Cheap home water storage

So I want to put away about 30 gals for the family.

Should I put it in 5 gal food grade buckets, one 30 gal barrell or can i just put it into empty 2 liter soda bottles.

I'll treat it with bleach for storage and change it every 6 months.

Thoughts?

TRO

I don't have a useful comment on the type of container, but just based on general engineering principles I wouldn't use a single container. Containers fail, water can get contaminated, you could spill it while trying to use it, etc. You've selected a couple of low cost options, so having a spare shouldn't be difficult unless you're extremely short on space.

In my case, I'd go with the two liter bottles... they're much more portable, they're easier to stow, and if you want to "donate" to a neighbor, you don't have to hunt up a smaller container.

Troy

P.S. There's also the point that, if one of your containers develops a leak, you've lost two liters, not five or thirty gallons.

There is an additional problem with a 30 gallon drum; moving it. You have 250 pounds of water, plus the drum weight. Suppose you need to move? That's a XXXX of a lot of weight to manhandle into a vehicle, or up/down stairs.

Similar question in another forum ; short answer is go to one of the Super center market's{my area PathMart} you'll find water container's 2.5 gal with carry handle and spigot reqtangular for easy stacking 2 year shelf life Price US $2.95 . But do the bottle's for super easy transport as a back up to your main supply.

I would do the 5 gallon containers and keep some empty 2 liter containers for distribution. Otherwise, 60 2-liter containers is too many for me.

I've stored mine the in the 5 gal blue containers. I've had water stored in them for over 4 years now and the water is perfectly fine...yes I did a test.

The main point about water is if the container is clean, and the water is clean, and it is stored cool out of the sun, then from what I understand there is nothing to contaminate...the water will be fine for long term storage..

Those 2.5 gallon containers from the supermarket leak pretty easily especially in hot weather. I've had better luck with the 1 gallon clear bottles. For larger volumes (30 gallons isn't that much) you might look at Aquaflex tanks: www.aquaflex.net . I'm thinking of getting one of the 60 gallon ones and putting it under my bed. Finally, people here seem to like the Reliance 7-gallon Aqua-tainers which are rugged and stackable. At about $10 each the investment for 3 of them is not that large. I don't have any myself but may pick up a couple next time I'm at REI.

Actually I would recommend a combination of different sized containers rather than just one type. This gives you more flexibility to allow for any need to rapidly changing situations.
A 30 Gallon is good for single storage at a fixed location. You can add more to increase capacity of the entire system. Yes at 250 plus pounds each.
5 or 2 gallon containers would work well if you have to evacuate using a vehicle at 38 to 15 pounds apiece. But quickly moved.
But if you have to grab and go on foot The 2 liter bottles are best Each person can grab 1 or 2. Much more and you won't carry it very far.

Thanks for all your insights.

to clarify: No, I wouldn't even try to more a 30 gal barrel, it'd be for shelter in place.

I wonder if any leftover soda in the 2 liters would contaminate the water?

The idea of many containers -- redundant backups -- is a good one.

Teacher RO

PS My planning is as follows: 1 gal per person/per day ( plus a gallon a day for pets!) for a minimun of five days.

How much bleach are you planning to add to keep the water out of contamination? I have heard different versions, from 1 to 4 drops per litter.
Is there any other option, based on common house hold products?
Thanks + Regards

I use a combination system to have as much flexibility as possible. I have several 5 gallon containers that I keep full and change out the water every 6 months or so. I also buy 1 gallon “milk” type jugs of drinking water from the supermarket that I normally drink my water out of and I also keep a few of the 20 oz bottles that are easy to handle and are tough enough to carry around with out leaking. I also use my old soda and juice bottles to keep about 20 gallons frozen in my deep freezer which gives me water as well as keep my freezer cold longer during power outages and makes it cheaper to run day to day.

Just to throw in my two cents, take a look at the thread I started:

Water storage question: Will cheaper work?

Hope this helps.

-- Craig

Is this for sheltering in place?

We have two bathtubs that we fill for flushing the toilet and washing. We have two 5-gallon water jugs for drinking water and several water bottles.

Can part of your 30 gallons be in your bathtub?

I'm assuming you're thinking of a scenario where your well/city water supply has failed, and you're staying in your home until the situation has returned to normal. If that's the case, you probably already have a 40+ gallon water supply: The hot water heater. (If you have an on-demand hot water system, then of course this isn't a solution.) Assuming the hot water heater is strapped down to prevent it from being damaged during an event, you've got plenty of potable water ready to go.

