Most survivalists agree that water is the main item that should be stored for emergency purposes. When starting a home emergency storage program you need to know that at least one gallon of water per one day for each person is required. As soon as you know how much water you need to store it is essential to find the way of storing fresh drinking water.
Some people simply drive to their local stores and get gallon jugs of water that look like the milk ones. However, these jugs are rather thin and they tend to leak over several years. Some people report that these jugs begin to leak within only six month of purchase. So you should definitely avoid these jugs in your emergency food storage. They might not be good for storing dry foods like grains and others as well.
Some other people try to use another type of containers for storing water. They take the jugs from windshield washer fluid. These people insist that after being empty for a month such jugs are safe to use for drinking water. They believe that keeping the jugs empty for a while get all the liquid out. However, we do not recommend you using these jugs. They were not meant to be used for food products, so this may be unsafe.
In fact, when it comes to emergency water storage you should choose the method that works for you. Some people store their water in 5 to 7 plastic jugs. Others use barrels for the same purpose. Two liter soda bottles also work well for some people.
You should not keep water in the containers for an extended period of time. It should be refreshed on a regular basis. Otherwise you will have to put some bleach into each bottle or plastic jug.
Another important warning is not to use any type of jugs that did not have food in them originally. Such containers are not food grade and therefore they are not safe for storing water in them. Do not forget that plastic could be different and not all of it is of food grade type. Plastic could be extremely toxic and you could simply poison your family when using the wrong type of containers or jugs. You need to be very careful. For example, soap jugs or bleach bottles may not be used for storing drinking water. However, these types of containers could be used for washing water storage and they seem to work well for this purpose.
Bottles with attached spigots could also be very useful as they release small amounts of water. This could be very convenient for washing hands and other things like that when water sources are limited.

Have you heard that food storage can save you from lots of problems during different emergency situations. Read more about food storage on this food storage web site.