How much is 3 days of water?
Published
For one person, 3 days of drinking water is 9 litres. That’s Be Ready’s 3 litres per person per day. For 2 adults, that's 18 litres for 3 days: 4 × 5-litre bottles, or 1 × 25-litre container.
By household size
| People | Litres | 5-litre bottles | 25-litre containers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 18 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | 27 | 6 | 2 |
| 4 | 36 | 8 | 2 |
| 5 | 45 | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 54 | 11 | 3 |
Children count the same as adults. Babies are separate: Be Ready asks for ready-to-feed formula for them.
What the table leaves out
It’s drinking water only. Be Ready says you’d need more for cooking and washing, but doesn’t give a number. Our suggestion is 2 more litres per person per day.
Pets need water too. Our suggestion is about 1 litre a day per dog and 0.25 litres per cat or small pet. The calculator adds both for your household.
What it looks like
Supermarket 5-litre bottles are the simplest way to keep it. If you’d rather have fewer things to stack, one 25-litre container covers 2 people for 3 days.
Our picks. Links go to Amazon, and we earn a small share if you buy.
Our pick is the Liquipak 25-litre water container on Amazon.
Keeping it fresh
Swap bottled water before its best-before date. Our suggestion for tap water in clean bottles is to swap it at least every 6 months. More on where to keep it.
Everything we recommend is on one page: the kit.
Read next
- How much water you need for 3 days
The official figure, worked out for a family, and where to keep it.
- How much water for 3 days
Drinking water for everyone. Supermarket bottles are fine.
- Water off
What to do if your water is off or unsafe: follow your water company's instructions, use your stored water, and check on neighbours.