Hurricane Preparedness Blog

Aqua Pod Kit - It’s like Orbitz for your bathtub. (4 out of 4 stars)

Today we’re going to put one of the more recent hurricane preparedness inventions to the test - the Aqua Pod Kit emergency water storage device. I picked up one for myself at the National Hurricane Conference this year. Let’s begin by learning why we would think of storing water in the bathtub in the first place.

We’re told to store at least a 3-day supply of water in our hurricane kit, but what does that mean exactly? If we use the minimum recommendation of 3 gallons of water per person per day, and half that for the family pet, a family of 3 (with dog) would need 31.5 gallons of stored water. Who has room for that?

You might be thinking, I don’t need that much to drink. Well, you’re correct. But let’s not forget about flushing toilets, bathing, cleaning dishes/utensils and brushing those chompers. We call these water needs “sanitary water needs,” as opposed to “drinking water needs.” Those 31.5 gallons will go by quicker than you thought.

The common solution to this water storage problem is to fill the trusty bathtub with water the night before the storm. Here’s a few reasons why filling your tub without an Aqua Pod Kit is a bad idea:

1. If you have a tub where the drain doesn’t leak at least a little, you must be sweet with the Maytag Man. It’s difficult not to lose the water you’re storing slowly over time.
2. Would you lick your bathtub? Then I take it you wouldn’t be drinking water out of it either. Cleaning solutions, lime, rust, and Mr. Bubbles will contaminate your water quickly.
3. Dust, debris and other outside agents will enter that bathtub before long. Go back and forth between the tub and the toilet with water a few times and you’ll get the picture.

So, how could we turn that bathtub into the ideal water storage device - line it with a bladder! Aqua Pod Kit has designed a plastic bladder that stores 65 gallons of water in your bathtub without contaminating it. This means you can use that water for both sanitary and drinking water. And, for our family of 3 (plus Fido), this means fresh water for nearly a week! Break out the Slip-And-Slide!

The kit contains:

1. The bladder (a large, heavy duty plastic bag for holding water)
2. Pump… for pumping out the water
3. 2 run-of-the-mill wire tires
4. A cork
5. A rubber band

As I begin reading the instructions, I find the one unexpected let-down of the Aqua Pod Kit - the bag can only be used once. This makes sense, for a bag of damp plastic stored in your closet between storms could grow mold. But nonetheless, I wasn’t expecting this to be a one-time-use product. The instructions cite that “the pump may be reused with a tub liner refill kit,” but neither a phone number nor a website are referenced on the instructions with how to do reorder. And, the refill kit is not available for purchase on aquapodkit.com at the time of this posting. Bizarre.

Not wishing to waste my only bladder on the review (though I still love you) I found this picture on the Aqua Pod Kit site that continues where my digital camera left off:

Simply use one of the wire ties to hold the bag to the spigot as you’re filling the bladder, cut the wire tie, then use the second wire tie to secure the bag to the water pump. For reference, the “tube stopper” is your cork, and I have no idea why the rubber band is in the box. Neither are listed under items the kit contains, though I don’t want to sell them short. If MacGyver has taught us one thing, it’s that a rogue rubber band can be what separates you from life and death.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Aqua Pod Kit to anyone in any area of the country. I was tempted to give it 3 out of 4 stars for some lacking detail in the instructions and the one-time-use factor, but the pros clearly outweigh those cons.

Disasters can disrupt the water supply anywhere, and you can’t put a price on 65 gallons of sanitary water at your disposal…. the Aqua Pod Kit can be purchased for $39.99 plus $4.95 shipping and handling from their website. Get yours today!

Note: There are also products named WaterBOB and WaterSafe that essentially do the same thing. I met WaterSafe founder Kristen Nevils at the Disaster Survival House and she’s quite nice. Both products claim to be patent pending without much differentiation, so I wish both companies luck. WaterSafe also offers a mini-version for your sink, cool stuff.

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