Long Term Water Storage

[pacelli]

I haven't noticed a thread on this so I figured that I would start one. We all know that water is a critical ingredient to survival in any situation-- whether that be off-the-grid, SHTF, disaster response, as well as things more mundane as droughts and interruptions in well/city water supply.

What are your techniques and methods for long-term water storage?

I ordered a new 55-gallon plastic food-grade drum designed for water storage with a tap at the bottom. That's full and has a conditioner which will allow the water to be stored for 5 years without rotating. I'll probably rotate it each year out of habit, and to check the bung seals at the top.

I also found 2 more used 55-gallon food grade plastic drums for $25 off of Craig's List. Since they were used in a nursery to store organic fertilizer, these are now being used to store rain water. Rain water comes in very handy for the garden. One has a tap, one does not (will need to pump this one).

What are your methods and preparations?

[amy31416]

I'm cheap. Empty soda bottles, washed out with a mild bleach solution, filled with water--stored and rotated in the garage. I rotate by using the oldest ones to water the garden, then refill.

[LibertyEagle]

Unless your garage is air conditioned, I doubt that's a good place to keep them, Amy. The plastic used in soda bottles is horrible anyway, but if you heat it up, it's going to leach like heck into whatever you have stored in them.

[amy31416]

Unless your garage is air conditioned, I doubt that's a good place to keep them, Amy. The plastic used in soda bottles is horrible anyway, but if you heat it up, it's going to leach like heck into whatever you have stored in them.

Yeah, it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing at this point. I also have a lot of Nalgene bottles that I have water stored in, but I don't have all that many of those and they're really expensive. The garage doesn't have AC, but it's dark and relatively cool, I rotate a lot, and perhaps I don't fear the leaching as much as I should-- it's possible I have kind of a cavalier attitude towards potentially slightly toxic chemicals because I've worked so much with the really, really toxic ones. :eek:

[youngbuck]

You may also want to have a way to purify water on hand so that you can replenish your stores if TSHTF.

http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/store/water_pur.html

[Truth Warrior]

Geeze folks, 3/5 of the planet is covered with water. How much do you want? :rolleyes:

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I haven't noticed a thread on this so I figured that I would start one. We all know that water is a critical ingredient to survival in any situation-- whether that be off-the-grid, SHTF, disaster response, as well as things more mundane as droughts and interruptions in well/city water supply.

What are your techniques and methods for long-term water storage?

I ordered a new 55-gallon plastic food-grade drum designed for water storage with a tap at the bottom. That's full and has a conditioner which will allow the water to be stored for 5 years without rotating. I'll probably rotate it each year out of habit, and to check the bung seals at the top.

I also found 2 more used 55-gallon food grade plastic drums for $25 off of Craig's List. Since they were used in a nursery to store organic fertilizer, these are now being used to store rain water. Rain water comes in very handy for the garden. One has a tap, one does not (will need to pump this one).

What are your methods and preparations?

All you need is a bunch of brita water systems rigged to the side of your house.

[MsDoodahs]

I don't keep a lot of drinking water stored, just a few aquatainer thingees and those I haven't refreshed in a while. :o

We've been looking at the rainwater harvesting info and trying to decide how to incorporate it here...I'd love to use primarily rainwater, but setting something like that up would be very costly...it would be the daylights out of the well water, though.

[Truth Warrior]

Making Water From Thin Air

ScienceDaily (June 5, 2007) — Two architects pursuing PhDs at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have devised a low-tech way to collect dew from the air and turn it into fresh water. Their invention recently won an international competition seeking to make clean, safe water available to millions around the world.

The brainchild of Technion Architecture and Building Planning grad students Joseph Cory and Eyal Malka, “WatAir,” is an inverted pyramid array of panels that collects dew from the air and turns it into fresh water in almost any climate.

Inspired by the dew-collecting properties of leaves, one 315 sq ft unit can extract a minimum of 48 liters of fresh water from the air each day. Depending on the number of collectors used, an unlimited daily supply of water could be produced even in remote and polluted places.

According to Cory, WatAir can be easily incorporated into both rural and urban landscapes because it has a relatively small base. Its vertical and diagonal design utilizes gravity to increase the collection areas. The panels are flexible and easy to collapse when not in use, and provide shelter from rain and heat and play areas for children.

“WatAir is a wonderfully simple concept which draws its inspiration from nature,” said competition judge Jo da Silva. “This is a simple and effective idea using tried and tested technology.”

The project was selected from 100 entries from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia as the winner of the “drawing water challenge” sponsored by Arup – a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants specializing in innovative and sustainable design.

