what's the best way to store tap water? plastic pop bottles? white plastic bottles? glass bottles? something else? bleach? chlorine? salt? something else? rotate every ... ?

EDIT: Does the colour of glass or plastic matter? clear? white? green? brown? blue?

I've been storing tap water untreated in 5-gallon water carriers. The water still smells and tastes good after six months. I've read that if you clean them well, 2-liter pop bottles work very well.

If your container is clean and your water is clean, I don't know any reason why rotation is strictly necessary.

depends on the quality of water where you live i would say.i have kept well water from my cabin near the St Croix river,untreated,in a five gallon glass jug for over a year and it was good then as the day in went in..in the city,Minneapolis,i did the same thing with the same results.there are places in Minnesota,the far South West farm country,where they have a notice on the public drinking fountains and next to some creeks like the one at the Pipe Stone Quarry that the water is not fit for children,or at the quarry,dogs, to drink because of farm run off..it's so local there is no pat answer.

Put into plastic bottles (not too full) or other containers and put into freezer.

It will stay fresh (although, depending on how you stored it, might take on the freezer taste), will help your other frozen goods in case of power outages.

And tap water's cheap enough so you can just toss some out if you need more room in your freezer.

I think the main points is to use really clean vessels and keep them out of direct sunlight.

I wouldn't use salt for water storage, unless you face some circumstances where you need large amounts of salt water quickly. It might not be fit for drinking.

-jh

Sunlight is not the friend of stored water (algae). If your tap water is up to snuff, I wouldn't put anything in it. I prefer a variety of relatively small containers that one can easily move about. Glass is heavy and can break but is inert; plastic can leach which may or not be an issue - an old goat like myself can drink stuff I would not give to my child, although I think leaching is an overrated problem.

As far as I know, the color of the container is not particularly significant, although darker colors should inhibit sunlight.

It certainly can't hurt to change water periodically when you need to water your plants. If any water is growing stuff when an emergency happens or you have any suspicions, just treat (boil) it. Another reason for small containers and variety.

The milky white bottles (like milk comes in) simply do not last very long. I don't know why. But water stored in these containers tends to eventually leak out, even if you buy the water in them, store them upright, and they've never been opened. You go out to your storage area, and you'll find empty or partially-empty collapsed containers.

The clear plastic bottles store far longer. Just be sure to wash them thoroughly if juice or something came in them. Soak with soapy water and rinse very well. Trying to hurry this step could be counter-productive when you need it.

Glass is very stable, but I wouldn't recommend them in earthquake areas for obvious reasons.

And I wouldn't bother adding anything to the water for storage. If your tap water is good enough to drink, it's good enough to store. As mentioned above, keep it in the dark. And I store mine low -- they might bounce after falling 18", but they're not going to bounce from four or five feet.

Chlorine is safe enough for purifying water contaminated with organic materials (after filtering out chunks), but I would keep it tightly sealed for specific use when and where you need it. It outgases, so investing in a fresh supply every six months would be cheap enough.

Sue

I have been rotating 5-7 gallon food grade plastic contaners since Y2K. I rotate out when the plants first come in, so I water with them, and then again toward late in the growing season.
All of it gets used, always mark month/year on a peice of tape.
Any larger containers are too hard to move, any smaller is kind of irrelevant... until I would really need it.

Milk jugs are made to deliberately degrade over time. A green thing I guess.

2 liter pop bottles do not degrade all that much.

Personally, all my water storage is in 5 gallon jugs that coincidentally fit my water cooler. I have 6 5 gallon jugs. They get rotated regularly. Most of the time I have at least 20 gallons of water in the cooler or the jugs sititng next to the cooler.

A side benefit is our Saturday morning excursions to the water store to refill them. The beagle has a good time because she gets a donut hole or two from the water store and a nice ride.

Water generally does not have long term storage issues unless stored in direct sunlight which can result in algae growth, especially for well water. That's why you put chlorine in it. In fact, that is the main reason chlorine is put into public water systems. It is not about germs, it is about controlling algae.

The big water bottles that come from water distributors (e.g. Sparklets) are really nice.

Otherwise, I generally use the 6-1/2 gallon plastic containers that are available from the hardware store. I just added 2 more of these containers to my home supply this last weekend. I need to add more ... doing this on an incremental basis.

Pete #2

the blue 6 or 7 gallon containers with spigots are convenient( I have 2)... I rotate water from pre hurricane season to next... freeze 2 liter bottles for ice in my 5 day cooler with approaching storms (limited freezer space)....store 33gal non potable water in a Rubbermaid trash barrel in my tub/shower... gives me access to flush toilet (pour into bowl...very slowly) and still have a drain to take a shower.... another 33gal container is placed under the eaves in a wind protected area to catch rain water... neighbor has a 20,000 gal pool... have ordered a Sawyer .1 micron 5 gal filter assembly