Infographic: The Lowdown on Water Storage

[Lilburner]

You'll need to expand it to read it. Either click or right click>view image (then possibly change to full size depending on your variables), or try the raw URL

http://i.imgur.com/RYReDHl.jpg

[crplhood]

Coolness

[florida44]

I saw this earlier and thought to share it as well. Good info!

[SS-Preppers]

Good stuff......the only thing I would have to add is taking into account the amount of water that you would also need for cooking and hygiene if you don't have access to a reliable water source......since we all seem to store lots of foods that require water to cook, the amount of water actually needed is way more than we think it is.

Thanks for the post Lilburner.

[GunLawyer]

Carp, my 55-gallon food grade water barrel is NOT ideal, because it previously held some sweet drink syrup. I rinsed it out thoroughly, at least 5 times putting a couple gallons in, swishing it around, and then dumping it, but I never did get all the drink smell out of it.  I didn't realize the sugars could stay in the plastic and encourage bacteria growth.  It was pretty well chlorinated until recently-- I hadn't added any in a couple of months, or smelled or tasted the water.

The O.P.'s information about 1-gallon "milk jugs" is 100% right. They will break down and leak. Maybe in just a few months, but certainly within a couple of years. I used to have about 20 such jugs filled, either unopened new water jugs or well-washed (hot soapy water) used milk jugs that used to have milk in them. They sat in a quiet, climate-controlled basement for less than a year when I noticed the floor was wet. A few of them had begun leaking. As I handled them to clean up the mess, more of the split open or started leaking. 

P.S.  Since we add bleach to stored drinking water (tap water) anyway, what's wrong with using a former bleach container?  They are made of pretty tough plastic that should not break down in a couple of months or even years.

[wiseguy]

I was thinking about the best ways to store water too.  I knew the plastic milk jug style containers you get from Walmart won't hold up, so I was thinking about buying the heavier jugs I am seeing at the dollar store.  I think the brand is Alpine Springs.  Anyway, the containers are clear, so I am concerned that the limited light they will get would still cause a bacteria issue.  I looked at Walmart again in the camping section and they have containers that hold 6 to 7 gallons for 14 to 16 dollars each.  I wasn't real happy about them since you can't really stack them.  Then I found water bricks (http://waterbrick.org/products.php), but they are really expensive.  $18.00 for 3.5 gallons, but you can stack them like legos up to 4 feet tall and since they are small, they are easy to carry. (Your not going to move a 55 gallon drum without a special lift)  Water does weigh 8 pounds per gallon.  I have an IBC Tote hooked up to my rain gutters to collect rain water, but I won't use that water for drinking, I am not 100% sure what was originally stored in the container.  I use it for watering my garden.  So I really am not sure what the best option is for storing water.  I have several filters of various types, so even the water I store, I plan on running through the filter just to be on the safe side.  Any other thoughts..

[YellowRose]

I too learned the hard way about 'milk jug' style water storage.  One by one they all started leaking.  I have some coleman camping style 5 gallon storage containers, and some 5 gallon glass containers.  I have a rain barrel for non-potable water needs.  And a Berkey filter for if a crisis outlasts my stored water. 

[aces]

Waterbricks on sale again at CampingSurvival.com (be sure to watch the video on this link if you are not familiar with the product.)  They are out of the tan color presently, but the blue ones are still in stock.
https://www.campingsurvival.com/wast35gabl.html



CampingSurvival is in Sanford, NC and ships quickly.  The company president's card is in every box.
Toll-free number 1-800-537-1339.

They also have Red Feather canned butter for $6.95.  This New Zealand product needs no refrigeration until you open it.
It's the real thing and not butter powder.

[RWS]

Waterbricks on sale again at CampingSurvival.com (be sure to watch the video on this link if you are not familiar with the product.)  They are out of the tan color presently, but the blue ones are still in stock.
https://www.campingsurvival.com/wast35gabl.html



CampingSurvival is in Sanford, NC and ships quickly.  The company president's card is in every box.
Toll-free number 1-800-537-1339.

They also have Red Feather canned butter for $6.95.  This New Zealand product needs no refrigeration until you open it.
It's the real thing and not butter powder.

I used your link and ordered 10 of the water bricks.  I have not stored any water because I have a solar powered well pump and considered it pretty secure.  I also have a 190 gallon solar water heating storage tank plus a cold water storage tank at the well.  BUT it never hurts to be redundant.  I also ordered 5 cans of butter.  In the comments I told them the seprepnet sent me.
I just threw out a bunch of used gal water jugs that had distilled water in them when I found out they cracked over a very short time period.  I told the wife last week I would have to do something different.  Then your link came up.

[tlwagg]

Thanks

[aces]

Glad you found it useful, "RWS".

[Lilburner]

Thanks for the deal and thanks for the show and tell on the Waterbricks at the meeting on Saturday.

Also interesting is that there are two colors, so you could color code and tore something besides water, from rice to ammo.

I can't think of a place that would be a good candidate myself, but I think a great idea would be to use them as a wall in place of a room divider if you wanted to split up a room visually, or make make a little toilet area or something.

[aces]

Being able to stack them up and/or crosswise with the lego like indents/inserts makes more efficient use of limited space
and keeps them from falling over like some bottles.  Each holds 3.5 gallons so that's within carrying range of most people.
I keep them under a bed and stacked in another closet (they don't leak but I keep them in a thin pan in case they do.)

Camping Survival and Amazon sell the spigot lids for $15-18 depending on whether they have a sale or not.
This makes them usable for an outdoor gathering too.

I don't recommend mixing anything in them other than maybe lemon juice or unsweetened tea since they would not be very easy to clean.  But bleach takes out a lot including sugar and Kool Aid so maybe I'm wrong.

[Abigayle]

Thought this deserved a bump, since there are so many new people now.  Also, we no longer have a well and I wanted to renew my knowledge regarding water storage.
Also, I noticed that I no longer have a "like" button.  Maybe it was for my own good, so I would not get my feelings hurt if no one used it.  Thor said it was o.k., because I have a belly button....Thor is so helpful at times like this....

[aces]

Camping Survival was bought out and moved to Salt Lake City.  They no longer carry water bricks on their site.

Water bricks are sold by Sportsmans Guide and in bulk on Amazon.