Geotectura and Malka Architects, the respective architectural studios of Cory and Malka, are located in Haifa, Israel.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's leading science and technology university. Home to the country’s winners of the Nobel Prize in science, it commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in nanotechnology, computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel's high-tech companies are alumni. Based in New York City, the American Technion Society is the leading American organization supporting higher education in Israel, with 17 offices around the country.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070604222124.htm

;)

[Mckarnin]

Eventually I will probably keep at least a week or two of cooking/drinking water around in glass jars or food-grade plastic jugs.

I need to research the different models but when I get a little more organized I am going to buy a heavy duty hiker's water purifier along these lines:

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/filterdetail.cfm/MSR196

We have several rivers not too far from here and it could also be used to purify rainwater. I doubt I will ever be into hardcore shtf planning so my plans don't take nuclear fallout contaminated water or biowar contaminated water into account.




I haven't noticed a thread on this so I figured that I would start one. We all know that water is a critical ingredient to survival in any situation-- whether that be off-the-grid, SHTF, disaster response, as well as things more mundane as droughts and interruptions in well/city water supply.

What are your techniques and methods for long-term water storage?

I ordered a new 55-gallon plastic food-grade drum designed for water storage with a tap at the bottom. That's full and has a conditioner which will allow the water to be stored for 5 years without rotating. I'll probably rotate it each year out of habit, and to check the bung seals at the top.

I also found 2 more used 55-gallon food grade plastic drums for $25 off of Craig's List. Since they were used in a nursery to store organic fertilizer, these are now being used to store rain water. Rain water comes in very handy for the garden. One has a tap, one does not (will need to pump this one).

What are your methods and preparations?

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Just buy some poland spring water ;)

[paulpwns]

you all sound crazy...

[pacelli]

Eventually I will probably keep at least a week or two of cooking/drinking water around in glass jars or food-grade plastic jugs.

I need to research the different models but when I get a little more organized I am going to buy a heavy duty hiker's water purifier along these lines:

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/filterdetail.cfm/MSR196

We have several rivers not too far from here and it could also be used to purify rainwater. I doubt I will ever be into hardcore shtf planning so my plans don't take nuclear fallout contaminated water or biowar contaminated water into account.

That's a great idea. I've always heard that Katadyn filters are a great functional brand. Personally I use a Berkey for everyday water use, and the filters last a long long time. Any little thing you can stash away to help with water is much better than nothing at all.

I think with nuclear fallout or bio contamination, we'll have greater problems than water, in that event I don't think most will get to the point where we'll have the opportunity to think about drinking water :)

[pacelli]

you all sound crazy...

This is a freedom living forum. The purpose of my thread is not to pass judgment. I started this thread for specific suggestions and sharing of information about long term water storage. Drinking water availability has been a problem in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, as well as recently in Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri with the floods. My county just went through a flash flood warning last night. At least for my area, being prepared is not crazy. And I believe as a clinical psychologist I am qualified to make such an evaluation.

[MsDoodahs]

This is a freedom living forum. The purpose of my thread is not to pass judgment. I started this thread for specific suggestions and sharing of information about long term water storage. Drinking water availability has been a problem in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, as well as recently in Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri with the floods. My county just went through a flash flood warning last night. At least for my area, being prepared is not crazy. And I believe as a clinical psychologist I am qualified to make such an evaluation.

The way I see it, the crazy ones are those who don't bother to lift a finger to prepare and then run to either US or the gov't to save their tails when TSHTF.

[amy31416]

you all sound crazy...

I can understand why someone might think that, however, you've probably never experienced a natural or unnatural disaster--neither have I for the most part. When I was a kid, we had an ice storm here and lost all electric for 5 days. We had no heat (electric blower on the furnace), couldn't cook conventionally (electric stove), but fortunately had a non-cordless phone so we could call my grandmother--who was a preparedness-type.

She came over with a bunch of her canned food, a bunch of fish she'd caught and taught me how to cook in the fireplace and with a kerosene stove. She lived through the depression and although she had plenty of money, she was the cheapest and most prepared person I knew. Always had a garden, an ace fisher, she could identify edible mushrooms and plants in the wild and though she gave me really shitty birthday presents, I learned much more useful things from her than from pretty much anyone else.

So, might seem like a waste of time to you, but imagine the electricity goes out, the water supply is screwed and natural gas stops flowing. It could happen and I'll be better prepared for it with very minimal effort and cost. I don't consider that crazy at all--even the government recommends that you keep water stored in case of disasters (not that that's evidence that the gov't isn't crazy.)

