Water, three parts per day for cooking and washing

Catchment, sourcing and sanitizing; if you can master these three things you will always have water. You will always need water. Though you may think dehydration is your only priority you will quickly find out just how important hygiene is when you don’t have water around.

Catchment begins with what comes out of the sky. You gotta make the most of rain. The most effective way to do this is to add gutters and rain barrels to your permanent or semi-permanent structures. Most barrels are going to gather you 55 gallons at full brim.

For water collection, you are going to need between 1.5 – 2 gallons of water per day. This is the minimum for drinking and other uses.

Sourcing is also very important. There is a lot of water on this planet. The problem is there are lots of creatures, too. Sometimes those creatures fall in the water and die. Forget about water from stagnant sources. It’s too dangerous. These pools are filled with life threatening bacteria that will take you out fast.

Source only from clear, moving water and be aware of its source and what’s upstream.

Sanitation is the final piece of the puzzle. Even water that has sat in rain barrels for a few days should be sanitized. You have no time to deal with leaky bowels. You will be running for your life. Your best bet for water purification is sanitizing tablets or even common household bleach.