Food and water for three days. A household starting point.
Keep this part of the plan separate from shopping for equipment. A water container, cooking item or emergency bundle does not itself provide your household’s food and drinking water.
Work out the drinking-water baseline.
The Be Ready checklist gives a starting figure of three litres of drinking water per person per day for three days. Use the calculator below to work out that baseline for your household. It is not a total allowance for every use of water.
Make a separate note of what your household needs for cooking, hygiene, pets and individual circumstances. Follow your water company’s advice during a supply interruption, including any instruction about whether tap water can be used.
Three days of drinking water.
Based on the government campaign’s 3 litres per person per day. This excludes water for cooking, hygiene, pets and additional individual needs.
A planning baseline, not individual health advice. Follow your water provider’s instructions during a supply interruption.
Plan storage around your home.
Think about the space you have and who will need to move or use the water. Several manageable containers may fit your circumstances better than one large item. Check the stated intended use, cleaning instructions and storage guidance before choosing a product.
If you keep commercially bottled drinking water, follow its label and storage information. A reusable bottle or container in our catalogue is equipment rather than a supply of drinking water. Choose how you will fill, maintain and store it using the appropriate instructions.
Choose familiar food that fits the situation.
Start with the long-life food your household already uses. For the emergency part of the list, consider choices that can be eaten without refrigeration or cooking, and account for allergies, dietary requirements and the needs of anyone you support.
Read packaging rather than relying on a category name. Check whether a product needs preparation, which utensils it needs and how leftovers must be handled. If a tin requires an opener, include an opener you can use. Avoid building a cupboard of unfamiliar items simply because they are marketed for emergencies.
Keep cooking and water-treatment decisions separate.
Do not use a barbecue or fuel-burning camping stove indoors. Planning food that does not require cooking avoids depending on that equipment when the usual kitchen is unavailable.
A catalogue water filter does not establish that floodwater, seawater or an unknown supply is safe to drink. Follow official advice for the actual water supply and the manufacturer’s stated limitations. The products in Basic Tools serve different purposes and are not interchangeable solutions to a water outage.
Turn the calculation into an achievable list.
Compare the drinking-water figure with what is already available, then write down the remaining gap. Spread non-urgent purchases to fit your circumstances and your normal household shopping.
Keep a short note of who will check labels and where the supplies are stored. If the household changes, repeat the calculation and review the food choices. Keep your personal plan with the information from your water provider so you can act on the right instructions if a disruption occurs.
Sources & editorial notes
This is Be Readyford’s independent planning and shopping guidance. Sources were checked on 12 Nov 2026; use the official publisher for current instructions. Equipment links are shopping information, not medical advice.
Contains public-sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Government source material: © Crown copyright.
For immediate danger, call 999. Be Readyford is not an emergency alert service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the UK government.