Emergency-kit calculator by household size
Use this as a planning baseline for stored supplies. It is not a drinking-water prescription or a complete medical, infant-feeding or pet-care plan. Adjust the plan with the people who know your household’s needs.
Optional: enter a daily total appropriate for your animals, agreed with their veterinarian. Leave blank if you have not established it.
Enter whole numbers for 1–30 people, 3–14 days and 0–20 pets. Any pet-water amount must be between 0 and 100 US gallons per day.
Your planning baseline
For 4 people over 3 days: 12 US gallons of water (about 46 liters) and 12 person-days of food.
- Human water baseline
- Additional pet water
- Total stored water
- Food to plan
Pet water is not included. Establish a suitable quantity for your animals before treating the water total as complete.
This is a storage baseline, not an individual fluid allowance. Add water for extra needs; food quantities depend on the people and meals you plan.
Tick items as you work. These checkmarks are not saved by this website. Print the page to keep a copy.
What the quantities mean
Water totals cover the selected people and days, plus any daily pet-water amount you enter. Store additional water where heat, illness, pregnancy or other circumstances require it. The tool cannot determine those extra amounts.
Food is shown as person-days, not calories or a universal number of cans. Plan ready-to-eat meals each person can eat, account for allergies and feeding needs, and check whether preparation requires water, power or a can opener.
Turn the total into a manageable task
Compare the result with usable supplies you already have. Label stored water, track expiry or replacement dates and divide the remaining shopping into achievable steps. Keep portable evacuation supplies separate from larger home reserves.
How this resource was researched
The human water calculation uses CDC’s minimum storage baseline of one US gallon per person per day. CDC recommends at least three days and, where possible, two weeks. Pet quantities and additional needs are not guessed.