I have read here more than one way to store some drinkable water but is the good ‘ole plastic trash can from Home Depot a cost savings option? I found a 55 gallon water drum for $42.95 and the doggone shipping is $47.74. It is made from High molecular weight polyethtlene FDA approved resin. Will the trash can with lid work just as well?
One reason the drums are made from high molecular weight poly is because of the fact that water weighs 8.3 lbs.per gal.. In a 55 gal container (53 gal.storable) thats 439.9 lbs.. If you garbage can is protected from being bumped and it’s stableized it may work for you.
I too am interested in any thoughts on this. Should one use a liner of some sort? How tight should the lid fit? And will it fit tight enough, with the weight of the water changing the shape of the storage container somewhat?
I too, would like to store some water. But $75 for either a drum, or 10 mylar boxes is kind of pricey. I suppose the garbage cans will run close to $50 though.
The mylar boxes are attractive, cause they are easily handled.
You have to use food-grade plastic. Regular trash cans are not.
I would recommend spending $$ on food-grade containers or re-use soda bottles or milk bottles etc. However, apart from drinking water, in a pandemic you will need a lot of water for cleaning, disinfection etc. Trash cans and stuff are fine for that.
Be careful of milk bottle in the long term. They are built to decompose. The 2-liter soda bottle are okay for long-term storage.
I want the 55 gallon food quality drum but at $2.00 a gallon of water storage after shipping and handling, it is too expensive for trying to save months worth of water. (It is fine for a few days of water during an earthquake.) If there was a local dealer, I would drive and get them. I did a search for used drums today and sent a few e-mail requests. I looked at large storage containers 305 gallons for $200–350. But how much is installation on a hundred pound or more purchase? There is no cost effective, space effective solution. (My home would be run over in plastic drinking jugs.) I am open to any ideas you all have. The garbage cans are running .50 to .33 cents a gallon for storage, enabling me to save a few months worth of tap water so far. Any carcinigens in the water or petro chemicals will hopefully rinse out in the repeated filling and emptying of the cans every few months after they have sat in the sun. Otherwise, my alternative is stream water after 28 days. So non-food grade containers are a calculated risk. At this time I have decided to take the risk.
They are holding their shape fine. I have 4 33-gallon for $11 each and two 44 gallon for $19.98 each. They are in a flower bed and are listing. A flat surfase would work better. I don’t think they will contain the water in an earthquake since they will rock when I push on them. On the next emptying and refilling I will move them to a flat surface. I used contractor bags as liners and they are not leaking.
Ok, I have been more into the epidemiology and genetics here (or trying to learn), so someone PLEASE help me. We’ve simply been picking up those 3 gallon (2.5 maybe) plastic containers at the store several times a week. Will those remain potable if sealed? I just had assumed so.
Also, a link to the best water storage will suffice instead of a long post.
However, I must admit, I do not wish to invest in something too specialized….I’m just a bit behind here and don’t have time to find the old thread, especially since this survival supply material side of things gets over my head quicker than the genetics.
Worried: you mentioned the plastic jugs over-running your house….I have space, but will they stay good?
And can one fill the containers that Worried has at the last minute, and will they need to me treated?? I feel no need to fill anything like that until it’s zero hour, er, close to zero hour.
Is water purification dependable. I have a stream out back that runs freely all year. Is the Clorox method reliable. If so one can just purify as he goes if the source is there. What say ye.
Does anyone know about water filters? Yesterday I found a link on a site that went to a filter that (it said) the military uses. I lost the link and can’t remember anything about it. There is a pond not too far from my house and I was hoping to be able to purify water from that if I had to.
I got the 30 gallon blue water drums. It is conceivable to move those with a dolly but you aren’t moving the 55 gallon drums. I remember that shipping was reasonable as well but I can’t remember exactly how much.
http://www.radioliberty.com/BigBerkey.html
or use a Katahdin water filter at Campmor. The katahdin will filter 10,000 gallons on a filter. I hear that they can, very rarely, break if you use to much pressure on them. The Berkey is kind of the gold standard. I don’t have one but thinking about getting one. They have the smaller one that I might get.
Any plastic container filled with drink is a food grade container. Emergency Management sites, mine is http://www.memphisema.com/PDF_files/Web%20Site%20Handout.pdf or shorter http://www.memphisema.com/ They recommend that you rotate your water periodically. We have chosen at our house at present not to do that but to add a few drops of bleach to it and pour it back and forth to add oxygen to it. The EMA websie above also covers purifying pond or stream water.
From the same web site, remember you have 50 gallons of clean potable water in your hot water tank. If you think water may become contaminated they recommend that you shut off your water at the street. Then you can drink what is still in your pipes by turning on your tap. In a two story house, shut off the top taps and turn on the lower floor taps to drain the water.
For Y2K my husband ordered 5 gallon jugs of sealed water from a local water company. Ideally we should rotate these too but just have not.
You can store water in soda bottles too. No chlorine needs to be added to tap water that is already chlorinated by your city. It is recommended not to use plastic bottles with milk or fruit juices in them because it is very difficult to get all of the sugars out.
