The Water Gap Days of water left

The audit

If the tap stopped today, how long would your household last?

Answer three questions. Get the honest number, and what it costs to fix.

1 2 3 Most houses hold 50 to 60 gallons already inside 1 2 3 Water heater, 40 to 50 gal Toilet tank, 2.5 gal each Pipes, 1 to 2 gal Open the highest tap first, then collect from the lowest.
Three places a house already holds drinkable water, before you buy a single container.

No email, no signup, no account. The number appears as you type and it is yours whether you ever come back or not.

A case of 24 bottles is about 3.2 gallons. A full bathtub is 60.

Put your stored gallons in the second box. The answer appears here.

days of water left = gallons on hand / daily need daily need = people x gallons per person per day, plus 0.5 per dog and 0.0625 per cat

Three numbers, in order

A water gap is the distance between what your household has and what it needs. The three tools below are the spine of the site, and each one feeds the next.

Hidden water what is already here Real daily need what you actually use Days of water left the gap, in days
Each tool feeds the next, and the number at the end decides whether you store more, ration what you have, or make more.

Five things to work out

  • Assess

    How Much Water Do You Need?

    One gallon per person per day is a floor, not a plan. What a household really uses, what you already have hidden in the house, and how many days that buys you.

  • Store

    Water Storage

    What to store water in, where to put it, what it weighs, and how long it keeps. The container decisions that are hard to undo, made before you buy.

  • Treat

    Purifying Water

    Five methods that work, and the thing each one fails at. Boiling, bleach, pool shock, filters and distillation, with the numbers and where they came from.

  • Resupply

    Making Water

    Rainwater, dehumidifiers, atmospheric water generators and field methods. What each one actually yields, what it costs per gallon, and what your state law says about the cheapest one.

  • Stretch

    Water Rationing

    Making a short supply last. Which cuts actually change the number, how to handle sanitation without running water, and what to give up first.