How to be water wise when earthquake strikes

April is National Earthquake Preparedness Month and Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) wants customers to be prepared in the event of a major earthquake or other natural disaster.

While EMWD will work diligently to provide water service following a natural disaster, there are steps residents can take to be ready should there be temporary and unavoidable outages.

EMWD suggests an earthquake kit with one to two gallons of water per person, per day.

Water should be stored in a clean, airtight container and enough water should be stored to last several days. Pet owners should also keep water available for their animals.

Water may be boiled for two minutes to disinfect it. Should customers be unable to boil water, 1/4 teaspoon of household bleach may be added to each gallon of water and let stand for 30 minutes to disinfect it.

Other items that should be stored in an emergency kit include toilet paper, wipes, hand sanitizers, plastic trash bags, a bucket and a deodorizing chemical. These items may be useful in the event of an outage to the wastewater system.