Household Water Plan Worksheet

Record your water amount, containers, storage spots, and refill plan.

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1. Calculate

Use household-specific inputs.
2. Verify

Check labels, manuals, and local guidance.
3. Practice

Confirm the plan works before an outage.

Step 1

Define the household and time window

People Planning days Baseline gallons People × days × 1 gallon Added-needs gallons Record the reason below

The CDC baseline is at least one gallon per person per day for three days, with two weeks encouraged when possible. The 30-day row extends that arithmetic; it is not a CDC-stated target. Confirm medical, pet, heat, cooking, and hygiene needs separately. A 30-day baseline for four people is 120 gallons and weighs about 1,001 pounds as water alone before containers.

Water planning formulas by duration
Duration	Baseline formula	Use
3 days	people × 3	Short baseline
7 days	people × 7	One-week planning target
14 days	people × 14	Longer target when practical
30 days	people × 30	Arithmetic extension; plan safe storage or refills

Step 2

Document added needs instead of guessing

Household water adjustments
Need	Person, pet, or condition	Extra gallons	Source or reason
Medical or pregnancy
Infant or formula
Pets
Hot conditions or exertion
Cooking or hygiene
Other

Step 3

Make the container plan liftable and reachable

Water alone weighs about 8.34 pounds per US gallon. A five-gallon container holds about 41.7 pounds of water before the container’s own weight. Split the supply into sizes the people who may need it can safely move and dispense.

Emergency water container inventory
Container	Capacity	Count	Full weight	Location	Filled / inspect date

Step 4

Verify storage, treatment, and refilling

Primary refill source Backup refill source Local advisory source or phone Next inspection or rotation date Treatment method and exact instructions location Do not assume boiling, disinfecting, or filtering makes fuel-, chemical-, or toxin-contaminated water safe. Follow current local public-health instructions.

Primary source path: CDC: create and store an emergency water supply .

Show the worksheet planning illustration

Illustrated household water planning workbench with varied water containers, a blank container worksheet, a pencil, tags, and a hanging scale

Next action

Keep this plan usable after today.

Review the source details, practice the setup, and update this copy as conditions change. Methodology reviewed July 26, 2026.

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