[Darguth]

I have a simple question--what is the best way to prepare water for long-term storage? I've watched a few videos on chorinating water to make sure it is free of bacteria...but I don't necessarily want to be drinking chlorinated water (better than nothing, but not preferable).

I'm looking at picking up some mylar bags from HERE (http://www.myfoodstorage.com/other-products-1/water-filters-kits-and-storage/5-gallon-water-box.html) which basically should give me nearly indefinite longevity to the water (resistant to sunlight, moisture, heat, and radiation) so long as it was pure going in. So I want to make sure I get that condition taken care of.

Advice?

[Acala]

you all sound crazy...

Here in Tucson, there is essentially no surface water most of the year and groundwater is too deep to extract without an electric pump at the bottom of the well. So the water supply here is 100% dependent on the electric grid. The local water department has a back up source of electricity to keep the water system running in case of the loss of electric power. For two hours. Yup. Two hours after the electric goes out, the water goes out (unless you are downgradient from a reservoir and just until that runs out).

A few months ago, a serious forest fire nearly caused the shut down of the power plant that supplies most of the power to the area. It wasn't even threatening the plant. The smoke from the fire threatened to cause arcing between the power lines because smoke conducts electricity. .

I have about 1600 gallons of rainwater in my cisterns made from culvert pipe in concrete.

At least in THIS neck of the woods, the crazy ones are the ones who make no provisions for their water supply.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I'm looking at picking up some mylar bags from HERE (http://www.myfoodstorage.com/other-products-1/water-filters-kits-and-storage/5-gallon-water-box.html)

This is half the cost...

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KW%20S500_A_name_E_100-Gallon%20Boxed%20Water%20Kit

read up on their related articles, related blog posts, tips and FAQ's for your other Q.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

I'm looking at picking up some mylar bags from HERE (http://www.myfoodstorage.com/other-products-1/water-filters-kits-and-storage/5-gallon-water-box.html)

This is half the cost...

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KW%20S500_A_name_E_100-Gallon%20Boxed%20Water%20Kit

read up on their related articles, related blog posts, tips and FAQ's for your other Q.

-t

[presence]

I have a simple question--what is the best way to prepare water for long-term storage? I've watched a few videos on chorinating water to make sure it is free of bacteria...but I don't necessarily want to be drinking chlorinated water (better than nothing, but not preferable).

I'm looking at picking up some mylar bags from HERE (http://www.myfoodstorage.com/other-products-1/water-filters-kits-and-storage/5-gallon-water-box.html) which basically should give me nearly indefinite longevity to the water (resistant to sunlight, moisture, heat, and radiation) so long as it was pure going in. So I want to make sure I get that condition taken care of.

Advice?

Circulation & Filtration = drinking water. Bacteria can be re-mediated by UV filtration. Water stores best cold (and dark) while in constant circulation through media.

[opal]

I'm really sensitive to chlorine.. even bleached clothes in the laundry irritate me. I use *shame on me* empty 2 liter soda bottles (stored in the house.. A/C) and I add a cap ful of coloidial silver to the bottles.
I think I currently have about 60 bottles that are rotated.. I know.. not much
They're filled with tap water which is well water with a rainsoft system on the well. (the well water is really heavy sulpher)

[Acala]

Keep out as much organic material as you can, hit it with chlorine to kill the micro-organisms and break down organics, let the chlorine offgas for a few days, store it in TOTAL darkness. Should be fine.

[Darguth]

This is half the cost...

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KW%20S500_A_name_E_100-Gallon%20Boxed%20Water%20Kit

read up on their related articles, related blog posts, tips and FAQ's for your other Q.

-t

Excellent source, thank you!

[Dr.3D]

I keep my water 150 feet underground. When I need it, I'll start my generator and let the well pump fill my containers.

[Ninja Homer]

I keep my water 150 feet underground. When I need it, I'll start my generator and let the well pump fill my containers.

Mine too, except it's 200 feet down, and I also have one at 50 feet that's for watering the yard & garden that I'd like to get a hand pump for. But I'm in Minnesota, land of 20,000 lakes, even more ponds, and a whole bunch of rivers, so as long as you have a Berkey you're pretty much set for water. A much bigger concern is keeping warm in the winter.

[Darguth]

Mine too, except it's 200 feet down, and I also have one at 50 feet that's for watering the yard & garden that I'd like to get a hand pump for. But I'm in Minnesota, land of 20,000 lakes, even more ponds, and a whole bunch of rivers, so as long as you have a Berkey you're pretty much set for water. A much bigger concern is keeping warm in the winter.