Great disscussions about water are on these threads which covers filters, rain water collection and purifying stream water. I decided on the 55 gallon drum route after stockpiling 65 gallons in plastic containers in the house. This discussion was about that option. (Larger storage quantities)
http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Forum.FamilyAndIndividualPreparation
http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Forum.FamilyAndIndividualPreparation
http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Forum.PotableDrinkingWater
My husband has turned off our hyperlinks and I don’t know how to turn it back on. Sorry if they don’t work. You can copy them and paste onto another open internet.
Do NOT use a trash can to hold water (unless strictly for flushing toilets, cleaning your house, etc.). These are not food grade plastics, which is what you need. 55 gallon drums can store a lot of water in a small space, but are impossible to move when full, please bear this in mind. 5 gallon water containers found at any camping supply store work very well and are portable and have a spigot. There are also the collapsible type of water storage containers, which will work well, but don’t have the same durability as the hard-sided containers.
Water should be treated for long term storage, even tap water that is found in your home contains a certain amount of bacteria. The container too must be very clean to prevent any tainting, another reason to go with food grade plastics only. Normally, water will store for a very long time with no problems, provided you have a clean source that originally went into a clean container.
You can use bleach, Stabilized Oxygen Drops or Purification Tables or even a water filter for water treatment. Boiling also works of course.
There are a number of very good water filters on the market today, I prefer Katadyn having had many opportunities over the years to use various brands. The British Berkfield is also a good water filter (drip system).
The advantage of water filter is they are portable and can be used to filter almost any fresh water, including swimming pools, mud puddles, etc. There are even salt-water filters (expensive, but they do work) that can be used for salt water applications. If getting a portable filter, the pump style is possibly best, since it allows you to pump water for near-instantaneous use. The drip filters are great for “hands free” operation, you just fill up the reservoir and forget about it. They can produce several gallons a day unattended.
If anyone is planning an emergency “bag”, a portable pump filter is a definite recommendation. All of these filters will last you nearly forever (unused), and in use, have various gallon capacities before the cartridges (filter elements) need to be replaced. Some are 200 gallon capacities, others, like the drip filter can exceed 30,000 gallons. I have a Katadyn drip filter that I’ve been using constantly for over five years, having only replaced the filters twice.
Buying a filter is definitely not a waste of money, you can always use it, anywhere. Since I hate chlorinated water, I won’t drink it if I can help it. But filters DO NOT remove chlorine. A charcoal embedded filter will remove the chlorine taste and if you’re like me, shop around for one of these.
Filters are intented to be used on all kinds of water sources and you can avoid giardia and other water borne diseases with a quality filter.
Since this is a “water-based” topic LOL, is there someone out there who knows anything about private water wells? I have my own well, as I live out of the city. I’m thankful for this, however, I’m wondering how the heck I’m going to get to the water if I lose electricity. Can anyone give me some info on manual pumps, etc? Thanks :) Yes, before you ask, I’m blonde.
Lehman’s has a galvanized well bucket http://tinyurl.com/7566r …”You may have to remove any installed submersible pump before using a well bucket. Holds 1.9 gallons, fits wells down to 4″ID, 2″ welded ring for rope, 3½”ODx52”L, 4 lb. Locally made by the Amish.”
We are on a well also. Our problem (or I think it will be a problem) is that our well is about 425′ deep. Tired arms! Also, thanks to all here who contribute time to post info and thoughts. I’ve lurked for several months now, just a bit shy.
I’ll check it out. Thanks alot.
Tenakee, I don’t think mine’s that deep, holy cow! I think mine’s about 80 feet. You would need a lot of rope to get to that!
Thanks for all the great tips.
Tammy, friends of mine have a cottage off the grid. Everything runs off power stored in batteries, which are charged by solar panels, wind generator and/or a small backup diesel generator. The pump that runs the well runs off the batteries.
This is not my expertise, but seems that you have two choices: store extra water when the electricity is running, or else get a small generator to power the well and other essentials if the power goes down.
My plan is to store 5 or 6 of those big drinking water containers that they use for water coolers. That’s for drinking. Then for washing etc, I have my eye on a rain barrel that you hook up to downspouts and/or garden hose. (Vancouver offers them via the recycling program to reduce demand during summer droughts and they’re about $60 CDN each, I think.)
However, we’re about to break all records for consecutive rainy days (23 dismal, gloomy days and counting…), so water is not feeling like the most urgent thing on my To Do list at the moment! :-(
Thank you Name! I have about 120 small 500ml bottles stored for drinking, but I can’t seem to find anything to store water in for other purposes. I thought maybe a large garbage can, but the lids don’t seem to fit too well. I live on an island that is low-populated (if that’s even a word), so we have no camping/hunting stores, no bulk grocery stores… I’m having a hard time here. It’s looking like I’m going to have to invest in a generator for back up I guess. Really didn’t want to invest that much money, but I guess I’ll appreciate it if I ever need it. Thanks again. Sorry about all your rain :( Want some snow instead?? I got some here for you if you want.
My contention is for an average family, if there is such a thing, say 2 adults and 2 children, just how long is a 55 gallon drum of water going to last. Not long enough I suspect. I would think that water purificatons would be more dependable in the long run of say, 90 or 120 days.
