-free. Blue Cans Website. The cheapest place to buy Blue Cans (I only buy the box with 24 cans) is Brownells. Please sign up for their newsletter and watch for sales or free shipping offers. Brownells Blue Cans.
These are great because they have 24 cans in a box and will fit under your bed(s). I sent six cases to my daughters for Christmas a few years ago. This is some information on Amazon about Blue Cans: I quote:
- 50-Year Shelf Life
- 12 oz of water per can, 24 cans per case
- 2.25 gallons of water per case
- Hermetically sealed water purified with 12-step filtration, reverse osmosis, UV light treatment
- Eco-Friendly Packaging End of quote.
Everyone Has Room for a Few Cases
These are great because one case of 24 cans equals 2.25 gallons. Here’s the deal: I like to store 4 gallons per person per day for hydration, laundry, hygiene, and cooking. You can never have too much water stored. The Red Cross states you need a minimum of one gallon per person daily. Here is the information from the Red Cross (page 7).
One thing: When you first look at the price, you may go, “YIKES,” but these are the perfect size to store in your car, closets, or under beds. You can make end tables with them and even a coffee table with tempered glass.
Please think about the 50 years you can store them—50 years, and they are BPA-free! Buy one case a month until you have the amount your family needs. These cases of water would be significant for college students’ and older people’s water storage needs. We must remember that you can only go three days without water as we put our emergency preparedness plans together. Putting an emergency kit in place is a critical part of disaster preparedness for all families and individuals.
WaterBricks Easy To Store
1. WaterBricks are available in two sizes, but I recommend the larger 3.5-gallon size for long-term storage. You can buy single containers: WaterBrick Stackable Water and Food Storage Container, 3.5 gals of Liquid, and 27 lb of Dry Food Products.
The smaller WaterBricks are 1.6 gallons and weigh 13 pounds when filled with water or dry goods. They are made of food-grade plastic, so you can feel comfortable using them for your emergency water supply and various food products as you prepare for natural disasters.
I use the following water preserver for my long-term treated water. I like Water Preserver concentrate because I can fill and forget the water containers for five years. You must rotate the water every six months if you use regular culinary water with or without unscented liquid household chlorine bleach. Water Preserver and 3.5 Gallon WaterBricks
Nope, that doesn’t work for me. I use 1/2 teaspoon of this Water Preserver Concentrate in each 3.5-gallon container. They stack like Legos on top of each other. I put 16 WaterBricks (the 3.5-gallon size) under my queen bed in Southern Utah, which equals 56 gallons of water. I love that I now have blue cans under my king-size bed in my new, smaller home.
I wouldn’t say I like worrying about chemicals in my water. Chlorine has an odor and strange taste that I don’t feel comfortable with. I’d use it in a pinch, but it’s not my first choice. In some locations, you can smell the chlorine in tap water!
What Are Some Other Possible Approaches to Storing Water
If you happen to have a basement storage area in your apartment complex, there’s a chance you could store some larger water containers like a 55-gallon drum or plastic barrels. I would for sure treat the water before filling these containers. Water filters and treatment systems come in various forms, but I like the products from Big Berkey and PortaWell. Boiling water to make it initially safe is also an option but can be time-consuming and cumbersome.
You may also have access to a garage as part of your rental agreement. If so, hopefully, you have some room for shelving where you could put some jugs with filtered water. The garage provides a place where the stored water is out of direct sunlight. Although glass can pose some challenges for safe storage, you can also consider storing some filtered water in canning jars like the mason jars we’ve used for preserved foods for decades.
Some people store water in used but cleaned milk curtains and one-liter soda bottles. This can be an inexpensive way to store small amounts of water for shorter-term storage, but filling each one with filtered water can be a hassle. I have heard milk jugs will leak eventually, so keep that in mind.
I’m often asked about the water in your water heater. A water heater MAY provide some water for human consumption, but you need to consider whether the water was contaminated due to an emergency or disaster scenario. To be safe, you’d need to use a water filter and treatment system, as discussed above. If nothing else, the water would be used to clean areas or in your toilet tank or portable toilet rather than as drinking water.
Final Word
I highly recommend the Blue Cans and Water Bricks products for storing water in an apartment. It is critical to store water in an apartment for survival. These would be great Christmas or birthday gifts. Please be prepared for the unexpected. You’ll be glad you are, I promise. May God Bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Row of Houses Depositphotos_99945344_S By Vkyryl,
Great recommendations, Linda. One thing I have in my preps is a bathtub reservoir. If the situation doesn’t cut off the water supply, I can have an extra up to 100 gallons of water, if I fill it. I have water preserver for 100 gallons packed with it. Most of them include a hand siphon pump. If you’re planning on living in your apartment (or small house) long term, another thing you can do is use 30 to 55 gallon barrels. Fill and treat them, cut plywood to cover the top, drape them with fabric, a table cloth, a sheet, etc., and you have end or lamp tables.
Have a great day! Hugs, Mare
Hi Mare, Yes the floors would have to be strong enough to hold the 55-gallon water-filled barrels. Crazy, remember the water beds? They were not allowed in some apratments unless they were on the main floor years ago! The 55-gallon water-filled barrels would be extremely heavy. I think we all have to be so creative to store water and food so our families can survive. Hugs, Linda
I have a gizmo called a “waterbob” that makes a plastic reservoir for the tub. The seal on the plug for my tubs isn’t strong enough to retain the water over time. Also keeps the water cleaner. I’m am sure there are other brands, just a fyi.