Same here, I live in mid-Michigan and there is small river less than a mile from my house as well as several lakes within walking distance if the emergency arose. However, in a SHTF scenario I feel I'd want supplies immediately on-hand for whatever may happen :)

[presence]

If you watch craigslist and ebay you can pick up a used stainless tank. I have a 500 gal that I paid $500 for. It was a gerber babyfood tank with a leak I welded shut and a dent I banged out.p

[Mundane]

We have 4 very large tanks that are being setup to have rain water draining from 2 buildings on the property into them.

[AME3]

Now that's the best setup of all. Wish I had a well... I am counting on about four hundred gallons of water storage capacity and about a miles distance from three of my cities reservoirs.
I keep my water 150 feet underground. When I need it, I'll start my generator and let the well pump fill my containers.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I should mention that you can't stack them more than 2 high or the boxes will collapse. That means shelving or a long stretch of wall.

-t

[Darguth]

I'm thinking about investing in a 100-gallon boxed water set for my long-term, emergency water storage needs. I'm trying to figure out the best means of purifying (organic and chemical contaminants) a large quantity of water like that for long-term storage. Any recommendations? The water will be coming from my household tap.

We have Brita water filters, but those don't last too long and it would be a very tedious chore to fill up 100 gallons of bags with it. My other thought is to chlorinate it, but I'm not sure that's the best option either.

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Elwar]

I'm thinking about investing in a 100-gallon boxed water set for my long-term, emergency water storage needs. I'm trying to figure out the best means of purifying (organic and chemical contaminants) a large quantity of water like that for long-term storage. Any recommendations? The water will be coming from my household tap.

We have Brita water filters, but those don't last too long and it would be a very tedious chore to fill up 100 gallons of bags with it. My other thought is to chlorinate it, but I'm not sure that's the best option either.

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Interesting concept. I have never seen those boxed water kits before.

I am not sure where you live, but here in Florida they have these great water kiosks where you go in and pay $1 for 5 gallons of filtered water. I bought one of those water tanks from Sams and use it as my drinking water. The water flows out of there very fast. With $20 you could fill all of your bags fairly quickly. It takes me about 1-2 minutes per 5 gallons.

[Darguth]

What kind of stores have those kiosks? I live in mid-Michigan but I've never seen anything like that.

[amy31416]

What kind of stores have those kiosks? I live in mid-Michigan but I've never seen anything like that.

The Meijer and Kroger around here (Southern MI) both have Culligan stations where you can refill water containers.

[Darguth]

The Meijer and Kroger around here (Southern MI) both have Culligan stations where you can refill water containers.

Thanks, I'll check the Meijer near me and see if they have them. So, does this kind of filtered water need to be rotated like self-treated chlorinated water? Or could I keep it for like 5+ years (likely wouldn't since I'll move in that interim and who wants to transport 20 of these boxes rather than just refill them)? Keeping in mind that the boxes contain mylar bags that should keep any light or contaminants from getting in.

[opal]

An alternative to chlorine is ozone. It's been a while since I looked around but you used to be able to get ozone generators for water purification on ebay fairly reasonably - sometimes under spa supplies.

[amy31416]

Thanks, I'll check the Meijer near me and see if they have them. So, does this kind of filtered water need to be rotated like self-treated chlorinated water? Or could I keep it for like 5+ years (likely wouldn't since I'll move in that interim and who wants to transport 20 of these boxes rather than just refill them)? Keeping in mind that the boxes contain mylar bags that should keep any light or contaminants from getting in.

I can't tell you for sure because I don't know what the bottles are made out of or what is actually in the filtered water (don't know what type of filtration they use.) Plus I can't tell you what type of sterilization/disinfection they use for the bottles. I don't actually buy it because I have well water and a drinking water filtration unit, I've just seen it at the stores and thought about it--but not enough to do the research.

If you do the research and find it promising, it's always better to rotate as much as possible anyways.

[fisharmor]

Unless your garage is air conditioned, I doubt that's a good place to keep them, Amy. The plastic used in soda bottles is horrible anyway, but if you heat it up, it's going to leach like heck into whatever you have stored in them.

This must be why they put incredibly acidic substances meant for human consumption in them.

(Also, it's the same exact material they use to make polyester clothing.)

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

This must be why they put incredibly acidic substances meant for human consumption in them.


Acidic corn syrup water companies aren't exactly looking out for you. I think you know this, or would if you think about it a few minutes.