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OREM — Matt Putnam is used to being a popular guy.
He's 6-foot-6, a former BYU football player and can't help always being the center of attention.
However, he knows what would make him more popular.
"Without water, you're probably going to last, like, 72 hours,” said Putman who has enough water storage in his home to last for months.
So, if something catastrophic were to happen in his neighborhood, he knows there will be knocks on his door.
Then again, as the regional stores manager for Emergency Essentials, he better have what he sells because, well, you never know.
"It can be something crazy like an earthquake, or it can be something super simple as somebody washed their car in the wrong spot and it contaminated the whole city's water,” said Putman.
Earlier this month, thousands of Clinton and Syracuse residents had to boil their water after someone cross-connected culinary and sprinkler lines.
That caused a backflow into the entire water system, meaning the water wasn’t safe to drink right out of the faucet.
Those with basic water storage, though, were OK.
“If you've got a barrel of water, then you're good to go for three days while the city can come in and clean things out,” said Putnam.
He recommends about a gallon of water per day per person.
For a family of four to last a month, that’s 120 gallons.
“That’s for both hygiene and drinking,” said Putnam.
There are several different sizes of barrels to store water and can be found at stores carrying camping and survival type items, like Army/Navy stores and outdoor gear retailers.
At Emergency Essentials, there are even cans and boxes of water already in them to be used in emergency situations.
“A lot of food is just add water, so you can have the food, but if you don’t have the water to make it, you’re kind of up a creek without a paddle,” said Putnam. "Be prepared. That's all it takes is a little bit of thought.”
It's certainly better than having to knock on his door for help.
"It's nice to be able to go to bed and think, something might happen, but I’m fine. I really don't have anything to worry about,” said Putnam.
Emergency Essentials did not pay for KSL to do a story with them about water storage. Other similar stores were contacted. Emergency Essentials was the first to say yes to an interview. Two other stores declined to be interviewed for this story.