I looked into the 55 g drum idea and was also discouraged because of the shipping costs. I settled on buying a mix of water storage containers: —8 gallon water storage containers, only $8 in the camping section at Walmart. This is a great deal and 7 of these stores 56 gallons for only $56. Easy to move around too. —24 oz water bottles. A flat (24 bottles I think) is only $5 at Sam’s Club. That’s almost 5 gallons. Again, easy to store and great if you have to bug out.
Windmills pump water out of wells… shouldn’t they still work? http://www.aermotorwindmills.com/
There are heating systems that use boilers to heat 2000 gallon water tanks for house/outbuilding/driveway use. It is conceivable that they would install that large (or smaller) tanks for storage rather than heating. Just a thouht.
Or there are rain water systems with extreamly large tanks available. We considered one for this house, until we found out that Utah had outlawed catching rainwater in any form. Wish we had it now.
Ganygirl, in regards to the windmills, the information that I provided on the Family and Individual Preparation thread will help a few of you.
I appreciated so much info at one site! I have some additional info that may help some of you—Gurman Container and Supply Corp. www.gurmancontainer-supply.com has the best prices on water containers. They have everything you could imagine for storage containers. It is based out of Indiana. My younger sister contracted a parasite from their local water and the town (in USA) was fined for improper water purification treatment after almost 100 people came down with ghardia (sp?). She almost died before she was able to get rid of it. The cure was almost worse than the illness, so to speak. Anyway, because of that we have payed a lot more attention to the purification of water. If you are on city supplies, they are only required to purify to the ghiardia level. The water purification tablets you can buy are basically sugar pills and do nothing for purifying your water. Any plastic containers you use, whatever purpose they were used for previously, the plastic retains either the flavor or the residue. So, milk cartons are no good. They are also sensitive to hot/cold temps and will swell and condense. Some of the best containers are actually 2litre pop bottles. Any flavor they leave behind is pleasant and they are not temperature sensitive. If you buy inexpensive brands, they sometimes can be though. I know this is long, sorry, but the best thing is to get a purifier, and the katadyn filters seem to be the best, like someone said before me. If you don’t have one, you can use bleach but be careful because it only takes a few eyedropper drops of bleach to purify the water (to the ghiardia level.) For example, a 2litre bottle of water only needs two eyedropper drops of bleach. A helpful tip is to store lemonade to flavor the water so that you don’t taste the bleach as much :-)
Oh yes, I did forget something—a gallon of water a day is recommended by experts in emergency preparedness. That includes cleaning as well as drinking and cooking water. My sister had double house payments for a year and lived off of her food storage during that time to help financially. She discovered that the easy to prepare emergency items went the most quickly—duh! But, you want to make sure you store enough water if you store things like pastas or rice. I have a friend that stored hundreds of pounds of rice in her basement in 50 gallon buckets. I asked her what she stored her water in, and she freaked because she forgot about the water!! Sterno cans and the old fashioned “buddy burners” are great to cook indoors and it doesn’t take rocket scientists to figure out how to do it. Sometimes the fancy stoves and things for emergency use are impossible to use conveniently. BTW, buddy burners are cleaned tuna cans with cardboard cut and wound in a tight circle within the can and then melted paraffin wax is poured over the top. Once it cools, you cover them in waxed paper. They cook for almost three hours and have very little fumes. They do put off a lot of ash though and it gets messy. But you can use it in your regular oven just leave the door open. You can also set it on your counter with a warming rack over it and cook a pot of stew or something??? Hope some of this helps someone :)
Question - Could one use a NEW and CLEAN “Jerry Can” (normally used to store and transport gas) as a storage container for drinking water?
