I’m still trying to accumulate enough water for 8. I’m figuring on 5 cases per person per month. It seems an impossible task. I’ve been told to only store purified or filtered water and to stay away from spring water. So far Safeway seems to run the best sales. Today, I paid 3.99 a case. Has anyone seen good prices they can suggest?
much cheaper to save your empty 2liter bottles and fill them with water, thats what I’m doing. I just add a few drops of bleach.
$4 per case of .5 l bottles is about the lowest I’ve seen. But 40 cases per month would get very expensive! It might be cheaper to just order 2 brand new 55 gallon water barrels and fill them with water.
I`m seriously thinking about one of those water bladders. Around $150 to store 300 gallons on drinking water. I just haven`t figured out where I`d store it, once full.
annie at 15:30 -
Why store only purified water and stay away from spring water?
Costco purified water is 40 individual bottles per case at a little more than 13 cents a bottle - the lowest price around. Don’t know the price on gallons but it’s probably comparable. Gallons at Albertsons are 7 for $7 - they were formerly 10 for $10.
Thanks in advance.
annie - How many bottle and how much water are in the cases? The min. amount of water is 1 gallon a day per person, 14 gallons per person for 2 weeks, or 52 Litres person person for 2 weeks. I personally like a blue jug I can get at Wal-mart in Canada, called “Reliance brand” they have them in the sporting section. If you’re in the US, they should have something similiar there too. They are portable, they even now can buy a pump and a fitler that screws on them. They come in different sizes, but I prefer the 7 gallon square container, and I only stack them two high when filled with water, no more than that. Makes it easy to do the math, one container for 1 person per week. Now, I realize having 8 in the family sure adds up, and you need to have the space for the containers! Invest in some rain barrels, remember you have your hot water tank, perhaps, you might want to invest in the bigger food grade barrels, but you won’t have the ability to port it around.
Cactus az - and you realize you won’t be moving it, once it’s full! You can also get food grade 55 gallons of water, like a barrel usually around $80, perhaps that would easier to know where to store, than the big water bladders.
true. that`s why I was pondering my options.
I have 5 gallon containers I can fill if things look like they are getting bad but everything I read says you can’t store well water because things grow! I also read about the bleach…which helps kill the bad stuff but has a bad effect on you body eventually. My husband had kidney cancer and only has one kidney so I’m being extra careful. I’m only trying to store 2 months worth. I’m hoping that the power will stay on at least a month. Also, we’re installing a whole house generator and that will run the water. The only problem is how long the propane will last…it will be a 500 lb tank. So many variables! I also have a water purifyer that looks like a big coffee pot (Aquarain filter). That’s suppose to filter out bleach so if we get to that point, I’ll drink that water and save the other stuff for the little ones and my husband.
Try reading up about stablized oxygen, (aerobic oxygen) I heard it’s good for those that have thyroid problems.
Can anybody backup the statement made that spring water should not be stored? I find that alarming, in view of the fact that I have 300 gallons of the stuff stashed in the basement.
agua is agua. Spring water still has to meet health department requirements when it is bottled, otherwise we would have people tipping over all the time from spring water borne disease. Get some bleach, and sterilize your water as instructed here on the wiki. I understand that folks with medical conditions may not want to drink treated water, but having done my hospital time as a result of giardia and e coli exposure (water given to me at a bike race in Pennsylvania), I will take my chances with the treated water.
The more economical route is to purchase either 5 gallon or 3 gallon water bottles from WalMart or other store. Take the bottles to a water store or water filling station — most have sterilized the water via uv germicidal light. Fill the bottles and store. You can also purchase an inexpensive ceramic water dispenser ($36 at Walmart) and just flip the bottle upside down in it to dispense.
Any water purchased in containers should store fine, but it is a good idea to rotate it in and out as much as you can. It won’t be good forever. Storing tap water is another story. It can pick up germs from your faucet, etc. so it’s a good idea to add some bleach. Well water definitely gets funky after awhile since it isn’t treated with chlroine like city water.
LauraB, that is so true. I buy the 2 and a half gallon K-mart water, which I find tastes best and is the cheapest, because my son cannot drink our city water. I had 10 start leaking all over, that I had just bought two weeks ago. Of course, I didn’t save the receipt, who returns water? Now I will always save it.
Clawdia..At a National level meeting on bird flu, my sister (who is in charge of infection control at her hospital) was told to only store filtered or purified bottled water. She passed the information along to me. She told me why but my brain didn’t really listen. This was at the very beginning of my prepping so all I needed to know was which kind of water to buy. I’ll be seeing her for dinner tonight and will ask for a reason. I’m sure you’ll be fine with the water you have.
annie – at 16:42
Everything depends on the size of the ‘whole house’ generator and how long you plan to run it. I am building a new house and am installing a propane powered 8.5 Kohler generator with ATS. I chose this model due to a couple of things but mainly the burn rats (low) and noise level (66db). Also, I did (do not) plan on running my whole house without the grid being up – just selected items that are needed to survive in a minimum of comfort and security.
I have a 500 gal propane buried tank (really about 450 gals max as expansion space is needed). If things go hell and the power grid dies then I plan on running it about four hours a day, 2 hrs in the AM and 2 in the PM to cook, (microwave), run water well pump, charge a couple 12 volt batteries, check fluwikie, run fridge & freezer, etc. Even doing the above I will use less that half of the generators capacity.
This Kohler generator burns around 1.1 gal per hour (you need to check with your dealer to see what yours burns) at 50% so an example is:
I’ll start with just 400 gals in the tank I run it 4 hours a day I’ll burn 4.4 gals of propane a day The tank will last approximately 90 days (starting with 400 gals)
Notice that there is no central air conditioner, no heat pump or any other major power using items listed above, if things get bad enough that I am in this mode then I will consider those luxury items and use my work around for either air-conditioning or heat
Note that some days I may run it less and some days run it longer but hopefully you get the idea.
If you can’t afford a hand pump, but want a low cost, last ditch way to prevent thirst - you can buy bailers and bail the well by hand. It’s good to try to clear the well of the sitting water before extracting the drinking water, and it can be a workout if you have a deep well. I don’t have a great link to a supplier, but this is a ‘googled’site, bailers. Don’t forget the rope.
Thom-the information you have given is extremely helpful! It sounds like you are doing what we plan to do…except for running the motor for the pellet stove. Ours is a 12 something. I need to look up the brand and see what I can find out! Thanks
The question about the large water bladders -
I bought two for y2k. I never filled them because the only place I can consider is in my basement. I didn’t want to risk it eventually leaking, and I didn’t have a convenient way to empty them if I needed to. (I have a small hand pump, but it still would have been considerable effort.)
Also, I seem to recall, similar to the 5-gallon camping jugs, the plastic taste permeates the water after a while and it tastes horrible. So, I also have quite a few 5-gallon containers I am waiting for an emergency to fill.
Meanwhile, my silly neighbor is giving me his empty 1-gallon water bottles which I am enthusiastically refilling from the tap (already chlorinated but adding a bit more). Adding to the 2-liter bottles I already had. That is my real emergency water, say for a water main break, but with a few hours notice I can fill up many other containers.
Sorry, I posted to the wrong thread! Water, water…
Clawdia, I talked to my sister about the spring water vs. purified water. Apparently she was told at the meeting that the purified usually has a longer expiration date that the natural or spring. She said that if that’s not the case, go for either kind.
Closed to maintain Forum speed.