No power, no water: how a Sonoma County well owner gets ready for an outage

By The Downspout · Posted Oct 15, 2026 · 4 min read

A home well pump needs electricity, so an outage can stop your water. Set aside at least 1 gallon per person per day for 3 days, and Sonoma County asks for a 7 day home kit (28 gallons for a family of four). Keep generator fuel at least 50 feet from the well, and test the water if floodwater reached it.

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City water often keeps flowing in an outage. A home well does not. The pump needs power, so when the lights go out, the tap soon will too.

For a family of four, the minimum is 28 gallons for a week. This page is the water side of a well owner's outage plan: how much to set aside, where to keep it, what to do with a generator, and what to check when the power comes back.

How much water to set aside

The floor. Ready.gov says at least one gallon per person per day, for drinking and sanitation, kept for several days.^[1] The CDC puts a number on it: 1 gallon per person per day for 3 days at the least, and a two week supply if you can.^[2]
Sonoma County asks for more days. It describes a home kit as at least 7 days of supplies, and a go bag as at least 72 hours.^[3]
Some people need more. The CDC says to store more for pregnant women, sick people, pets, and in a hot climate.^[2] Ready.gov adds children and nursing mothers, and says needs can double in very high heat.^[1]
Swap it out. The CDC says to replace water you stored yourself every six months. For store-bought water, go by the expiration date.^[2]

One gallon is the minimum for drinking and sanitation. It does not cover showers, laundry or livestock. For a bigger reserve, see how big a water storage tank you need.

Where a well owner can keep it

Containers. The CDC prefers food-grade containers. If you cannot get them, use one with a tight lid that is not glass, and never one that held bleach, pesticides or other toxic chemicals.^[2]
Cleaning them. Wash with soap and rinse. Then swirl in 1 teaspoon of unscented household bleach per quart of water, wait at least 30 seconds, pour it out and let it air-dry.^[2]
A tank on the property. The Water Systems Council says one day of extra storage is generally enough, and useful in power outages and other emergencies. Ask your installer for manual access to the storage unit.^[4] If you plan more than a day, our tank size calculator does the math.
The pressure tank. Our view: it holds some water the pump already pushed, and how much depends on its size. Find out before the storm, not during it.

If you run a generator

Outdoors only. Ready.gov says to keep generators and fuel outdoors and at least 20 feet from windows, doors and attached garages.^[5]
Wiring is a job for a licensed electrician. Our view: do not plug a generator into a house outlet or panel yourself. Ask an electrician what your pump needs and how to connect it. We are not electricians and do not give sizes here.
Mind the well. The State Water Board says not to mix or store paint, pesticides, herbicides or gasoline within 50 feet of a private domestic well.^[6] Our take: that is where to keep generator fuel and where to refuel, so a spill never has a path to your groundwater or the creek.

When the power comes back

If floodwater reached the well. The Water Systems Council says to test after any flooding in or near the well, to find out whether flood water carried bacteria or other contaminants into the system.^[4] Sonoma County Environmental Health lists a bacteria test twice a year, or after a flood or other disaster that may have affected the well.^[7]
Use bottled water until you know. The CDC says to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth in an emergency, and calls unopened commercial bottled water the safest and most reliable source.^[2]
Find your next test date. Use the well test planner. For what to test for, see how to test your well water.

What it means for you

Our view. A bucket of water in the garage is cheap. Do this on a dry weekend:

Fill containers to your household's number in the chart. Date them.
Put fuel away from the wellhead, at least 50 feet.
Write down who your electrician is, before you need one.
Home Ready Sonoma has the rest of the outage plan: food, medicine and carbon monoxide. See its power outage checklist.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-15. Rules and programs change. If something here is out of date, the source above wins. Spot an error? See our corrections policy.