In 1991 EAWAG (The Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology) and SANDEC (EAWAG’s Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries) conducted extensive laboratory and field tests to develop and test the Solar Water Disinfection Process (SODIS). The laboratory tests conduced as well as the practical experience gathered during the application in the field revealed a simple, low-cost technology with a great potential to improve the health of those still without access to safe drinking water. The Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) process is a simple technology used to improve the microbiological quality of drinking water. SODIS uses solar radiation to destroy pathogenic microorganisms which cause water borne diseases. SODIS is ideal to treat small quantities of water. Contaminated water is filled into transparent plastic bottles and exposed to full sunlight for six hours. Sunlight is treating the contaminated water through two synergetic mechanisms: Radiation in the spectrum of UV-A (wavelength 320–400nm) and increased water temperature. If the water temperatures raises above 50°C, the disinfection process is three times faster. http://tinyurl.com/bhgsb
-There is NO need to treat, in any way, tap water that you are storing in containers. This tap water is already potable, treating it at the time of storage is a waste. -If, upon taking your water out of storage and preparing to use it, you find that it has an off-color or odor or you have doubts about it, go ahead and treat it at that time. -If you need to draw water from an untreated source (pond, stream, etc)… if the water is cloudy or muddy, first let the containers full of water stand overnight. This will allow sediment to settle to the bottom, and the clear(er) water can be decanted off. Sediment in the water will require using MUCH more treatment. You can also use something like coffee filters, clean sheets, socks or fabric to filter water (for sediment removal only). -If using a chemical treatment, be sure to allow plenty of time for the chemical to achieve full disinfection. The colder the water is, the longer treatment will take. Plan on a minimum of 20 minutes. -If you plan on using iodine or an iodine-based filter for your water and have thyroid problems of any type, think again. -To make stored water taste better, pour it into something like a clean 2 liter bottle, filling about 3/4 full, and shake vigorously. This will reintroduce oxygen into the water and make it lose its “flat” taste. -An “AquaTainer”, avail at Walmart in camping section for about $8, is wonderful to have. You can set it on the countertop, it has a leak-proof spigot on it so you can dispense water easily. -Make sure you have two washpans for dishwashing, one for washing and one for rinsing. You’ll only need about 2″ of water in each pan. Disposable plates and cutlery will soon add up to a huge volume of trash that may be near impossible to get rid of. -A shallow bowl or basin for handwashing, and a pitcher for rinsing, should be available. -Moving a 30 gallon water barrel can be accomplished by laying it on its side and rolling it. Not fun, but can be done. -One gallon of water per person per day is not much at all. To take a “test run”, fill containers with enough water for one gallon per person per day (don’t forget pets water needs), and use NOTHING but this stored water during the next 3–5 days. No tapwater for ANYTHING, including clothes washing, dishwashing, showers, etc. Put tape over all the faucets just to remind yourself. Just for the purposes of this test, you can flush the toilet. Just 3–5 days of this little experiment will teach you just how precious water is, and how much you will have to conserve it. It will also help you think up new ways to conserve water. -When shopping for a water filter, remeber that there is absolutely no such thing as 100% pure water. Any company that tries to tell you their filter is giving you 100% pure water is lying and should be avoided.
i just ordered 8 55 gal drums from aaoobfoods.com The shipping was much less because i am getting them on a pallette. I also bought a 1 year FEMA pack. Does anyone have any info, good or bad, on them?
What about storing water in new large plastic trash cans lined with FDA/USDA approved food grade liners? Any thoughts?
Aaoobfoods also has what they call a mission filter. For about $115 you can get the filter and 1 each of the two replacement filter media shipped to your door. This is a great filter for the $ and will filter quite a large amount of water. As mentioned earlier, if the water you have has sediment, let it sit and clear then siphon out the clear water and run through your filter - the clearer your water is the better, it will make your filter last much, much longer. If you still have a concern after all that, run it through a Katadyn or similar but under most circumstances that will not be necessary (other than for some additional peace of mind).
I just purchased a 32 gallon trash can for about $12.00. That’s 38 cents a gallon. At $40 + $40 shipping for a 55 gallon drum, that’s $1.45 a gallon. Both are reuseable. I’m finding it difficult to find, or shell out money for a bigger drum.
Tell me and BF up there, why a NEW trash can won’t work, if refilled a couple times a year. Would a trash bag help? My plan, is to fill it once every 90 days or so. Put the lid on and seal (with duct tape maybe).
Keep in mind, that I’m still of the mindset that water may still be available. It will have to be..it will be a priority. I think that’s why I struggle spending more money. Plus, there is no way I can store enough water for more than a couple weeks at best.
Here is my water update.
I still have never heard what really bad can happen to you from clean-trash-can water. If anyone knows, I would really like to hear it.
However, I yield to Survival Acres and will get food grade containers. I just wanted a big one to put in the back yard that I can empty and refill periodically. I want 6 months of potable water, then I will move to filters. I decided to get a Norwesco Ag container from my local Tractor Supply Company to avoid shipping charges. (Farming or tractor in your yellow pages) The local store has containers from 30 to 1000 gallons. I wanted the 325 gallon tank. (And will pick it up in a borrowed pick-up in two days time) I called Norwesco and all of their containers are water potable.
Point of interest all of the ag containers in the store were $1 dollar a gallon up to the 100 gallon size. On the larger sizes they were .50 cents a gallon. The only drawback is you can’t haul it in your house when TSHTF, but it will fit in your garage. They were all white, but we bought a camouflage tarp to put over it to keep down algea and keep it from the offending the neighbors. We will put it in a bed behind shrubbery.
For 4 55-gallon drums at $100 each I would get 210 gallons. For less, I get 325 gallons. So it works for me. I still have my clean trash cans for sanitation and bought the solar shower at Walmart for $6. The ag container stores better than 325 1-gallon containers and is easier to refresh the water.
Water is called the universal solvent for good reason; non-food grade plastics will leach chemicals when used to store water for weeks or months. I suppose using food grade storage bags to line the trash cans is an OK substitute but personally I would not trust it; the risk of contamination is much greater than a barrel with a secure lid and cap. Plus these days many of the food grade plastics are impregnated with a form of bacteriostat, which will add a level of safety if your’s is one of those.
The Water Bladder! If you do not have much space for bottles and drums, why not consider a water bladder. They are available in many sizes and take almost no storage until ready to fill. Cost is most economical on shipping. I priced 55 gal. barrels here in San Francisco and they were almost $100 each. No place to store them. Review the above. A link I used is www.gotwater2.com/products.html Check it out.
