Question:
Just wondering if you buy bottled water?

Answer: We drink our tap water (well water) but I splurge on Evian sometimes. It just tastes so smooth. I had a friend do a taste test on me to make sure I wan't just being affected by marketing, but I could really tell the difference.

Water comes off the roof and into a 1100 gallon (Imperial gallon) concrete tank and is pressurised by an electric pump which switches on when a tap is opened. Most rural Americans have much the same sort of set-up? I need A small tank on a tower which I can fill with a hand - pump because I can't get water if the electricity goes out - which it very likely does in a bushfire We have a three month near-drought from late December to mid-April each year, but we have never had less than half a tank full.

We have a private well in a rural area. After one episode of no water for three days (no fun with three small children) I got to thinking about a backup system. So I also have a roof collection system that runs into an 1100 (US) gallon tank. I have multiple redundancy -- I have a 12V water pump in the circuit that runs on batteries, plus the tank is a bit uphill from the house so, at worst, I can drain water from one of the lower house faucets by gravity. I also have a generator that can run my well pump to supply the house or to refill the storage tank. I think I have it covered.

Of course, the main benefit to all this preparation is that having it in place virtually guarantees that nothing will ever happen to interrupt my normal water supply