Planning tool
How much water should your household store?
Built on the official figures: the gov.uk Prepare campaign, citing the World Health Organization, recommends a minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, and around 10 litres per person per day once basic cooking and hygiene are included. Set your household below.
0L
Drinking minimum (3L per person per day)
0L
Comfortable (10L per person per day, incl. cooking and hygiene)
How to actually store it
- The drinking minimum is easiest as sealed bottled water, rotated through normal use. A standard 6 x 2L multipack is 12 litres:
- The comfortable figure needs containers: a 25L food grade jerry can covers one person for two to three comfortable days. See the container guide and what food grade really means.
- Babies: ready-to-drink formula is the power-cut answer; bottled water used for feeds must meet the NHS sodium and sulphate limits and still be boiled. Details in the water pillar guide.
- Filling at the warning, not the event: when a hard freeze or named storm is forecast, fill your containers from the tap while the mains runs. Rotation and treatment: storing water long term and purifying water in an emergency.