How Much Water to Store Per Person, and Where to Put It
One gallon per person per day, for at least three days and ideally two weeks: the math for a family of four, the containers, and where 470 pounds of water can sit.
Ruth Calloway
Pantry, water and homestead skills
Writer
Ruth Calloway
Pantry, water and homestead skills
Ruth Calloway writes Larder & Well's guides to food storage, water, off-grid power and the old household skills. She works from extension-service bulletins, USDA and Ready.gov guidance, manufacturer manuals and years of homesteader discussion threads, and she says plainly where the sources disagree. She does not claim to have tested what she describes; when a method is untested or risky, her articles say so.
Last checked 2026-11-08
What Ruth Calloway covers
- long-term pantry storage
- water storage and treatment
- off-grid power
- home canning and preserving
- homestead skills
- old-ways household know-how
How Ruth Calloway writes
The evidence these guides lean on: extension-service bulletins, USDA and Ready.gov pages, food-science studies, manufacturer manuals.
- Opens with the answer and the number, then the how.
- Names the failure that ruins a batch before the step that prevents it.
- Says what she would do first in a household starting from zero.
What you will not find here
- Invented first-hand anecdotes.
- Fear for its own sake.
- Gear lists with no reason behind each item.
Every guide is written from sources a reader can open, as our editorial policy describes. Nothing is presented as tested unless it was. Spotted a mistake? Send us the correction with its source.
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