How to Be Prepared for No Water – What if the Water Stops Flowing?

This is your ultimate guide to being prepared when there’s no access to flowing water from your faucets.

We become so accustomed to the water that flows from our faucets that we forget how difficult it would be without that flow.

I’ve lived off-grid for two years without a well and have had to haul water. We’ve always had flowing water, but it’s been from our own reserves. I’ll explain a bit about how we did that in this post as well.

There have also been numerous times in which we’ve suddenly been without water because a pipe burst or the electricity went out.

How much water do you need?

People all around the world live without access to flowing water. They haul water daily and then purify it. It’s their normal, daily routine.

For someone who is in the position of being prepared, there are plenty of ways to be ready for the water to stop flowing.

We use water for:

  • Drinking
  • Cooking
  • Hygiene
  • Toilet
  • Coffee (the most important of all)
  • Cleaning

Try to go one day without water – you can’t do it. If at the very least, you need to drink!

But how much do you need?

It’s unrealistic to assume we can store all the water we would need for a full year. In fact, storing even a month’s worth is going to be a challenge for many, specifically because of how much water weighs and how bulky it is. Storage can be tough.

I would plan to store at least two gallons of water per person (and pets), per day.

How much water you store will depend on the space you have. Read more below to determine where and how you might store it and get creative with your water preps.

What would you do if you suddenly didn’t have access to water?

Store bottled water

This is one of the easiest ways to get a supply going quickly. Head to the store and buy some gallons of water. It’s already purified, it’s already bottled up and it’s ready to be used when needed.

Keep it away from direct light. It’s ok to store water in a warm spot, but just keep it out of direct light, place a blanket over it or place it in storage bins.

You can also freeze water, freezing clean water lasts practically forever and it also helps keep your freezer running better to keep it nice and full, in addition to keeping everything else around it cooler for longer in any type of lights out situation.

Hygiene Options

If you must use water for hygiene, fill up a small bowl and use a rag.

Or you can use a hydroblu for hand washing or quick showers.

We have also used a solar shower for hand washing or quick showers.

Another option is baby wipes or other types of body wipes.

There’s also no rinse soap and shampoo which I have used and love.

In addition, you could warm water on the stove for a bath or fill the hydroblu or solar shower for a quick shower.

Washing dishes

Paper plates and plastic utensils can come in handy for emergencies so you don’t have to wash so many dishes. Many times the paper plates can be reused for a couple of meals unless it gets soaked by something you cooked. Paper towels are also handy in these instances so you don’t have to use a lot of water to clean cloth napkins. Though, cloth napkins could be used several times before needing to be washed. It’s nice to have options.

Washing pots and pans can be done with little water and soap. Fill one bowl with soapy water and another bowl with clean water. That water can be used on outdoor plants when you’re ready to pour it out.

Washing clothes

There may be no need to wash anything during a short-term emergency, but if you need to wash something, there are a few options.

Laundry in buckets. Soap in one bucket, clean water in another, using a clothesline to dry.

Another would be to wash the clothes in a tub or sink and dry them on a line inside. Depending on the time of year or what’s going on outside.

Here’s how to make your own laundry detergent if you’re interested.

Fill containers

If you’d like to fill containers with water, first wash the container. Next, place clean water inside of the container. If the water is coming from a stream, lake or creek, filter and boil the water first before placing it in the container. If you would like, place some bleach inside to preserve it a bit longer.

Here are the right bleach amounts:

  • 2 drops of Regular unscented Bleach per quart of water.
  • 8 drops of Regular unscented Bleach per gallon of water.
  • 1/2 teaspoon Regular unscented Bleach per five gallons of water.
  • If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Bleach.

This type of water storage should be rotated about once a year. If you don’t rotate once a year, you may have to treat it again before using it.

NEVER use any container that had milk or laundry detergent in it previously for anything other than gray water storage.

If you ever see a storm coming, be sure to fill up your tubs, sinks, and any and all containers with water.

Toilet

If you have a toilet that is connected to water, as in, you flush the toilet every time you go to the bathroom, this could be problematic during a crisis.

You can still flush the toilet during an outage, but you would have to pour water into the back tank first and that uses a lot of water, water that could be better used elsewhere.

Plus you would have to contend with any possible sewage backups.

My suggestion is to invest in some type of compost toilet. Whether it’s the bucket toilets or a more advanced home composting toilet system, this will keep you from having to flush, it will keep you from having to worry about backup issues and it will use way less water.

