My buddy Mike in Austin said I'm wasting space with 20 cases of bottled water and should just buy a Berkey filter. He had a point after that freeze last year when we had water but no power to pump it. Which side makes more sense for a long term outage?
Those 20 cases cost you about $40 from Costco and take up a corner of the garage, which is totally reasonable. I went through the same debate after a week without power in Houston last summer. Ended up keeping a dozen cases for the first few days when you need water fast and a Sawyer filter as backup for the creek nearby. Having both feels like actual peace of mind instead of just guessing.
My infinite wisdom on prepping mostly comes from forgetting to replace my camp stove fuel after using it for spaghetti. But honestly, a case of water is cheaper than my therapist and way less maintenance than a filter I'd probably forget to clean until it grows something sentient.