Long Term Water Storage

Happy New Year/New Decade all!

Anyone have suggestions on best practices for long term water storage (i.e. how to treat the water for storage, when to rotate it, etc.)?

Any experience with additives such as "aerobic stabilized oxygen" in terms of preserving stored water? Do they work, or is it all quackery?

I use the blue 7-gallon Reliance water jugs. They are cheap ($9 at Wally World) and fairly tough. The spigot cap is not perfect, but as long as you store them cap-up they are fine. They are not too big to lug around, and no pump is necessary.

I store them in the basement, up off the concrete floor and out of sunlight. They get rotated (in a perfect world) every six months. I just fill them from the garden hose and add a small splash of bleach to each jug, maybe a teaspoon. I make a point of drinking a quart or so of the old stuff every time I rotate it, and so far (5 years?) it has been fresh and tasty with no digestive issues. You can't smell the bleach (or I can't anyway) in such small quantities.

I've found that tying the rotation to other seasonal chores, such as draining the hot water heater in the spring and cleaning the gutters in the fall, helps me remember.

This is the site I used to get my tank

http://www.surewatertanks.com/

Mike

I use a combination of 5, 15, 30 and 55 gallon containers most purchased through Emergency Essentials. I took a couple old pallets and cut them in half, and keep the barrels off the floor. I flush and refill them about every year (at the summer solstice), although I'm thinking of going to 18 or even 24 months with some of them, I haven't noted any appreciable taste or quality issues so far. Looking for leaks as well, none so far. I don't treat with bleach during storage, I do use a bleach solution when the container is empty and I want to rinse it out before refilling: if I use bleach, it would be to treat stored water. I also rotate a small container of bleach every time I refill the water, that stuff also expires and 1 year is about its limit.

My only bright idea on water is to mark the container with the fill date so you may know that its time to refill. Maybe another bright idea: I keep water in more than one place in my household, some in the garage, ~1 week supply in with our food supply, and more in a cool, dark back room, in the event the house collapses (earthquake is our #1 local disaster that might prompt us to drink stored water) I have a shot at digging out at least some of the water. The garage water (most vulnerable to collapse) is actually in a very sturdy metal rolling cage (bought from a surplus store) that should provide some support from a collapsing structure.

Lono's post just about covers it for most people IMHO. Including the bit about rotating bleach, too, if that's going to be an important means of purifying water for you. Personally, I buy a fresh bottle every six months instead of Lono's one year schedule.

I don't have any long-term water storage. I'm in an area with an extremely low risk of natural disaster, and have well-supplied parents within walking distance. One-bedroom apartments aren't conducive to survival planning.

Aerobic stabilized oxygen looks like a scam. Its health claims are definitely false, and I can't find a single reputable site discussing its use for purifying water that isn't also selling it.

For more information on its health claims: http://www.quackwatch.com/04ConsumerEducation/News/vitamino.html

Just a little anecdote about water storage. We had occasion to stash a gallon of water (unanticipated surplus) in a very isolated, hot, arid, inaccessible location (archeological site) that we knew we would return to. The water was simply tap water, untreated in any way.

Indeed, a year later we returned to the location. Apprehensive about our stashed water, we cautiously tried it. It was fine. It had been exposed to temps ranging from 0F to 100F, but had been shielded from direct sunlight. The container was a reused Clorox bottle,so it probably did get a bit of clorination. I still change my water at regular intervals, but if I miss a change, I don't sweat it. You can always filter and treat.

Is it naive of me to consider my water heater as a 40 gallon reserve water supply?

I do have a couple cases of bottled water too that we rotate etc. But I've always thought that, at a minimum, I have a 40 gallon tank that's there when I need it.

I have four 5-gallon water bladders filled and ready to go with the emergency gear. If we need to bug out they go in the car with the other stuff. I rotate it about once a year; it's never had any taste issues during that time. The water in my town is particularly good so I don't worry about bacterial contamination as long as the containers stay closed.

