How much water does a family of 4 need for two weeks?

The short answer

Fifty-six gallons. Four people, fourteen days, one gallon each per day. It weighs about 467 pounds.

Gallons

467 lb

What it weighs

7-gallon jugs

Fifty-six gallons is where you have to choose: eight jugs or one drum

This is the first volume with a genuine decision in it, and most people make it badly because the drum looks tidier. Eight seven-gallon jugs weigh fifty-eight pounds each, can be carried one at a time, can be spread around the house, and can be taken with you. A single fifty-five gallon drum weighs about 459 pounds full, which means that once it is filled it will never move again. Not to clean behind, not in a flood, not into a car. It also cannot be poured, so it needs a siphon pump you have to remember to own. The drum stores more per square foot and it is the right answer if your water supply is reliable and your home is not. The jugs are the right answer for almost everyone else.

What 467 pounds does to a floor, which is less than people fear

Eight jugs along a wall spread the load over several square feet and sit well inside what any ordinary floor carries. A single drum concentrates roughly 459 pounds into about two and a half square feet, which is similar to a large fish tank or a heavy wardrobe. On a ground floor or a concrete slab that is nothing. On an upper floor of an older timber building it is worth putting against a load bearing wall rather than in the middle of a span, which is where the joists flex most.

Half of this is not for drinking, and planning as if it is will catch you out

The one gallon per person per day figure covers drinking, cooking and basic hygiene together. In practice about half goes on things that are not drinking: washing hands, brushing teeth, rinsing dishes, cleaning up after a child. None of that needs to be drinking quality. If you have any warning at all, filling a bath, a few buckets and some bottles gives you a tier of water that is fine for washing and keeps your stored, clean fifty-six gallons for the mouth.

Keep track of your 56 gallons as you actually buy them.

Provision Planner counts the water already in your house against the target on this page, and tells you how many days you really cover. Your household and gallon figure carry across, so there is nothing to type in twice.

See how many days you cover

The next questions, answered

How many gallons of water does a family of 4 need for 2 weeks?

Fifty-six gallons, at the standard planning figure of one gallon per person per day covering drinking, cooking and basic hygiene. That is about 467 pounds of water in total.

Is a 55 gallon drum better than water jugs?

Only if your home is where you will stay and the floor can take it. A full drum weighs about 459 pounds, cannot be moved once filled, and needs a siphon pump. Eight seven-gallon jugs hold the same water, can be carried, and can be spread between rooms.

Can I store tap water or does it need to be bottled?

Municipal tap water is already treated and stores well in clean, sealed, opaque food-grade containers kept out of sunlight. It costs almost nothing and avoids buying several hundred bottles.

Water is one part of it. See the full supply plan for this household, which covers the food alongside it.