Carrying water in the car over Winter?

Any ideas how to carry water in sub-freezing temps all Winter?*
Consider 30-40 freeze cycles and -15º temps

tro



(* For those in Fla; the freezing of water cracks most full bottles.)

Nalgene bottles. Leave a couple inches at the top. Keep them in a soft or hard-side cooler to contain any leakage.

I've had water bottles in my car for the past few winters -- store-bought and Nalgene. No leakage. Temps down to the teens (above zero).

I drop a new case of bottled water in the trunk of my car whenever the existing case gets down about halfway. Sometimes the water freezes; very rarely do the bottles leak. I buy the Costco house brand.

Solution: Avoid full bottles. It doesn't take much air space before cracking isn't a problem anymore.

MSR Dromedary Bag

2-litre PET soda bottle, filled 80% full and left on its side. I have been using this technique for over 10 years and have never had a leak. This includes bottles left untouched in a trunk over several winters and summers.

Typical disposable water bottles are designed to be able to withstand being frozen. I keep a bunch in my truck and have never had a problem. The only thing that happens is the bottom goes from being flat to being rounded (so they won't stand on end anymore). Otherwise, no big deal.

I keep a soft-sided cooler full year round and replace whenever I get a new case from the Poland Spring guy.

This has been my experience also when I lived in a much colder climate where the temps could dip to -20 -40 for weeks at a time then have days above freezing then the whole cycle would repeat again.

to leave inside the car.

And sometimes these bottles can be fun. Occasionaly the water temp will be below freezing and yet the water is still liquid. Give the bottle a quick tap and the water crystalizes in a second or two. Neat.

A few times I have taken a water bottle where it was liquid, until I cracked open the seal, then it turned into a water slushy. It's still perfectly drinkable, but I just prefer my water not to be chunky.

Yeah like already said the 500ml bottled water works perfectly, no need to make it any more difficult.

Yep, I pulled the water from my truck because over time the water and bottles got funky. I'll take ~5 gal of water on long road trips: 3 gal in a polycarb jug and 1 1/2 in the MSR Dromedary Bag for contingencies and then another gal on ice in a cooler specifically for drinking. Otherwise, I no longer store water in the truck.

Thanks - I'm going to try it. ( Naglenes 3/4 full)

i live in Ontario so get to deal with this. i find that filling bottles about 1/2-3/4 full, and storing them rightside-up or upsidedown, works best. this allows room for expansion and keeps the opening clear so the melted water can come out.

For what its worth, I've had gallon water bottles stored in a car overnight at temperatures as low as about 15F, and they did not freeze. If it did start to instantaneously freeze, there was usually enough water for a dehydrated breakfast pouch.

At least with the ones I have used, the bottles (either gallon or pint size) seem to freeze just fine. The indentation in the side of the gallon jugs pop out. The bottom of the pint size bottles seems to push out, rendering them unable to stand on their own.

Simply leaving an air gap in a bottle will allow room for expansion, and most bottles can then be frozen safely, as others have stated.

BUT frozen water is basically useless you can get it out of the bottle drink it.

If you are presented with a bottle of frozen water, what would you do with it ? You need to turn it back into water and get it out of the bottle. How will you do that ? What equipment will you need ? How long will it take ?

When we winter camp, we turn the bottles upside down. If the bottle starts to freeze, the ice generally forms at the top (which is now at the bottom of the bottle), so we can still unscrew the top and drink the water.

Freezing bottls upside down may be better than right way up. If upside down, the ice can expand into the cylindrical base of the bottle, rather than be force into the constriction around the cap, thus increasing the possibility of a rupture.

But it looks like you are in much colder weather where the water will definately freeze solid. I've heard of people adding a little sugar and / or salt to the water to create a sort of anti-freeze. I've never tried this so I don't know the recipe or how effective it may be.

I guess you could test some recipes and the effectiveness with a bottle in your freezer ?

Perhaps there are some food engineers online who may have some experiance with food grade anti-freeze ?

Do I need to mention that vehicle anti-freeze is poisonous, so don't even think about using that stuff ?

Not very effective. Sea water is completely undrinkable and will freeze at -1.8 C.

In a vehicle with a working motor I'd just strap it down somewhere in the engine compartment. It shouldn't take too long, I'm guessing maybe 15 minutes? I'd love to test this and come back with some numbers, but I think it's too late in this winter season. But you newer know, we might have more cold spells coming.

Or you may choose to include a stove with your vehicle kit.

You are overthinking this. If you have a running car engine and a frozen bottle of water, put the bottle on the dashboard or near a floor vent and crank up the heat and fan...much easier then strapping the bottle in the engine compartment.

I doubt there is a free gallon-sized-space anywhere in my car's engine bay or in any modern engine bay for that matter.

There is space in most trucks. My Jeep Wrangler has enough room to stick two 1-gallon water bottles in the engine compartment -- one on either side -- and actually be drivable that way.

I prefer smaller bottles, either .5L or .75L. I can stick one or two on the dash to defrost, a couple more in the engine compartment if I want. If I run out of gas I can shove one under my coat to defrost using body heat. Smaller is better with the last method.