What about hauling and purifying water?

If you have water nearby, you may want to haul it and purify it. I will warn you, without a motorized vehicle, hauling water takes a lot of time and effort. Unless you’re able to use a bicycle and a trailer or set up a direct line to the water to pump it to a container (along with alternative energy for the pump needs), then you will have to haul it by hand, sled, horse, mule, dogs, etc.

I would test out multiple types of hauling methods to see which ones will work for you.

Check out my list of water purification options.

How to calculate water needs

During an emergency, you may reduce the amount of water you use, but you should still be able to do basic functions such as brush your teeth, wash yourself, cook and drink, etc. Since you are preparing, you can be ready for these things.

Look at how much water you use on a daily basis. What do you use water for? Did you use one cup to cook? Two cups for coffee? One cup for your sourdough starter? Ten gallons to wash dishes?

You can calculate this by simply taking a daily tally of your usage for a week then averaging it out at the end. Or you can take a look at your monthly water bill if you are on city water.

Either way, literally calculate it out.

For a family of four and two dogs, when we lived off grid, we hauled our own water and realized we used anywhere from 50-100 gallons every 5 days or so and that was just for washing dishes, cooking, drinking, coffee, washing hands, some other cleaning. We usually used an additional20 gallons for all four of us to take a shower. And an additional 5-7 gallons to do laundry.

It’s amazing how much water we use and how quickly it can go.

Rain Catchment

Catching the water that falls from the sky is one of the best and easiest things we can do for ourselves, even if you live in the desert or another area that gets little rain a year.

You don’t need anything fancy, not even gutters if you don’t want. A new, cleaned, trash can will work great. It did for us for years before we moved across the country.

The blue barrels or big IBC totes also work great and can be found for cheap, used online. Just make sure they’re food grade and had food-grade liquid in it.

Rain water can be used for animals and the garden, but it can also be consumed by us. If you are concerned about using it directly from the catchment, you can filter and purify it first.

Learn how to conserve or reuse water

There are some creative ways that we can reuse water without much waste. Use the water that you bathe with or wash dishes or clothing with as water for your garden.

I saw someone pipe the water that came out of their washer, underneath their garden and that gray water would water their plants.

In any of these cases, be sure to use soap and shampoos, that won’t hurt plants or the environment.

In general, knowing how to conserve water will be helpful.

  • Take quick showers
  • Use less water to wash dishes or clothing
  • Make rice with canned stock instead of water
  • Water your garden with the rainwater (or that really cool gray water piping system mentioned above!)
  • Learn how to collect rain for your garden using swales
  • Collect rainwater specifically for your greenhouse or animals
  • Haul water from nearby sources
  • Consider digging a shallow well, if you can
  • Turn the water off when washing in the shower, or when you’re brushing your teeth, in between washing and rinsing your hands, etc.

Lots of ways to conserve or reuse water. I wouldn’t reuse water for drinking or general human consumption, but other uses are definitely encouraged.


In reality, it’s unrealistic to think we can store a year’s worth of supply of water, let alone a lifetime. We are constantly in need of water. Store what you can, but it will be a never-ending process of collecting and purifying water.

There’s really no reason you need to sacrifice anything; stay prepared and ready!

What is your reaction?

0
Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
Morgan
Morgan is the founder of Rogue Preparedness. She has been a prepper for over a decade. She's a wife, mother of two daughters and is homesteading off grid. She teaches people how to be prepared for emergencies and disasters.

You may also like

Comments

  1. A sponge bath option. Microwave a wet wash cloth for 30 seconds and wipe your body down from your head down to your groin. I use this method daily for a quick freshen up, rinsing and reheating the wash cloth for about 4 or 5 cycles. Also use a hot wash cloth for pre warming the face before I shave. Sort of like an old fashioned barber shop where a hot towel is used is a shave prep.

    #2. A 2 gallon garden tank sprayer left in the sun provides a warm rinse off with minimal use of water. Some tank sprayers come in dark brown and black and absorb more heat. I have seen these used at State Park campsites that do not have electrical hookup. Blessings.

  2. I would like to win the water filter container 👏

    1. Hey Leanna!

      Hm. I’m not aware of a current giveaway. Maybe it was from an old video? I’m thinking the hydroblu? Definitely a great setup!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.