Looking for the best way to carry water in a vehicle. Not much, maybe a gallon or two. Im in Nebraska so its going to be freezing and thawing usually.

What type of container? Milk jug, 2 liter???
How long will it be "fresh" ?
Do I have to put bleach or something in it?

Thanks.

Milk jugs are the worst. The plastic they're made from deteriorates quite rapidly.

If you're using clean tap water or bottled water, you shouldn't have to put bleach into it.

I don't know about the freezing, though... It's going to freeze, sooner or later, depending on exterior conditions. We had a discussion some months ago about insulation just slowing down the freezing, even with insulation. The cold gets to it, no matter what you do, even if you buried it in a rolled-up sleeping bag.

People with more experience with extreme cold will have to chime in. Nebraska..... brrrrrrrrrr!

Sue

I'm thinking a couple gallons of bottled water packed into a cooler. If the bottles freeze and burst the cooler will contain the water once they melt.

Milk jugs won't last. They are not designed to withstand freezing either.
2 liter bottles may last longer but are also not designed for long term storage.

Do yourself a favor and splurge on a Scepter Runt. 2.5 gallons. About $25 and worth every penny because you won't have to worry about it failing on you.

Designed for military use. Millions of them in use all over the world.
These things are thick and tough as nails.
The 5 gallon versions can be seen strapped to tanks and humvees.

Freezing won't be a problem as long as you leave room for expansion,ie:don't fill it all the way up to the brim.

Water is important. Don't skimp on the storage container.

[quote=timo
Freezing won't be a problem as long as you leave room for expansion,ie:don't fill it all the way up to the brim.
[/quote]

+1 - water expands about 10% when it turns to ice (more specific, density of ice is 9% of water). Leave more than 10% air volume and you should be OK.

I would also pay a little attention to the shape of the container. I have a vague idea about freezing water sort of shapes its way around obstacles, but I wouldn't put to much confidence into it. I do feel less comfortable if the water is in danger of freezing in a container with lots of weird kinks and turns. Such as hollow handles on some cans.

I have polycarbonate jugs/bottles that look just like milk jugs except that they're polycarbonate. I routinely have one inside a cooler along with other stuff that I prefer to keep cool. Don't know how they'd do if frozen. Everything has its limits.

One reason to use clean milk jugs for this is that they're cheap enough to toss after each use. Nothing says these jugs are intended for long term; with cheap jugs they could be replaced every week.

Also understand that water does not freeze from the inside out. There is still the possibility of container bulge/rupture regardless of how much room is left.

Funny thing about the milk jugs: I had friend that would buy a bunch of milk and freeze it. He never had a plastic of cardboard container rupture. Bulge? Yes. Rupture? No.

Food for thought.

YMMV

My $.02

I carry a case of bottled water in the back of my personal and work vehicles all the time. Any water you carry will probably need to be rotated, poss. 2 to 4 times a year. An ice chest is a handy way to carry the case of water, or many other types of supplies in your car.

addition: for scuba diving in hot weather I would take along one or two 2 litre soda bottles which were washed out and refilled with water, then frozen. That gave you a good supply of iced water on a hot summer day. Even with repeated use, never had any problem with the bottles. If you want to prep these bottles and transfer from the gallon jug of drinking water from the grocery store, that may work.

I would go 1 liter or smaller soda bottles. I've had lots of these freeze in cars over the years, and as long as they're not full they haven't burst. The advantage of these over larger containers is that they'll thaw faster when you need them. It would take a long time to thaw a 5 gal plastic jug of water.

I use gallon milk jugs in my chest freezer to take up space and provide heat capacity. This freezer isn't frost free, so they just have 1 freeze cycle, and they still burst about 10% of the time. (Not a big deal in the freezer, as they don't ever thaw.) Milk jugs aren't strong at all and split easily.

I religiously save my old Gatorade bottles, one quart or larger. They are pretty stout, but I haven't subjected them to the freeze-thaw cycles you will have in Nebraska.