I got my 325 gallon potable water container today. It’s actually not that big, it takes the place of my 4 bicycles pushed side by side. I do feel better. (I think rainwater will cover any depletions now that I have a good reserve.)
EOD - Thanks, that’s the good reason for spending the extra money on the food grade container that I was looking for.
Richard 40, I looked at the bladders. I know you are in San Francisco so to you this will seem silly - I ruled them out because I live in the Memphis on the New Madrid Earthquake zone. I didn’t want to invest money unless it has a chance of surviving an earthquake too.
FYI when I first started on this forum this kind of large purchase seemed insane to me, but as my preps grew, I wanted assurance of water to go with it.
Worried…Where did you get your 325 gal container?
I have planned a backup to the bleach method. Someone asked about what the military uses. Its called miox. About the size of a highlighter uses regular rock salt and camera batteries. Will kill viruses and the batteries are good for about 200 gallons a pop. Figured if I have to split for some reason (fire, flood, plague of locusts) I can grab the miox; a lot easier that lugging bleach with me. I got mine from ebay. They run 80–140 bucks depending on where you find them. Do a google they pop up a bunch of places.
BF I got my 325 gallon container at Tractor Supply Company (TSC) in Collierville Tn, a suburb of Memphis. All they carry is Norwesco Tanks http://www.norwesco.com/ I got a white one.
BF the black tanks are more expensive, they are designed to keep down algea growth. There are also 305 gallon black containers I looked at on websites. “305 gallon water storage” was my search.
Thanks worried :-)
I’m new at this, but water storage seems to be the most difficult day-to-day issue for me —no way to “dehydrate it for future use to save space! However, we have a huge in-ground swimming pool outside. The water is undoubtedly frozen for much of the winter, but could still potentially provide a enormous source of potable water. My husband insists if it is properly balanced for swimming, it should be okay to drink, but I’d like to get some definitive advice on that before I rely on it to serve it to my very young kids. Would a Katadyn filter make it safe enough or is a filter not necessary at all. Bleach treatment?? Any answers or leads of other info. sources on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the helpful info. and hope I can add some at some point.
I too have over 17,000 gallons in my inground swimming pool which is my backup water source. I use only stabilized chlorine (for sanitizing) and muriatic acid and baking soda (to adjust pH) in it. About 1/2 of the total volume is replaced with fresh tapwater each year. If it’s needed for drinking water I plan to first treat it with bleach then run it thru my AquaRain filter. I too would be interested in advice or info from any chemist types on this subject.
Annoyed max-not mad yet, I looked at the miox website at their data. I’m not convinced this would be a very practical unit. The log removal is not exceptionally high, and the amount of contact time that the unit takes to achieve those log reductions seems extremely high (240 minutes for crypto!!!). While I’m sure it would serve the purpose in an emergency, I think there are other portable filters out there that could do an equal or better job at a similar or better price.
So can someone please give me a location or 2 to buy food grade 32 gal ± trash can liners for water storage for 6 month rotattion?
NJ JEEPER – at 10:19 I don’t know if you’re still monitoring this post - I just ordered, but did not receive these 45 gal. bags, 250 ea. @ $39.95 http://www.acemart.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPLH40481EC
Check your local (or not so local) feed stores for barrels. Our local feed store sells two types of 55 gal barrels - one hard plastic, and the other painted metal. Lids are available for each type. Both barrels originally held fruit or peppers, so they are food grade. They sell them here for about $15 apiece.
Kim: Muratic Acid is low-grade hydrochloric acid (still quite concentrated), the chlorine ‘pucks’ are usually some salt of a chlorate, bleach is sodium hypochlorite which acts as an oxidizing agent. Trying to filter pool water to remove these compounds would be very hard to do because with hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite, and sodium bicarbonate all dissolve into water to form ions (which are the size of individual atoms and are nearly impossible to filter out mechanically). If you were to use pool water, diluting it might be a good idea as a last resort, but remember the last time you got sick drinking pool water?
Pool water has enough compounds to oxidize and break down organic substances (hence why hair or plastics in pool water usually turn white and break down), and I wouldn’t want to drink that stuff unless my life was on the line. For those with high blood pressure, there would be alot of sodium chloride (at least the ionic equivalent) in the water, so that might also want to be kept in mind…
I apologize if this is the wrong section for this but it is water related. I live in a hurricane prone area and often face time without running water. I suggest in the nature of water conservation, you have several utility grade spray bottles (yes you can successfully rinse dishes this way) also for your sanity a collapsable camping shower bag is highly recommended. They usually come in 5 gal. capacity that you heat up with sun power. A smaller 2.5 gallon model is very useful as it can be warmed in the microwave (yes provided you have power) or by the sun.
Caught sight of the shower bag just this morning. We will not be using our hot tub water unless we are dead thristy. Also found a 10 gal blue water container. Nice to know about. I keep forgetting that I have about 8 gallons of fruit juice in the basement keeping cool.
Has anyone found a product named ION? It is supposed to be wonderful for disinfecting water, and is good for you.