We have at least three or four cases of bottled water rotated regularly. I keep a case in each car as well. Finally there's the water heater.

I don't mean to be preachy, but I would suggest that you store some water too. 5 to 10 gallons tucked away in the bottom of a closet would not take up a lot of space.
A natural disaster is not the only thing that could cause a disruption of your water service, and/or your parents' supply becoming damaged or unavailable.

I have about 15 gallons in clear 1 gallon plastic jugs stored in the basement (raised off the cement floor) that I never cycle. These came straight from the store and are not treated. I don't feel any need to cycle these because I've never found any evidence that water, once stored properly, will go "bad." While water might taste flat if stored for a long time, it will still hydrate you and can be made to taste normal simply by aerating it (simply shaking the container will work). I also have two 7 gallon buckets that store water unless I'm brewing beer. Clearly the water in these buckets is cycled when I brew. The water in the buckets is treated with bleach and stored elevated off the cement floor in the basement. I recently brewed a batch of beer after a 20 month lapse (birth of DD), and found some mold/algae growing on top of the water in one of the buckets (two or three colonies, none larger than a dime). Left-over nutrients from the prior beer batch might be responsible (clearly I did not store this water properly). A case of bottled water also is stored in the back of each car in my family. This water is cycled probably 3 times each year as the water is consumed. I have a tankless water heater, so no dice there.

I use the ratio of 8 Drops of Regular Bleach (non-scented and non-additive) to 1 Gallon of water, or 2 Drops of Bleach per Quart or per Liter on my stored water. Other than tasting flat, I had a couple gallons of water that I failed to change out for about 4 years that were fine. I also have a Katadyn Pocket filter with a Carbon Cartridge and a Sawyer SP 135 I could use as backup to filter the water if I feel it was stored too long.

The only problem I've had with stored water thus far is with some rats that got into my storage area a couple of years ago. I lost about a half a case of store bought bottled water (and some dried pasta). They would chew through the top of the PET bottles, drink as much as they could reach and then would chew through another bottle. All of the water was stored off the ground on wire shelving, but I failed to notice that a cooler I had lent to a friend was put back next to the shelf in such a way that the rats could run up the cooler's handles and get to the water.

I've thought about using some of the colloidal silver solutions on some of the stored water after reading a paper on hospital sterilization plans, but never followed through due to potential risks with long term intake.

[/quote]
A natural disaster is not the only thing that could cause a disruption of your water service, and/or your parents' supply becoming damaged or unavailable. [/quote]

Just today a hardhat rang my doorbell, nicely informing me that they had to turn off our water while they dealt with an unanticipated problem on our street. That was about 11 AM; we are still without running water. We have lots stored, and this is just a dress rehearsal for something more severe. Also prods me to use and refresh some of my containers.

"Is it naive of me to consider my water heater as a 40 gallon reserve water supply?"

Nope! But...

Do you ever flush the mineral deposits out of the tank? When I first moved here, I attached a hose and opened the spigot. The water could hardly come out because of the buildup of debris. I had to change to a 5/8" hose, still had trouble, and finally just disconnected the hose and poked in the opening with a screwdriver to break up the chunks.

Check it before you need it.

Sue

Maybe. If the mains water supply gets contaminated (but is still flowing), the contamination may make it into your hot water tank if you don't disconnect it quick enough.

You also need to make sure you have the where-withal to get the water out of the tank. In my system, the hot water tap taps the tank at the top, where the water is hottest, which works because it's under pressure from the cold water tank in the roof. When the cold water tank is empty, the hot water taps won't have pressure. There must be a means to drain the hot water tank from the bottom, but it probably involves tools and extra piping. I'm rubbish at DIY, so it'd be naive for me to assume I could manage it.

