You Already Own 40 Gallons of Emergency Water. Here's How To Use It

Forty gallons. That is what the plate on this tank says, and I lived in this house two years before I touched the valve that keeps them mine. I am Andriy Kovalenko. I was a soldier in a war in the country I come from, and I lived a winter where the water followed the power out of the house by a few hours. What I learned is not a trick. It is one valve, four turns, and the order they go in. The water stays on when the power goes — that is the first myth to put down. The pumps that push water toward your street use electricity. A full heater still open to that system takes in whatever follows. Turning the valve costs nothing, and it can keep a later notice from reaching the water already inside. What the sources actually say, none of it a theory of mine: In one state five years ago, more than four and a half million customers lost power, some for four days. 14.9 million people were under water disruptions or boil notices; more than 1,300 notices were issued; 49 percent of the state was without running water for more than two days; 40 percent of water systems were under boil notices. The CDC says to store at least one gallon per person per day for three days, and two weeks if you can. More for sickness, pregnancy, pets and hot weather. Turn stored water over every six months. Household heaters commonly hold thirty to eighty gallons; the plate tells you yours. A 40-gallon tank at a gallon a day is forty days for one person, twenty for two, ten for four — drinking only, at the floor. The Department of Energy puts a typical setting near 120 degrees. The first water out can burn you; it goes into a container and cools there. The four turns, in order: stop the fuel (breaker off, or gas to OFF or PILOT as the label directs) so the heater is not fired dry; close the cold inlet above the tank so the reserve stays sealed; open a hot tap at the highest point in the house so air can enter; open the drain at the foot slowly, and let the first rusty gallon run clear. A plastic drain valve snaps. A three-quarter-inch brass replacement is ten to seventeen dollars and a Saturday. If a boil notice arrived before you closed the inlet: eight drops of unscented six-percent bleach per gallon, or six of eight-point-two-five, stir, wait thirty minutes — or one minute at a rolling boil. The label should show five to nine percent, nothing added; never mixed with ammonia or another cleaner. A do-not-drink notice is a different thing: that means a chemical, and neither bleach nor boiling touches it. The rest of the house: a newer toilet holds about one-point-six gallons in the tank above the bowl, from the clean line — washing and flushing, never drinking, never with a cleaning tablet in it. The tub, filled when the warning comes. Ice in the freezer once it melts. A full gallon weighs about eight pounds. Six smaller containers, not one heavy one. Tonight, four minutes at the tank: read the plate; put a hand on the inlet valve and turn it a quarter and back so you know it is not seized; look at the drain — brass or plastic; know which breaker. This week, six one-gallon jugs from the kitchen tap, dated. This channel is for homeowners who want practical preparation without buying somebody else's fear. Nothing in this video is sponsored and nothing is linked. I am not selling you anything. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Forty gallons 1:11 Kill the myth 2:35 The tank 3:40 The fuel 4:27 The valve 5:48 The tap and the drain 7:17 The rest of the house 8:09 The free habit 9:04 Do the boring thing