For washing, not for drinking, can I get a small above ground inflatable pool designed for kids, and not add any pool chemicals. Get the smallest one 8 ft diameter x 27 inches would hold 570 gallons. Put it in the basement (unfinished cement floor). This should last us 3 months. Cover it with a clear plastic (vapor barrier) and maybe use a UV light every so often - would that kill algae? Can I use this water in a shower bag as suggested by by moeb?
I like the idea of the kiddie pool and it leads to what is a basic question for me that I hope someone could answer- Assuming I have chlorine and/or a filter, as long as the water is stored in a way that it doesnt get a lot of bad chemicals in it, wont any storage lead to potable water?
I also read that the salt and chemical build-up in pools makes in very undesirable. However, since I live in a sunny location, I plan on using a solar distiller
I went to “acme recycled drums” in Dunedin NZ and bought a 55 gallon (44imperial gal) steel barrel for about $12 US. It is second hand. Comes from the Cadbury Chocolate factory. It had liquid honey in it. It is lined with food grade plastic. All I have to do is hose out the little bit of honey.
My advice is go to the big food manufacturing places in your neigborhood. I used to make Big Mac Sauce and as I recall, we got 55 gallon drums full of pickle relish. Get those old drums. They would probably love for you to have them.
Clark, Check your water in that drum frequently because I have read that its neigh on impossible to get the old food out and thats why the factories dont reuse them. I would like to knwo how you make out, Ive been considering getting used barrells too because of the cost difference. Is the food grade lining put on after use with the honey? That might make all the difference. Hey, is there pickle relish is Big Mac sauce? Is that the secret recipe?
…….. some guy called “Big Ronald” on the other line. I should retract my statement about Mig Mac Sauce. Seriously- “I know absolutely nothing about any recipe, secret or otherwise”.
I think factories are alot more antsy about reuse than I would be. The big thing is that food came in it in the first place- not detergent or transmission oil. The other thing is I am fine about havin a litlle honey in the water. Water is good. If the water goes bad, you can always use it for washing. I intend to use the bartrels for collecting rain water from the roof.
I looked into water purifying filters and units. I think the “Black Berkey” filter is the best. “Google” it and see what you think yourself. I’m too cheap to buy a whole filtering unit for a couple of hundred $$$, I just bought a couple of filters ($80.00) and built my own “unit”.
2 - five gallon FOOD GRADE (#2 in a triangle is stamped on the bottom of the) buckets with lids. Drill a couple holes in them and you are up and running. . . I also “popped” for a spigot, so the pictures you will see are the “de luxe” model. Spigot not required, just a convenience.
Pull off the spigot and the filter, throw them into the buckets and it’s pretty portable. . .
The filters are can be cleaned with Scotchbrite cleaning pads. Each filter will last about 3000 gallons. Straining water before hand is recommended if you are using pond or puddle water.
Thought I’d share this with everyone as I want to make a contribution.
5 Pictures can be found of this at:
http://gilmore100.photosite.com/album1/
Picture of Black Berkey filter
Picture of 2 buckets, one atop the other
Picture of filter installed in Upper bucket
Picture of bottom side of Upper Bucket
Picture of Lower bucket
(option spigot is shown)
Keep in mind: many “trash” bags are treated with pesticides. Do not use these for H20 storage. Use food grade liners only.
Although tap water needs no treatment for storage, it may need purification prior to use depending on the type of container used. All tap water has bacteria that grows over time.
SCW AZ@00:34
The triangle with the 2 in it has nothing to do with food grade, it refers to the type of plastic for recycling purposes. Don’t use it for food or drinking water, washing would be ok.
Food grade had FOOD in it, or beverages. There is no way to tell by just looking at it, or code numbers that I know.
One place to get free food grade buckets, 3–5 gal, is the bakery in your local supermarket. Every time I go to Safeway, I stop by the bakery, and ask if they have any empties white buckets. I usually get 3–4 with airtight lids for free. They get prepared things like frosting/icing in them, and have to get rid of them anyway. Try it. It’s free, you go there anyway, and the right thing to use. Can’t beat that.
Question: Utah_Megee way above said not to use plastic milk containers as they are designed to break down over the long term. Does anyone know how long term?
My family goes through about 2 gallons a week from Braum’s, and I’ve been bleaching and refilling them with water for months now. I keep them stored in the top of my husband’s barn. If the containers are time sensitive, I’ll start marking a date on them so I’ll know when to discard. Does anyone have suggestions?
TC3158IW 165 gal is food grade, may be stored outside even during freezes if emptied a bit, and will fit about anywhere (discretely) http://www.tank-depot.com/product.aspx?id=123
MIOX = H2O filter of choice. More than you ever wanted to know may be found at: http://stuff.silverorange.com/archives/2004/september/msrmioxpurifier
Michelle at 13:33 3 to 4 months for water stored in milk bottles. 2 liter soda bottles can store water indefinately.
Rosie, thanks. The milk jugs won’t keep as long as I’d hoped. We never drink soda, so I guess I’ll have to decide on a different option.
Ceredwin – at 01:52
GREAT catch Ceredwin,
I checked with Lowes Home Improvement, who in turn had me contact their supplier Encore Plastics. ALL the white 5 gal buckets at Lowes are made with virgin plastic and are food grade.