Places like REI have purpose built water jugs which are much stronger. They are worth the expense. I have some of those, as well.

Probably don't need to use bleach if your water source is good, but boiling never hurts if there is any concern. I once had occasion to use water I had cached outdoors for a year (over a winter) at Canyon de Chelly (AZ) which did freeze and thaw several times. No problems at all.

What about food grade 5 gallon buckets with a lid? Usually a lid with a pour spout is available.

I can tell you that typical 5 gallon buckets won't burst when water freezes in them. We've used one of the orange HD ones as a water hydrant "catch bucket" in our horse barn for many years. It spends most of the winter with frozen water in it. We dump it out on warm days when we can. Freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw ... and it keeps going strong. When it gets bad we'll haul it inside to thaw out a bit so we can dump it. Tough as nails.

Not sure how easy it would be to pour with the lid on, since they usually don't have a vent hole. It seems that they'd "glug" when pouring.

When I need to haul water I'll use the Reliance blue jugs. I find a 5 gallon jug is really tough for even a fairly strong adult to carry very far - really tough for a young Scout to carry. Its surprising how far we'll have to go for water at many campgrounds. I much prefer the 2.5 gallon versions. They're also less apt to get slammed down hard on the ground or on picnic tables ... due to their lighter weight. I assume that would help them last longer.

I don't have experience with them freezing up though. When winter camping we don't leave water jugs for very long since a frozen jug of water will really mess things up. Another reason I prefer the smaller jugs - one meal's worth if you are careful.

Ken K.

Plastic pop bottles worked well. The lids on milk jugs leaked on me.

I keep several store-bought bottles of water, often refilled, in my car all the time. Usually the kids or I will use them and I'll replace or refill them, so none are much more than a month or so old. But they do freeze/thaw several times before being discarded, and I've never had one burst or leak (unless the cap was loose). Even the new/thin Poland Spring bottles have survived multiple freeze/thaw cycles.

I also have 8 foil (Mylar?) packets of "emergency water" in my car emergency kit with a 5-year shelf life (along with a 2400-calorie food bar). They have withstood 2 winters so far without any evidence of weakening.

For just a gallon or two, I'd go with Nalgene water bottles and would keep them corralled and contained in a soft-sided cooler (I have a square soft Igloo that holds several 32 ouncers).

I camp a lot and keep several mostly full Nalgenes in my freezer for use in the camp cooler. It's efficient, tidy and has saved a bundle on bag ice during 2 and 3-day trips.

None of my Nalgene bottles has ever leaked. Some of mine are a decade old.

Either the 64 oz rectangular "Space Saver" BPA-free (this would be my choice for car storage - just 4 equals two gallons):

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80924

32 oz cylindrical

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80880

or 48 oz cylindrical

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80883


Leave a couple inches from the top of the bottle for expansion.

I live in an area where four months a year you can expect it to freeze at night and thaw (partially if not entirely) during the day. Use empty sanitized 2-3 liter soda bottles. All plastic will streatch and possibly split depending on how full you fill them and how tight (two separate issues). Leave about 3 inches empty at the top (cap) of the bottle. Then squeeze it in an inch on both sides and cap the bottle tight. The water should still have room to expand a little at the top. But most of the expansion will occur with the space you squeeze out of the bottle. I've stored water for years this way in my trunk. They freeze all of the time and thaw all of the time. Never a split bottle with this method. I have nearly split the heavy duty 5 gallon jugs. Same method applies.

How long will it stay fresh? Opinions vary greatly. Officially replace it every 6-months to a year. Unofficially, if you start with a clean container and clean water, add a few drops of (new, unscented) bleach for unseen circumstances, it will last forever. I follow that process and exchange it out every 3-5 years when I think about it. Water tastes fine. Just have to oxygenate it a bit (poor back and fourth between containers to get more air in it).

I have used 2-litre soda bottles for years. Fill to 80% and lay them on their side. Never had one burst from freezing. I'm careful to pack them where they won't contact anything sharp. I try to remember to have one under the heater vent in the winter.