Hi, I live in the Southern Cali suburbs. I have a question regarding water preparation. I have 24 liters of Aqua Literz for my backpack and car when I need to bug out. More on that later.<br><br>For the apartment, I am reaching for a goal of two weeks, but ideally, one month of drinking water.<br><br>My question: Are the one-gallon plastic containers of water sufficient, not for long term (6 months +) storage, but to use and cycle out often, for survival? I will mark dates on them and make sure I use them and replenish the supply.<br><br>Likely scenarios in my neighborhood are: earthquakes, fire. I don't see riots happening here, but we did have some flooding 4 years ago. I do keep water in a backpack for fires when I need to abandon the apartment (about three days' worth).

Welcome...<br><br>What kind of container - like a milk jug? Those are the least desirable and durable containers, but would be OK for 6 month storage if you kept them out of the light and away from where they could pick up taints (petroleum by-products / fumes from the same - any solvent or fuel - VOCs in general). The type of plastic used for pop bottles, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, etc. is much better and has slightly more resistence to picking up taints thru the plastic. Tap water will safely keep for 6 months if you keep it out of the light. The shelf life of tap water can be extended (a lot), but not reliably in milk jug type plastic containers.<br><br>How much water are you figuring per day, out of curiosity? Unless you're on a slab on the ground floor, you should make sure you distribute the load. I can be more specific if that would help you.<br><br>Hope that helps.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Scouter Tom

One month of drinking water , if at least 1 gallon a day (3.6 litres) = 3.6 x 30 = 110litres. The 1 gallon a day is for drinking / cooking and some personal hygiene uses and is a conservative estimate by any means. <br><br>The one gallon plastic bottles are good for storage of tap water etc. Most mineral water can keep for a year or so if kept out of the light. So you might want to consider that. Just don't buy 100 liters at a go with all the same expiry date, if not you'll end up with a lot of wasted water on the expiry date. Buy in several batches and cycle them. If cost is a concern, then tap water in the gallon containers will do just fine. You have to keep them out of the sun and keep cycling them. Also keep other means of water purification handy. <br>Keeping a water filter and water purification tablets at home are always a good backup.<br>And if you need to bug out, I doubt you'll be able to carry out more than a gallon of water on your person. So a water filter and water purification means are really necessary if you cache of water is left behind.

No, you can carry more than a gallon- I've loaded my packframe with a 5 gallon water cube, strapped/clipped/ducktaped a small pack on top of that, and packed water into campsites without any real difficulty. Although, I was porting the main water supply for a group, and it was only a three hour hike in. <br><br>Realistically, you can carry 2 gallons easily in a good pack- it's only 16 pounds (~7kg, a little more). And it isn't that hard to do if you put a 1 quart/liter bottle onto eachside, then three two quart military canteens in the body of your pack. It sounds like a lot, but that's normally what is in my bug out bag when I rotate out the winter gear in April/May, and for camping in the summer. Past few summers, my area has seen some heavy droughts, and easily half the people in my area have had thier wells/springs either dry up or get low enough to have to go to spounge baths and other concervation measures, with ponds and streams that have run steady for a hundred years dry into nothing.

Whoops! I stand corrected! Maybe it's just me, but I know I can't carry more than a gallon on my person with a pack and equipment anywere far !<br>My apologies :-)

With a good pack, I'm willing to bet you could- it's the thinking about how heavy it is when your holdingi t your hand, rather than on your back, that screws with your mind. I never think about how heavy stuff is until it's in my pack and on my back.

I have occassionally carried a 100oz Camelback, two 1 quart canteens, two 2 quart canteens and one 5 quart water bag (and a lot of other stuff) with relatively no problem. Let's see that's: 100+(2x32)+(2x64)+(5x32)=456oz of water, which is about 3 3/4 gallons. That's about 30 lbs. Right? That doesn't sound right....<br><br>Anyway, it's heavy, but doable.<br><br>Andy

That's a good tip. It's a mind thing I'll have to overcome ! Thanks. :-)

Thanks for all the replies. I think for now I will stick to my Aqua Liters for portability (fires and stuck on the highway).<br><br>So, the conclusion, is for home use and being stuck inside (earthquakes, riots, floods, whatever) the 2.5 gallon or 1 gallon containers from the supermarket are okay so long as I change them? Do I need new containers or can I just refill the bottle?<br><br>The 1 gallon are like big plastic milk jugs and the 2.5 gallon ones are the ones with the handle and the spigot (?) on the bottom pointing down. I'll probably get a dozen of them to have a month's supply of water.<br><br>I will probably keep them in big Rubbermaid storage bins under my bed, will that be safe? It's cold, dark and should be dry (Southern Cali)

I used to carry multiple Camelbaks as well when going on all-day(7-8 hour) mountain bike rides in the subtropical heat and humidity of the Big Island of Hawaii. You can carry a basic Camelbak (or more than one) sideways like a fanny pack fairly comfortably. I used to carry the initial 100oz in the big HAWG backpack and then rotate in the two other 70oz bladders from the fanny pack position when the 100oz bladder ran dry. Plus I carried two water bottles of sports drink so you don't totally screw up your electrolytes making up for the sweating. I never felt the approx 280 oz and we were usually riding pretty far and fast.