THANK YOU for your thoughtfulness in pointing out a potentially BAD mistake.
Folks, I saw the comment about storing water in milk jugs & they should NOT be used for ANY water storage & not just because they break down….the plastic is different from 2 or 3 ltr soda bottles & the milk jug plastic will absorb bacteria that will contaminate your water no matter how well you try to wash it out. Please don’t risk using them at all, even for a few days!
Ceredwin, Thanks for the tip on buckets. I also asked at a Sconecutters (fast food) and they now hold them for me instead of throwing them away. I just picked up 2 with lids. I had been paying 4 or 5 dollars for them, this is much nicer. I have also purchased food storage liners, basically they are clear plastic bags specifically for food storage use. 100 for about 10 dollars. Well worth it.
In my area, the stores usually dispose of the lids immediately and the buckets shortly thereafter. The only way I’ve found to get buckets & lids unless I’m really lucky is to call about 8 am and ask them to hold the buckets with lids for me, I’ll call later in the day to make sure they have some, and then I’ll go pick them up. (Today the haul was 6 - 3 1/2 gal and 2 - 2 gal). Then you KNOW that the buckets are food-grade. Most of the ones I’ve gotten are manufactured by Nampac and used for icings or other bakery staples. The local small business paint store gives away lids with bung holes that fit the 5 or 3 1/2 gal buckets, which should be useful if I end up storing water in the buckets. And of course the buckets can be used for all kinds of other things if not needed for pandemic flu storage.
The 3–5 gallon will also be used for catching rainwater (we have lots in WA), a good storm will fill them up fast. The smaller sizes are good for easier lifting. The food grade buckets from the bakeries also have handles, making them easy to lift, and generally a suitable weight for the “bakery ladies.”
I would caution about getting lids from elsewhere unless you know the typ of plastic, especially iuf in contact with food or air that can leach chemicals from the plastic.
SCW AZ – at 15:08, you’re quite welcome. We were all new to this once. Share your info with others.
It would be so much better if the manufacturers would just stamp their products “food-grade” so we wouldn’t have to guess!
After collecting many buckets from bakeries and looking around for used food-grade water barrels, I finally did what I should have done in the first place if concerned about water - looked in the Yellow pages under Barrels & Drums, found a listing, called them to verify the price & availability, and picked up two new 55-gal plastic barrels this afternoon. The price was about $4 cheaper than on the Internet (and no shipping charges). I’ll keep on collecting buckets just because I hate to see them just thrown away and they’re good for so many other things (could also be used for water).
Our local Thrifty Nickel has listing of food quality barrels for just maybe $10. Also, I know that some Coke Mfg plants have plastic barrels that once contained cola syrup. Many give them away for free.
I called our local bottling plant about used containers, and they said “no”. One of the local supermarket bakeries won’t give me used plastic buckets (after they talked it over with their manager). Maybe it’s the increased litigation potential, who knows. I checked out a metal barrel for sale for $19 that used to hold honey, and it was gross. I think when it comes to drinking water even stingy me is willing to pay the price for a new barrel.
I have thought about the 55 galon drum and I gave up on the idea. I have bought 10 X 7 gallon containers that stack on a shelf. They are easier for all the family to use and move. Last year the kids and I collected rain water during storms to water the garden patch. We collected the water in garbage cans with wheels for easy movement. The plastic deformed under the weight of the water, buldging like a hernia on the bottom. The wheels did not last long. When it came to deciding how I wanted to store water, I didn’t have to give it much thought. The price of the individual water containers was not much more in cost - way less in hastle!! I will consider the garbage can method again to collect rain water for washing etc..but not a 55 gallon water drum for drinking.
FYI, after considering investing in 55 gal. containers for potable water, I decided to put my money into the Berkey Water Filter system…you can purchase them in sizes to accomodate whatever amount of water you anticipate needing daily. They make a lexan portable one which has an emergency light source, and their gold standard stainless steel models in a number of sizes. I bought a personal portable size for my husband to take to South America. You can get ceramic filters or the Black Berkey Filter. I am comfortable with the technology for bacteriological contaminant purification. It has a real track record and is low-tech: it is widely used by relief organizations and missions in developing countries. The black filter claims to remove Volatile Organic Compounds to below detectable limits…you professional chemists tell me if that is what would be in solution from a non-food grade trash can storage situation?
I’d have to check my files, but if I recall correctly the Berkley filter will not filter or kill a virus. In normal circumstances it is the bacteria and cysts that one has to worry about and the ceramic and carbon filters take care of those. I believe there are other filters similar to the Berkley that add silver to their “candles.” There are some indications that silver will kill a virus but you will have trouble finding anybody (other than Sanyo’s air purifier) who will affirm it will kill H5N1.
To be SAFE, always, and I repeat ALWAYS, treat any questionable water. Plain ole Clorox will do. See: http://www.rense.com/general2/watrpur.htm The info is also on the Clorox site. FYI: you already have chlorine in your city water for the same reason. And you can filter out the chlorine.
The hard HDPE plastic in 2L soda bottles does not absorb fluids so can be cleaned and refilled. HOWEVER, just having the bottle open prior to or while filling introduces pathogens that are floating around in the air, so add a bit (see link above) of clorox.
