Food Storage: Two Easy Ways to Add to Your Water Supply

The other day as I stood in our laundry room\ storage room I glanced over at our humble supply of extra water we have been diligently adding to over the past year. The thought then came to me that I should share two simple, easy ways we have been adding to our food storage.

It is my hope and prayer that these tips might find its way to someone who needs a little extra nudge of encouragement when it comes to adding to their supply of food and water. It can, at times feel overwhelming to obtain extra items for your family to put away “just in case.”

Our church leaders have encouraged us to do this and it is an important counsel to follow. I believe that it takes little steps to adequately acquire what might be needed if there were no means to get food or water. In the Home Storage Pamphlet put out by the Church, it reads:

“We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.

I appreciate where they say “….you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and financial reserve.” Our Church leaders love us, and they want us to succeed and to be faithful. Knowing they understand it is not realistic to build a food storage overnight should be encouraging and comforting to us. As long as we are doing what we can, I believe we will be blessed.

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Both of my tips revolve around adding to your water supply. I admit, the first one comes from my husband. It is something he started to do shortly after we moved into our home two years ago. But it has helped us feel as if we are continually doing something to be prepared.

Tip #1:  Fill used bottles and jugs with water

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We happen to drink a lot of juice out of plastic jugs in our home. Perhaps you do not, but be creative in finding things you can re-use to fill up water. We have also washed out and filled up empty detergent and soda bottles.

Anytime we finish a jug of juice we clean it out with soap and water and refill it with  fresh water. That jug then goes down to our storage room. At first I questioned my husband on why he was doing this.

He pointed out that  we could use the water to clean our clothes, and ourselves, and we could boil it for drinking. In fact, we have dipped into our supply several times over the past year when our water was turned off due to maintenance issues.  I was so grateful to be able to run downstairs, grab some jugs of water and use them to flush the toilet, wash my hands, and to even use them to fill up the tub for a bath.

Tip #2: Stock up on water bottles

My second tip is  very simple and easy. I decided that one of the most important things we needed to work on  was drinking water. We were adding water with our empty jugs, but I felt compelled to do more.

My tip is to buy at least one case or gallon of drinking water once a month, or when your budget or space allows. The biggest part of this tip is to just do it! It is so easy to not buy extra cases of water, and to put it off.

A case of water is typically under five dollars. We have also used these water bottles on many occasions. Again, we don’t save them just for disasters; we use them when we need them, and add back to them when we can. This does of course take up space, and maybe space you don’t have, but do what you can with what you have, even if it only allows you to have one extra case of water on hand. That is always better than nothing.

I feel relieved knowing we have extra water. It is just something small that we are doing to show the Lord we are being obedient. Adding to our water supply has also created a snowball effect where I have looked for other easy ways to add to our storage.  It has helped make me more aware of the small things I can do, whether it is taking one roll of toilet paper from a package every time I buy a new one, and setting it aside for our 72- hour kits, or budgeting to buy a few extra canned goods each time I visit the grocery store. They all add up and it helps me feel that building a food storage is not so out of reach.

I have been grateful for these ideas that have helped our family become more prepared. What are some of your tips that you have found helpful? Please share them in the comments and may we all learn from each other.

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  • I love the idea of filling used containers with the intent for using it for washing and cleaning. I’m going to start doing that! Something that we have recently stocked up on is add-water only pancake mixes. You can get a 10-pound bag of this for about $7 at Sam’s (I imagine similar at Costco). We have been trying to get one every month or so. Our line of thinking is that if we were in an emergency situation for an extended period of time, it likely will be a bigger process to cook, but it will be nice to have some familiar comfort food that doesn’t take much stress to make. Can’t beat just adding water. 🙂 It actually doesn’t take too many of these bags to get a year supply of breakfasts and it feels so good to know we at least will have breakfast covered!