Hi Monica, “Waterbobs” work great but they are hard to dry out after one use. But water is water, do whatever works for you, they hold quite a bit of water. Linda
Hi All!! My 81 y.o. mom lives in a “retirement” high rise apartment on the 7th floor. The apartments vary in size and she has one of the smallest. I’ve started getting her the bottled water (24-36 count) and stacking it on the floor in her pantry and coat closet….but, I need to re-think keeping it in the plastic wrap and getting it off the floor so she doesn’t have to bend over too far to get a bottle. Her grabber is not going to help her with getting the plastic wrap off to get a bottle of water. I’ll get it figured out. I have some extra 6-pack soda “shipping” crates that I could put the water in that would make it easier for her to just “grab and go”. She will have water to last her and her cocker spaniel to drink for a few days, plus a chilly “spit bath”.
Hi Trish, you are so nice to take care of your mom!! I love your idea of storing water for her and her dog. You will be blessed, I know! Linda
🙂 I’ve been taking care of my parents for 20 years. My dad passed in Jan 2013, and I’m trying to make sure that mom has what she needs for any weather emergency.
Hi Trish, what a blessing you are to your mom! Good job!!! Linda
Wow, so glad I found this site! I have recently become more diligent about my family’s food storage and water is definitely an area we need to expand on. I love those little cans, they look like a great idea for my mom and aunt, I’m going to be ordering several cases over the next few months.
I want to know where to buy the blue bin for water storage that you illustrated.
Hi EP LIM, are you talking about the Waterbricks under the queen beds? This is the company: https://www.waterbrick.org/product/10-pack-waterbrick-standard-3-5-gallon-blue/
Greetings from Western NC. Where is the best place to order Blue Can water?? I have a few small cases. Have not touched them yet. Got them about 5 years ago.
After about 10 days our power came on. No water, no Internet. Could be November before water. Lees McRae college is now empty and we are all in a state of emergency. Our town has a wonderful resource center for supplies but I feel bad going so very often for H2O. As I write this we are expecting snow flurries overnight. Thanks be to God for getting folks through this hard time. Thank you Linda for your fantastic information!
Note: our cell phones work
Hi D.M. thank you for your kind words, my sweet friend. The cheapest place to buy Blue Cans is https://www.brownells.com/gear/survival-gear/water-hydration/blue-can-water/?sku=100016208. Please sign up for their newsletter, they have specials a lot. I have a bestie who lives in Florida and she got power yesterday. She is getting MRE’s, boxed water and tarps from the Red Cross. Gas tanks are being escorted through town with police to fill the gas stations that are still open but no gas. She hopes to get gas today. She showed me pictures of empty grocery stores that are still open, not much left. I hope you get H20 ASAP. Oh my gosh, snow flurries, please stay safe and healthy. I’m glad your cell phone works, we are all praying for the ten states that got hit by Hurricane Helene and Milton. God Bless you, Linda
Water storage in my very small house is an issue. I get water from my daughter and son-in-law – well water that goes through a reverse osmosis system. They fill gallon water jugs for me. I generally have 8-10 gallons. The water here in town is terrible! It IS potable but it tastes terrible to me!
Just checked Blue Can Water website and Brownell’s. I thought I would order 2 cases of water cans: Blue Can shipping on 2 cases = $42.40 (no tax) but Brownell’s = shipping $10.99, $3.00 for shipping protection and $4.26 tax for a total of $18.25. Guess that is a no-brainer!!!
I do also have a couple of the larger water bricks and planning to get several of the smaller ones.
I wonder how I would manage, in an event like the hurricanes where the house and everything was lost, and all my preps were gone!! As long as I can stay in my home, I am going to be alright. But in an evacuation situation, I would be at a loss. I could take some water and food plus miscellaneous things like paperwork, clothing, etc. But I would be leaving behind a lot of my preps.
Hi Leanne, sign up for their newsletter sometimes they have free shipping. If we have to evacuate we will all be in the same boat so to speak. We can’t take everything with us. I will stay put I do not have an option. My bestie in Florida did not evacuate, she did call me in the middle of the night when Helene hit, she was crying, I said, take a deep breath. I talked to her for about an hour to get her through the roof flapping. She is okay, her family did not have $400.00 a night for a hotel (hotel owners gouging prices). She had no power, no water but she did have two power banks to charge her cell phone. And flashlights, she made it through. Others as we know did not make it, their homes were totally flooded or filled with sand. You are blessed to have your daughter, if you can make it to her house, you can hunker down together. Stay safe, my sweet friend, Linda
I definitely will want to get to my daughter’s. It could be tricky depending on the event and weather! She lives 25 miles from town and if we have a blizzard, I am staying home!!
Hi Leanne, yes, where you live has brutal winters I think you said. I get it. When, I was younger we got caught in a few white out blizzards. I’m still having issues when I see the snow start to fall, I don’t care if it’s a wedding or funeral I’m not going if I can’t see the asphalt on the street. Yes, we have 4WD but people drive too fast here in treacherous weather. I totally understand about the event and weather. Linda
My husband is slowly coming around to storing more water. He insists on bottled water, but at this point it is better than nothing. We are preparing for his hip replacement on November 20th. I doubt either of us will leave the house then until after the new year. Please everyone stay safe and healthy..
Hi Chris, bottled water is good for short term storage, water is water. You do what works for you and your family. I pray his hip replacement goes well, it will be so nice after it heals, he will love it. Stay healthy, and safe my sweet friend, Linda
Hi Linda and all, thanks for another terrific post and discussions. Wanted to relay my experience when I lived in Houston. I stored a bunch of one gallon jugs of water in my walk in closet. Unfortunately several developed leaks (junky plastic!) and made a mess of the carpet and floor. Took me a while to figure out what happened. And also reduced the amount of water stored! So water bricks or canned water is better, but reinforces checking the storage and supply frequently.
Hi Monica, I have heard juice jugs are stronger. but I have not tried them so I can’t vouch for those. Please look for food grade ones that will work for you. Linda