Storing Water

[TurtleMama]

Hello, everyone!

 

Here's a weird question. I've looked for answers on Google, but didn't find anything. I am storing up my two weeks' water supply; I have about a quarter of it done with store-bought water. I want to store the rest in two liter bottles, because it got EXPENSIVE to buy all that water at the store! My question is this: we have a reverse-osmosis water filter that we get our water from for daily drinking. Is it safe to store that water, or should I use the icky-tasting city water directly from our regular tap since it still has all the chlorine and stuff in it? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!!

[Josephine]

I have read that RO does and does not remove chlorine. What I would do, is when you fill your two liter bottles, add 4 drops of plain, unscented bleach. That should take care of it.

[Canned Nerd]

I don't think it matters. Storage in plastic containers is going to be limited to about 6 months before it will go stagnant due to the slow loss of infused oxygen. Most such containers are not designed for long-term storage.

 

I'm experimenting using glass containers filled with boiling water and then capped immediately. The heat differential will pop seal the lid. I'm hoping the combination will allow the water to stay fresher longer for drinking purposes.

[Violet]

I think glass is best, too. I was thinking sun tea jars or gallon glass jars. I can find sun tea jars pretty inexpensive at the thrift stores. I would also add a few drops of bleach.

[Campy]

Prior to getting a generator for the well and furnace, I stored water in the food safe 55 gallon drums. I stabilized the water with "Dr. Goodloes Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen". The stabilized oxygen (1 oz per 55 gallons) preserves the water and keeps it safe to drink for 5 years with no "after taste". The best price I found for the 55 gallon drums was from H2OStan on EBay - about $90 SHIPPED (the shipping is a real killer on these barrels).

[CoM]

Hi Turtle Mama:

 

 

Did you buy gallon size bottled water to store? Those gallon size bottles are made from very thin plastic and degrade in a few months causing the water to leak out.

 

If that's what you purchased you might want to rebottle it into pop bottles or something stronger.

 

Do you have a secondary source for drinking water beyond 14 days? Also a source of water for washing, bathing, toilets, etc?

 

We went through 270 gallons of water (that we keep stored in barrels treated with bleach) in 9 days with Hurricane Gustav and we were fairly frugal with it.

 

We also had extra bottled water for drinking.

 

I have become obcessed with water. We have a well and a hand pump, a pond and a Berkey filter and plan to do a rain water collection system soon in addition to the water we keep stored in barrels and bottles.

 

If you have a well, get a hand pump. It would be wise to save and get a Berkey water filter as well in case you might have to get water from a pond or stream etc. There are quite a few sites on making rain collection set ups also.

 

God Bless,

CoM

[Jasminegirl]

Hello. I was wondering if it is hard to put a handpump on the wells. I have two large wells on my property that we used in our plant nursery,(which has been closed down). Then we have an old small well which doesn't work right now behind our house and another old well in front of the house that we are currently using. Ther 2 large wells have 4" pipes and go deep into the ground and then the 2 smaller ones have 2" I think which don't go as far down in the ground. Can you buy handpumps for the larger wells, or do we buy for the smaller wells.

I told my husband I would like to get the old one behind the house fixed and put a handpump on it to use for outside right now and keep the one in front of the house hooked to electricity all the time.

[Fritz_Monroe]

We get some water from the store. I get the 2.5 gallon bottles with the tap on the front. I've found that 2 of these fit perfectly in a milk crate and the crates will stack just fine.

[TurtleMama]

Hi Turtle Mama:

 

 

Did you buy gallon size bottled water to store? Those gallon size bottles are made from very thin plastic and degrade in a few months causing the water to leak out.

 

If that's what you purchased you might want to rebottle it into pop bottles or something stronger.

 

Do you have a secondary source for drinking water beyond 14 days? Also a source of water for washing, bathing, toilets, etc?