Most modern water heaters have a fitting to drain water using a standard garden hose - if you don't have one on yours, wait for it, your water heater will tend to give out every 10-15 years and you'll need a new one. Draining the water from the water heater is one of those annual maintenance things I mostly do almost every year (not as important as batteries in smoke detectors, so really ever 2 years as long as I remember to do it). Its important that you turn off the burner coils, turn off the inflow of water, open the water line to allow the tank to drain, then drain the water, then reverse the whole process. I'm told draining the sediment can extend the life of the water heater, who knows. My owner's manual has the directions, and in the era of youtube I wager you could find a How To video there too.

Its all kind of academic if you don't have your water heater reliably strapped to prevent tipping over - with a gas water heater this can be problematic, and the heater beomes another source of gas leaks after an earthquake. I upgraded the strapping around my water heater last month while replacing the furnace next to it, which suddently gave me access to a couple wall studs I couldn't before.

We use scepter water cans, 1g water bottles (in rotation), and our pressure tank.

For long-term non-used it's the scepter water cans. I think I have around 200 gallons worth full, locked away. Use city water, and tighten them good. When ready to use shake w/cap open a few times, let set and shake again.. this will make sure the water is not 'flat' tasting. You should not have to do anything to store your water to make it good to drink in a years time.

If we need to use the stored water that is not rotated or used regularly we will filter it through a AquaRain filter system we have stored away too. I believe the Big Burkey? (Spelling) is similar and can be used for the same thing.

Our goal is to still add a second pressure tank (save $ heating cold well water + more water storage), and also a 2600g tank for the garden which could provide drinking water too. Coupled with the generator we can pull water until we run out of fuel.

I'm about 1/2 way through Cody Lundin's 'When All Hell Breaks Loose' and also reading about that exact scenario happening right now in Haiti...
...need to add some stored water capacity to the household.
Haven't found much for readily available containers, so thinking about just buying a dozen or so of the water-cooler type 5-gallon (?) bottles.
What do y'all think of this idea?
I would split them between basement & garage.

I've heard about people using water cooler bottles for storage, and I would assume that they're just as good as individual water bottles. Since they're clear, I'd keep them out of the light just to make sure nothing grows inside of the bottles.

I worry about the tear band lids, but if the system works to keep them from breaking open in shipping it must be pretty solid.

Stacking them might be a problem unless you put them on their side and stack them in a pyramid with chocks in between the lowest bottles to keep them from rolling. You might also be able to put a piece of plywood over a level of bottles with more bottles on top of that.

If you're going to buy the water bottles empty, I'd buy the kind with screw on lids and handles just to make them easier to move. Before that, I'd go to Amazon and get their 5 Gallon stackable carriers. Depending on how much you plan to store, you may even want to buy a 55 gallon water barrel. I've seen kits for as little as $60 that include a 55 gallon drum and siphon pump. Others have obtained used barrels for a lot less.

It costs my neighbor about $8.50 per 5 gallon bottle for Deer Park IIRC, but they have to get 3 at a time and the delivery man collects the empty bottles.

In any case it's better than nothing.

I would want to include at least some containers of smaller capacity than five gallons. Five gallons can be handled, but it is noticeably heavy.

well; went down to the local grocery & they want $6 plus a $10 deposit for each water-cooler bottle.
So my 60 gallons would cost about $200 (w/GST).
Back to the drawing board...

At that price you can get stackable water containers online and fill them yourself.

You can start small buying a case of bottled water at a time or if you have friends that drink soda from 2 liter bottles you could ask for the empties, wash and then fill those.

2 Liter soda bottles work great. And if you've got limited shelf space they're durable enough to stack up horizontally 3-4 bottles high.

I've been reusing Clorox (tm) bleach bottles for water storage.

The big ones are about 1.5 gallons and have a built in handle. Each time I empty one, I flush it with clean water, refill it and sit it on the basement floor. In the process I remove the label and use an indelible marker to re-label them.

I don't think I'd try it if we used scented bleach, but since I do the grocery shopping it's not a problem.

As mentioned above I also have a bunch of 2 liter soda bottles filled with water. Over time (years) I plan to replace them with recycled bleach bottles, because they're far tougher than soda bottles.