Be sure to test this, as many tubs will not hold water forever. Mine loses about 50% over night and would not be something to count on for longer than that. I guess it all goes back to test what you use before you need it.
Arrrr! Now I’m going to have to do another dry run with the generator since I changed up some things with it last week.

Sheepdog,

Good point!

I'll have to make sure we have the rubber disks you place over the drains to keep the water from seeping out.

Thanks!

Give the bottles a hot water rinse... if you're really worried, use a dilute bleach/water bath. I've stored and later (several months later) used water using just a simple hot water rinse SEVeral times with no ill effect.

Troy

If you might possibly have small, relatively weak people dispensing the water, don't use the largest containers unless they've got spigots.

And you might have a couple of gallons in the toilet tank, too.

If you're using city water, there's probably enough chlorine in it that you don't need to add extra.

Sue

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with something like the 65 gallon tank on this page?

When looking at earthquake prep in our area and then looking at what happened with Katrina, I was thinking it would be nice to have 50-60 gallons of water.

When you look at storing that amount of water in small containers, it starts to get a bit challenging, esp. in regards to rotation and maint.

So, what I'm thinking about now, is a two prong approach. A large container with a fair amount of water (see tank) and then some number of smaller, portable containers.

The idea is that the large container should be easy to maintain - you could drain and re-fill very quickly and you don't have a bunch of containers to deal with. With the larger container, you don't need as many smaller containers so less work. They act as a backup in case anything happens to the larger container and are portable.

The gotcha is that I'm not really that familar with this type of container.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-john

I have 2 Poly tanks outside for the same reasons.
They are each 1000 litres which I think is over 200 gallons. They are a different style, about 3-4 feet wide and 6-7 feet high. (Sorry not good on your measurements.)
I made a little wooden platform to sit them on and they sit in a small garden bed against a side fence. They are only connected to a tap, so thereis nothing connected that can use all the water without my knowledge (excluding the neighbours jumping the fence.)
They are a bit light when empty, so need straps to hold them down in strong winds, but with a little water they weigh down fine.
Ive had them sitting there for over 6 years and they work well.

While you are at it, you might want to dedicate some of your water supply to first aid/emergency uses such as flushing eyes, small fires, irrigation for burns, heat stroke, etc.

All those tanks seem excessively expensive. Even the big ones are around $1.00 a gallon and the small ones (15 gallon) are several $ per gallon. You can buy bottled water at the grocery store--FULL bottles-- for $1 a gallon or so. To store 30 gallons I'd just use bottled water or 7 gallon stackable jugs (about $12 each) if I wanted to be a little fancier. For cheap storage of larger quantities I'd think of PVC garbage cans (maybe 15 bucks at the hardware store for a 33 gallon can?) lined with polyethelene bags, or even a kiddie swimming pool ($100 for a 15 ft diameter, 3.5 foot deep one, about 3000 gallons) if you have the space for it.

I wish there was such a thing as cheap desalination devices and I'm not sure why they don't exist. I'm about a mile from the ocean which means I have infinite amounts of undrinkable salt water available. A Pur 35 lifeboat-type desalinator (hand pumped, 4.5 liter/hour) is about $800 on ebay and I play with the idea sometimes, but it's too much cash for me to spend on something like that, plus it needs maintenance (annual biocide treatment) even if not used. If I won the lottery I might consider a 12 volt unit (26 liters/hour, $2500) with the idea of powering it from a portable generator or a car.

They do exist. How cheaply could you make this?

http://www.permapak.net/solarstill.htm

However, getting the water from a mile away might be a more expensive problem to solve.

A

Those solar stills are cheap enough, but slow, not portable, and they need good weather (sunlight) and lots of space. Moving water from a mile away isn't that big a problem, even without a working vehicle, given time and muscle power. I could roll a 13 gallon wastebasket full of water on a hand cart pretty easily, or jam a few 1 gallon bottles into a rolling suitcase, or even just carry one or two gallons.

I've heard that most plastic garbage cans and most of the larger plastic bags that would fit inside one will leach "stuff" into water stored in it.

HOWEVER, I would not hesitate to collect rainwater in a [new] plastic garbage can in an emergency, and repot it into something safer.

Sue