 

We went through 270 gallons of water (that we keep stored in barrels treated with bleach) in 9 days with Hurricane Gustav and we were fairly frugal with it.

 

We also had extra bottled water for drinking.

 

I have become obcessed with water. We have a well and a hand pump, a pond and a Berkey filter and plan to do a rain water collection system soon in addition to the water we keep stored in barrels and bottles.

 

If you have a well, get a hand pump. It would be wise to save and get a Berkey water filter as well in case you might have to get water from a pond or stream etc. There are quite a few sites on making rain collection set ups also.

 

God Bless,

CoM

 

CoM,

 

We live in the desert southwest...outside of Phoenix, to be exact (HOT!)...which is why I'm actually making water storage a little more of a priority right now than my food storage. We really have no secondary source of water other than our neighborhood "lakes" -- and I'm not really sure I'd even want to drink the water out of those if it was filtered! LOL Although there are fishies living in there, so at least it's not polluted, I guess...

 

Living in the desert makes me really conscious of our water usage and water NEEDS (especially in the summer). I cannot imagine having city utilities go out and not having at least SOME sort of backup (thus, storing water in 2 liters). I guess I should go out and get one or two of the 55-gallon drums...I just don't know where I'd keep them!

 

As far as washing and bathing, I figured that would come out of my 2 week supply...I didn't even know that you could use the potties if there was no water coming into the house.

 

Thanks for the pointers and thought-provoking suggestions. I will have to consider this some more!

 

[Campy]

quote name='Jasminegirl' date='Jan 28 2009, 01:42 AM' post='275190' Hello. I was wondering if it is hard to put a handpump on the wells. I have two large wells on my property that we used in our plant nursery,(which has been closed down). Then we have an old small well which doesn't work right now behind our house and another old well in front of the house that we are currently using. Ther 2 large wells have 4" pipes and go deep into the ground and then the 2 smaller ones have 2" I think which don't go as far down in the ground. Can you buy handpumps for the larger wells, or do we buy for the smaller wells.

I told my husband I would like to get the old one behind the house fixed and put a handpump on it to use for outside right now and keep the one in front of the house hooked to electricity all the time.

 

 

MOST of the hand pumps for wells will not draw water much over 25'. You need to check the depth of the well (how deep is the well, not just to the surface of the water) AND the draw height of the pump.

 

[Yart]

I am starting to use Vinegar bottles for the water storage. I have heard not to use milk jugs and I am to afraid that the glass might break. I use the vinegar as a fabric softener so I get them emptied on a regular basis.

[Canned Nerd]

I would use glass whenever possible, even if there is a slim chance of breakage. It is not porous like plastic and should store water much longer before going stale. I also use the gallon vinegar bottles since I go through lots of the stuff.

 

I have been placing boiling water in Lipton Pure Tea glass bottles and resealing the lids. I'm hoping the slight vacuum and being in glass will keep the freshness longer and also away from any bacteria growth.

[Aint2nuts]

We live in the desert southwest...outside of Phoenix, to be exact (HOT!)...which is why I'm actually making water storage a little more of a priority right now than my food storage. We really have no secondary source of water other than our neighborhood "lakes" -- and I'm not really sure I'd even want to drink the water out of those if it was filtered! LOL Although there are fishies living in there, so at least it's not polluted, I guess...

 

Living in the desert makes me really conscious of our water usage and water NEEDS (especially in the summer). I cannot imagine having city utilities go out and not having at least SOME sort of backup (thus, storing water in 2 liters). I guess I should go out and get one or two of the 55-gallon drums...I just don't know where I'd keep them!

 

 

Thanks for the pointers and thought-provoking suggestions. I will have to consider this some more!

 

I live in Phoenix too. I have a garage that has 3 50 gallon containers -- full and 1 20 gallon and a 10 gallon and two 5 gallon containers. I haven't done the 2 liter containers, because I would have to find a place for them. We have to empty them out and put new water in them soon. I am waiting until my garden is planted.