Normally don't drink it, I just dump it down the bathtub drain. It's not that I'm fearful of drinking it, it's just easier to dump it and refill.
If I where going to drink it I would probably transfer the water to a clear container, and check the storage container for any growing "stuff". If you can still smell the bleach and the water is clear then it's "probably" OK.

This thread reminded me that I had some water in the basement that I needed to rotate. I found a couple of Reliance Aqua-Tainer 7 gallon jugs that I had filled in March of 2003. I drug them upstairs and proceeded to check them out. This water had been treated with 8-10 drops of bleach per gallon. As I mentioned earlier they had been stored in the basement, out of sunlight and at a pretty constant temperature of about 74 to 76 degrees.
I removed the lid and sniffed the container, a slight bleach smell could still be detected. I took a powerful flashlight and shined the water. Looked crystal clear. Nothing growing on the sides of the container. Good so far.
Poured a glass full and took a little swig. Couldn't taste the bleach but it did have just a very slight plastic taste. I was kinda surprised at how good it tasted.
Now, I'm not going to drink this water, but in an emergency I wouldn't be too concerned about drinking it.
By the way, these containers were the older Aqua-Tainers that had the threaded vent cap. I don't know if it makes a difference or not. I wish Reliance hadn't changed the vent on the new ones. The new style Aqua-Tainers have a tapered push-in plug that's about the size of a pencil eraser.
Some of my Aqua-Tainers are close to 10 years old and I've had zero problems with them.



smitty