A natural disaster takes out water to your house, you have water storage, but maybe not enough, or maybe you need water for non-drinking purposes. Here is a list of places around your home that you may be able to get water from in a pinch. Some of this water may also be used for drinking if proper precautions take place first, mainly shutting off the water supply to the house before any contamination occurs. If you are doubtful about the safety of the water, do not drink it.
- If you know there is a possibility you will lose access to running water (an approaching hurricane, for example) fill your bathtub, washer, sinks, and anything that can hold water with water. For the bathtub you may need to do some extra work and caulk the drain.
- The water heater! Make sure to turn off the water heater first, and then you should be able to drain it with a hose.
- In house filtration systems such as reverse osmosis or through refrigerators.
- Water remaining in pipes in the home.
- Ice cubes (save this for after the first day or two)
- The tank on the toilet (not the bowl!). (This water should be purified before drinking or better yet used only for hygiene purposes)
- Swimming pools and hot tubs. (This should only be used for hygiene purposes, not for drinking!)
