Losing your water supply is less common than a power cut, but it can last longer. Burst mains, frozen pipes in a cold snap, drought restrictions and flood contamination can all leave a street without safe tap water for a day or more.
How much water to keep
The UK Government’s Be Ready advice recommends 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, for 3 days. That’s 9 litres each, or 36 litres for a family of four.
That figure is for drinking. You may need extra to make up baby formula, for medical devices that use water, and for pets, and people drink more in hot weather or when they’re unwell. Washing and flushing toilets need more again, so store a few large containers of non-drinking water too if you have space.
The easiest way to store it
- Buy sealed bottled water and keep it somewhere cool and dark. Check the best-before date and use and replace it once a year. Buy bottled water here.
- Use food-grade containers if you fill your own from the tap. Clean them first, fill to the top, seal them, label them with the date, and replace the water every six months.
- Keep it away from chemicals such as paint, petrol and cleaning products, and out of direct sunlight.
If your water goes off
- Check your water company’s website or social media for incident updates. Most have a live map.
- Check it isn’t just you. Ask a neighbour. If it’s only your home, check your stop tap and look for frozen or burst pipes.
- Ration your stored water for drinking first, then food, then hygiene.
- Use wet wipes and hand sanitiser for washing, and keep a bucket of non-drinking water for flushing the toilet.
- Follow any boil water notice exactly. If you’re told not to drink the water, don’t use it for brushing teeth or making ice either.
Extra help
Water companies run their own Priority Services Register. If you’re older, disabled, have young children, or need water for medical reasons, sign up with your water company (it’s separate from the electricity register). In a long outage, registered households can get bottled water delivered.
Frozen pipes
In freezing weather, keep the heating on low even when you’re out, insulate pipes in lofts and garages, and know where your stop tap is. If a pipe bursts, turn off the water at the stop tap straight away and call a plumber.
Your water kit
- Bottled drinking water: 3 litres per person per day, for 3 days (9 litres each) (buy here)
- Extra water for baby formula, medical devices or pets, if you need it
- Large containers of non-drinking water for washing and flushing
- Wet wipes, hand sanitiser, bin bags
- Paper plates and cups to save washing up
- The number and website of your water company
Add these to your 3-day checklist, and see our recommended kit.
This guide contains affiliate links to Amazon UK. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. How we choose kit.