The softer plastic milk cartons absorb whatever was in them. If milk, that is a perfect breeding ground for pathogens. However, in an emergency like BF, we are keeping a bunch around empty and unsealed and will fill at the first hint of pandemic BF getting near our locality. We cleaned and swished with clorox before storing (although we live in a very dry climate so the inside dries out quickly) and will swish again before filling.
If you are thinking of using anything besides HDPE or other food grade or potable water storage containers, e.g. trash cans, you’d better find out what is in the material that will be leeching into your water and what you need to filter it out. Plastics contain a lot of very bad stuff that will kill you slowly when ingested. Most of that stuff now come from China. I shouldn’t need to say anymore.
When I first started prepping I was frantic about getting enough water stored. I finally purchased a 525 gallon water storage tank to put in my basement. However, from the start I have been storing water in empty 2 liter soda bottles. It seemed painfully slow at first, but now I have over 30 gallons stored and keep adding to that every week. If you have the room and drink soda in those containers, why not use them?
If you get one of the plastic barrels, there’s no moving it once it has much water in it. You should get one of those little siphon pumps that you keep very clean to get the water out of the barrel into a smaller container.
I personally like the Blue Reliance Brand that is suitable for camping which can be found at Wal-mart. It comes in a 7 gallon square container, and stacks.
Why I like these containers-
1) We are told to have 14 Gallons or 52 Litres of Water is the recommended minimum amount to have on hand for a 2 week supply for one person. This translates into 1 gallon of water per person per day. Most of us probably exceed 140 gallons a day, if we consider all the showering, laundry, dishes, washing cars, watering lawns, etc. These containers come in 7 Gallon size. It makes it easy to calculate. You could start by getting 2 for each person in the household.
2) They stack… I’ve learned from experience to not stack it higher than 2 containers, or they will bulge and leak. The reliance brand also comes with a 5 year warranty under normal wear or tear, or you can get be replaced.
3) There are blue…which means, that light can’t get in, and if treated properly, I may never need to change this water, whereas, I might have to every 6 months or once a year, with other containers.
4) They are easier to transport. One can carry it up to the kitchen, put in on it’s side, twist/reverse the cap for the spout to come out. Now you can also buy a pump to pump it out ($15.00)
I live in a City that treats the water. I then add Aerobic Oxygen http://www.goodforyou.ca This product purifies the water by keeping the oxygen levels higher in the water, it’s guarantee 10 years, so I don’t have to change it! It also has many health benefits.
Once I plan to use it, I will aerate it back and forth, as it will tend to have a flat taste if I don’t.
I also have a rain barrel outside and my hot water tank to rely on for non watering purposes.
I personally like the Blue Reliance Brand that is suitable for camping which can be found at Wal-mart. It comes in a 7 gallon square container, and stacks.
Why I like these containers-
1) We are told to have 14 Gallons or 52 Litres of Water is the recommended minimum amount to have on hand for a 2 week supply for one person. This translates into 1 gallon of water per person per day. Most of us probably exceed 140 gallons a day, if we consider all the showering, laundry, dishes, washing cars, watering lawns, etc. These containers come in 7 Gallon size. It makes it easy to calculate. You could start by getting 2 for each person in the household.
2) They stack… I’ve learned from experience to not stack it higher than 2 containers, or they will bulge and leak. The reliance brand also comes with a 5 year warranty under normal wear or tear, or you can get be replaced.
3) There are blue…which means, that light can’t get in, and if treated properly, I may never need to change this water, whereas, I might have to every 6 months or once a year, with other containers.
4) They are easier to transport. One can carry it up to the kitchen, put in on it’s side, twist/reverse the cap for the spout to come out. Now you can also buy a pump to pump it out ($15.00)
I live in a City that treats the water. I then add Aerobic Oxygen http://www.goodforyou.ca This product purifies the water by keeping the oxygen levels higher in the water, it’s guarantee 10 years, so I don’t have to change it! It also has many health benefits.
Once I plan to use it, I will aerate it back and forth, as it will tend to have a flat taste if I don’t.
I also have a rain barrel outside and my hot water tank to rely on for non drinking purposes.
We now have about 150 gallons of commercial bottled water that we normally use anyway. Our local water leaves a lot to be desired regarding taste. Since last fall we’ve been saving all the empties of these and now have a good number of them that will be re-filled ‘when and if’. We also have 2 old 55 gallon drums that will be filled and used for non-food uses. We also have a small fish pond that holds a couple thousand gallons or so. We are also used to collecting rain water in this dry area. We also plan to fill every container in the kitchen and around the house when necessary —every pot, pan, bathtub, garbage can lined with a new liner, empty kitty litter containers, wastebaskets with new liners, etc. It if holds water, we’ll fill it. If nothing else, we’ll water the garden with it.
I was reading about a solar still today thanks to a link here and a search, and think that sounds very interesting in case we need to use any of our secondary sources for drinking water. Some of the set-ups seem rather simple. I’m going to try building a simple one this weekend.
bump
Closed due to length. Conversation is continued here.