water storage

[vigilant20]

One thing that's missing from my stockpile is drinking water. What do you think the best way to store indoors is? I saw those big water fountain type jugs and thought that might be a good route to go rather than individual bottles, but I wanted to see what you guys had to say.

[LastDragonfly]

Vig, we have our bottles of water stored in 5 gallon jugs. My parents however just stack cases of bottled water because they cant lift 5 gallons of water....luckily my dh can lift the jugs to our water dispenser, but there will be a day in time where that cant happen anymore.

[staciah]

We have two 5 gallon jugs and also one 55 gal water barrel. We have a small amount of bleach in ours plus the jugs and barrel are dark colored so no light can get to the water.
(We have a well and our electric runs the pump so if we lose electricity we have no water.)

[frugalwarrior]

We have water for our 3 dogs stored in those huge trailer water containers w/ a little bleach. That was a huge problem when we lost power in the summer. We have a reverse osmosis system and fill from there. I think they are 5 gallon and we have 3. We have well water but I don't have a hand pump to get it up because we have a deep well. For us we keep a whole storage shelf of mineral/spring water in gallon containers from Dollar General. Every 3 months or so we refill dog water so it is fresh and try to rotate our sealed water at least once a year. I try to keep juices and such on hand too. I still worry this isn't enough because each person needs something like 2 gallons a day.

[NewLeaf]

Storing water is kind of hard. I have been thinking about ways to FIND water if need be. You can catch rainwater in barrels and then disinfect. My dh is an environmental health specialist and he says if we get in a situation bad enough that we need water that we can "harvest " it by using the rain gutters and barrels.

The drumrunners.com website has some good info, but I don't go there often because it kind of freaks me out and I get all paranoid (lol).

[Judi Dial]

The drumrunners.com website has some good info, but I don't go there often because it kind of freaks me out and I get all paranoid (lol).

Just so you know, that's drum-runners.com Without the hypen (-) it's one of those holding company, suspect sites.

Judi

[Grainlady]

We have racks that hold three 5-gallon or 3-gallon jugs, and they are stored in the basement and add more each year. We're getting ready to build wooden racks under the stairs for holding 3-gallon bottles.

The 5-gallon jugs are filled with tap water (would be used for washing) with the appropriate amount of bleach or grapefruit seed extract in them. The 3-gallon jugs have either distilled or reverse osmosis water (would be used for drinking/cooking) in them, along with bleach or grapefruit seed extract. I can lift 5-gallons to transport it, but it's difficult for me to accurately pour out of it, so we've change to 3-gallon jugs for ease of handling. FYI - a gallon of water weighs approx. 8.35-pounds.

If you normally drink tap water, then tap water will be just fine to store for drinking (be sure to treat it). We only drink distilled or reverse-osmosis, so that's why we have both in storage.

In storage:
5-gallon jugs - 10
3-gallon jugs - 8
1-gallon jugs - 5 used for "saved" water (water that's run while waiting for the water to get hot)

Plus 1,000-gallon capacity in our rain barrels.

The water in the basement storage area is changed out once a year. We just bring up a jug at a time and use it for the distiller or doing dishes, etc., then refill the jug (treat it with bleach/GSE) and put back in storage. I put a sticker on them with the date.

**If you store pre-packaged bottled drinking water (bottles or gallon jugs) you chance it getting "musty" tasting because it's not treated with bleach/GSE. The water should be stored in the dark if it is in a clear or opaque container - to prevent algae growth. The bleach or GSE also prevents algae growth. Our water in storage is treated AND covered. You also want to keep the water off concrete or dirt floors.

Helpful hints:

1. It's best NOT to use:
- used milk jugs Fat bonds with the plastic and no amount of cleaning will remove all of the fat, so the fat can go rancid in storage. These bottles are also designed to degrade and break down, so they will start to leak after a period of time. If you do use these bottles, check them often for leaking, and I'd suggest only using the water for washing, rather than drinking.

- bleach bottles - they have a chemical coating that isn't safe for drinking water

- metal containers - the water will have a metallic taste (although stainless steel can be used, just don't treat it with bleach)

- glass containers - They will work fine, but can easily break during an earthquake and are heavy if you have to transport the water.

2. A good type of bottle to use are 2-liter soda/pop bottles - they are made with hard plastic that doesn't readily break down. You can store them in all kinds of places...
-behind and under the sofa
-under the bed
-up the side walls of a closet

3. Whatever type of container you use, make sure it's food-grade and safe to use. If you use large containers (35-55-gallons) you will need a siphon or pump for removing the water. We have a battery operated pump and hand pump for this purpose. We also have a solar-powered pump.

4. Don't forget to consider the water in your hot water heater as an emergency source.

5. I have an electric and non-electric water distiller should we have to purify any drinking water. It's the most effective method. Filters aren't capable of removing all bacteria and contaminents that distillation is.

For more information:

http://foodsafety.ifas.ufl.edu/PDF/water.pdf

http://www.bfhd.wa.gov/forms/brochures/BFHD-E-0025.pdf

[cheles2kids]

I have water stored several different ways.

We found some 55 gallon barrels for $8.00 a piece through a guy who gets them from a candy factory.
We still need to get those washed out, as soon as it warms up.

But this is what we'll use to store them:
http://michael.coxfam.org/wp-content...el_Storage.pdf

Then I also have lots of 2 liter soda & juice containers that I've washed out well and refilled with tap water.
I am slowly weeding out the 2 liters though with sturdier juice bottles.
No milk jugs though, I've heard lots & lots of people say that the plastic will weaken over time and you'll have a big 'ole mess on your hands.

I also have cases of bottled water. I try to add about 2-3 per month to these.

The barrel water will be used to clean or wash in.
The juice bottled water will be used to cook with and for the pets drinking water.
The bottled water, to drink.

Another thing to consider for people with limited space:
http://www.waterbob.com/Welcome.do;j...DC35D8796772B5

[rainbowgc]

We bought bottle specifically for storing water - hope to fill when news gets out about an emergency

[Janbee]

Just so you know, that's drum-runners.com Without the hypen (-) it's one of those holding company, suspect sites.

Judi

What is a holding company?

[Maine Girl]

due to my storage situation i buy bottled water or gallons of water at a time. Which reminds me that i need to switch out the water i have. I guess you know what is going on the grocery list this week.

[Jakk]

I have five 55 gal plastic drums that I bought for $8 a piece. I also have 18,000 gallons of water in my pool and a Big Berkey British Berkefeld water filter. I treated the water in the drums with a splash of bleach. Three are in my basement and two are outside on my covered patio. The goal this spring is to turn those two into a rain catch system.

I also have 3 5 gallon containers and about a dozen soda bottles filled with water. I stored those before I bought the big drums. There are 6 of us in our family, and two dogs and two cats.

[Judi Dial]

What is a holding company?

is one of those websites where they try and make it look like it might be a real business, but it almost certainly is someone phishing for addresses to spy/spam/infect!

I find these a lot when I mistype a web address.

Judi

[calimomx2]

We have 4/5 gallon water containers and several 1 gallon bottles of water. I would love to get atleast 1 55 gallon drum to add to what we have!!

[Janbee]

Water is one thing that we do not have stored right now but I did get 6 of the 5 gal Coleman water containers. I have two of the folding 5 gallon water containers. I have not filled them yet. I have a real storage issue going on. I live in a very small house.