Anyone tried these? I'm thinking of using a few of these 5.5 gallon jerry cans for long-term storage in addition to bottled water and 55-gallon barrels. Just wanted to see if anyone had had trouble with them.

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/6537/Reliance-Rhino-Pak-55-Gallon-Water-Container.html

the price seems high. I have used empty clorox bottles, a wheeled reliance 7.5 gallon plastic jug, and a recycled food grade plastic sixty-five gallon container. They all work fine, the variation being cost. Over time, I have moved away from storing mass quantities of water. The downstream ecological problems with commercial plastic water bottles are substantial: they are nearly indestructible and clogging beaches and gyres of the worlds oceans. At 8 pounds per gallon, containers must be small to be portable. Large containers grow stale and nasty fairly quickly, and require draining and refilling on a regular basis, and perhaps chlorination before use. It is lots easier to store and transport water treatment gear than to store and carry water. Rain barrels, garden water features, and local waterways offer self-renewing supplies.

OTOH, this may be a life cycle issue: when I was 18, the survival kit consisted of a couple of six packs and a big knife. Now it includes blood pressure meds and metamucil.

I use recycled containers, primarily plastic, ranging in size from one to five liters, and spot them in various locations around my property. I want large numbers of small containers rather than a smaller number of large containers because I am concerned with earthquakes, which I feel could rupture or puncture a large container during building collapse, etc., so that I will have more water available with smaller units.

And you are right about plastic containers clopping the world's beaches. They are commonplace everywhere on the channel Islands