Dennis

Good grief man, how much bleach do you use so that empty 1.5 gallon containers for water storage are readily available? lol

Nicodemus, got a link to those stackable water containers?
One problem with being in Canada - often can't find this sort of stuff...

We don't drink soda, but anyway my goal of 50 to 60 gallons of water would be 120 of the 2-liter bottles; kinda clumsy.

Our Agway sells both metal barrels with/without removeable lids, (which we use for burn barrels) and, for the purpose of this thread, heavy-duty 55 gal. plastic drums for $35 or so, similar to what Emergency Essentials sells currently for $75 plus shipping. The drums have been used to ship food grade syrups and juice concentrates. The drums have been labeled as being used for such.

I think these could be cleaned satisfactorily by letting some dish detergent solution sit in it overnight and then multiple rinses.

Other sources of these drums might be college/university warehouses or kitchens, university salvage warehouses, soft drink or other such bottling plants or distributors, other food packaging plants that use barrels of liquids/syrups in their product,etc. I'd avoid re-use of the drums in which floor stripper, waxes, insecticides, and other -cides are shipped.

No Agway in this neck of the woods...

from Emergency Essentials FAQ:
7. Do you ship outside the United States?
Currently we do not ship outside the United States.

http://www.uline.ca/BL_8154/Plastic-Drums?keywords=barrels

Uline.ca has 30 and 55 gallon barrels. No affiliation, other than as a satisfied customer of Uline.com...

Many thanks, UncleGoo - will check those out.

anybody know anything about : http://jug-in-a-box.com/ ?

Email from Uline (fast responce!)

Thank you for contacting Uline Customer Service.

Neither the S-11861, 30 Gallon Closed Top Plastic Drum, nor the S-10757, 55 Gallon Closed
Top Plastic Drum are recommended for storing drinking water.

Looks like someone retrofit restaurant oil jugs with a simple cardboard container. Depending on what the price is I can't see a reason to get one of those instead of a water container made for stacking.

Nicodemus,

I didn't say I have a lot of them (yet), just that as I empty them I recycle them to store water. If I did the same with every 2 liter soda bottle that came into the house I'd probably have enough water stored to fill a swimming pool.

Since you asked, my wife is a Registered Nurse. She may use more than the average amount of bleach in doing laundry. That said, we might go through a 3-4 bottles of bleach each year. It will take time to accumulate as many as I'd like, but once I have them I think they'll last a long time.

Dennis

thought I would drop in & give y'all the solution I found.
There are 15-liter (almost 4 US gallons)single-use water bottles available locally for about $5 with only a 25-cent deposit.
http://www.arrowheadwater.ca/company.htm
Don't know if there is a US equivalent, but likely there is.

We purchased an 8' length of white food quality hose to tap our water heater if we ever needed to, as the spigot is only two inches from the floor. The shut-off valve to the outside water supply is nearby, so in an emergency we can shut it off, open the sink valve in the second floor bathroom, and gravity feed all of the water in the pipes through the water heater valve. We also use four 7 gallon 'jerry can' food quality plastic totes to store water. We rotate that water yearly in the fall when we freeze-proof the outside sillcocks. We store a gallon of emergency clorine bleach in our cache, and rotate it out when the one in the laundry area is empty, replacing the bottle in the cache.

Its interesting that they try to hide just what vitamin O is. It appears to be sodium or potassium sulfite, depending on the version you get.

Aerobic stabilized oxygen = scam.

Asked a PhD. he laughed. "it might help, but it is not going to make water safe or any more healthy..." his PhD is in entomology, masters in education, bachelors in Microbiology.

> Anyone have suggestions on best practices for long term water storage
> (i.e. how to treat the water for storage, when to rotate it, etc.)?

Here's the word from the Alameda County Water District. It's in the San Francisco Bay Area and is geared toward storing water for the inevitable earthquake>

http://www.acwd.org/faq.php5?category_id=57

I think it answers your questions that I've repeated above.