I was lurking around a discussion forum and the topic of water storage came up. As the thread progressed, the statistically predictable comment came in from a couple people about how they either a) used recycled two-liter pop bottles or b) they had a 55-gallon drum that once held corn syrup but they cleaned it out really, really well and use that.
I was a dissenter in that I opined that I would rather pay for new purpose-built containers (Like Scepter or blue barrels) rather than use what was basically post-consumer trash. I suppose that you could, in theory, wash and rinse a used container enough that it wouldn’t transfer a taste/smell to stored water over a long period of time…and I suppose that in a disaster you probably wouldn’t care if your drinking water had a barely discernable hint of 7-Up flavor to it. But I do. On things that are important to my safety and survival it makes no sense to cheap out on gear/supplies/materiel. I would be as reluctant to trust my future well-being to scavenged two-liter pop bottles as I would to using a bargain parachute, discount SCUBA gear, or the cheapest heart surgeon.
Does that make me a snob? A fool? Or even…gasp…a despicable ‘Yuppie survivalist’? Beats me. Nor do I care. The simple facts are that I can afford to pay $40 for a brand new ‘blue barrel’. I can afford to pay $40 for a 5-gallon Scepter water can.
When the dust settles after the apocalypse, and some sort of calm is restored, there will not be awards issued to the people who survived with the least outlay of cash for gear. No Congressional Medal Of Frugality will be awarded to the people who stored their rice in rinsed-out Gatorade bottles. But, neither will there be awards to the people who made it through using the most expensive or razoo piece of gear either. In fact, the only award given to anyone for their efforts will be the fact that they are still alive.
If you want to ride out the apocalypse in a 20-year-old travel trailer, eating rice and beans at every meal, drinking from salvaged pop bottles, protecting yourself with a Mosin Nagant and a Taurus Judge….knock yourself out. And if you want to sit out the apocaplypse with freeze-dried pork chops, Wilson Combat guns, and a nice concrete bunker on a huge spread of land you purchased….have at it. We all have the agency to choose what we feel is best for our interests. For me, that means buying what I feel is the most practical and proper item for the task at hand.
Am I ‘flexing on the poors’? Heck no. Dude, I am the poors. If you’re living on SSDI, or welfare, or on the money you make recycling aluminum cans you pick up along the roadside…..more power to you. And if you’re living on a six-figure income and have rental properties and a mighty investment portfolio….good on ya, mate. We all do what we can with what we have. BUT… if you purposely go the cheapest route possible when you dont have to…well, then I start to question the soundness of your decision. It’s one thing to prep like a pauper if you’re a pauper, but if you’ve got a pretty solid income and some money….well…
I mention this because I don’t think I’m a snob. If all you can afford is to store drinking water in a 2-liter pop bottle, then thats what you do. At least you’re looking towards the future. But if you’re a dentist knocking back $95k….
But…thats just me. I willingly trade off some things like going to movies, binging on Netflix, or taking vacations, in order to free up cash for that which is important to me. And to me, what’s important is my continued relative safety and security…which is worth more to me than the cost of scavenged Coke bottles.
Agree 100% that gear (including firearms) is not the area to try to do on the cheap. I’m a fan of the old adage “buy once, cry one.” That doesn’t mean you can’t spend your money wisely getting great gear at good prices. Black Friday sales are just around the corner.
Rice in soda bottles is actually bot a bad idea. They are food grade and they are affordable. Water in used food grade tanks are a reasonable idea as well. Water in soda bottles, not so much, they are too much of a hassle, i use stackable 10 liter cans. At 5$ each they are plenty affordable.
If i had the budget for it i would install a 1000 gallon pressurised water tank in our basement (my family owns a small apartment building) to cover eight Days normal consumption. Add a water filter that is bypassed in business as usual and we could keep using water as today if water became less dependable (but still available from time to time). For a cheap house out in the boonies on a low income though, making a cheap watertower from a couple of old molasses tanks is a perfectly safe and serviceable idea it follows paretos principle, 80% of the performance at 20% of the cost.
Water in soda bottles though gives 20% of the performance compared to 10 liter cans, at 80% of the cost and 120% of the effort.
Know where you can go cheap, and where you cant.
The Afghans kicked the Russians out of their country using home made single shot rifles, (it helped when the US eventually gave them stinger rockets) The cost of will and determination is a variable that is hard to calculate but usually makes the difference between success and failure.
This is true. But if, when the Afghans were fighting the Russians, they had a choice between AK-74’s and single shot rifles they would not have chosen the single shot rifles as their first choice.
Reagan and Osama Bin Laden funnelled billions into Afghanistan to “Vietnam” the Soviets. Luckily the Russians have not returned the favor and allowed us to slaughter Afghans like they couldn’t concieve(they had to kill up close and personal,we drop bombs on weddings and funerals from 10,000 miles.
I am of the thought that if I were to store water, it would be in a container meant for that purpose and not drink bottles. Bottles are useful for filling toilet tanks if you live where power always goes out for short periods. That’s just me.
2 liter bottles, filled with questionable water and left in the sun, will sanitize the water.
https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/pdf/solar2011final.pdf
Another thought- if you can taste the remains of the 7-up, that means that there is food in that water to grow stuff you don’t want to drink. I’m cheap, but I’m not stupid. An emergency is not when I want to find out that my stored water is undrinkable, or be dealing with self-inflicted GI issues.
A question for the class. Regardless of the container, at what interval do you rotate your water, and/or what precautions do you take when you store your water? I’m on a well so if I bottle my own at home I don’t get the benefit of the residual chlorine that someone on city water gets. I’ve got my methods and reasons for what I’m doing that seems to be working for me and mine, but I’m curious what other options there are.
So get barrels that had diet 7-up or whatever…no nutrition for anything to grow in.
I swap out water yearly. It’s city water and stored in a dark place and I’ve never had any issue with stuff growing in it.
There are additives you can get for longterm water storage, but I’ve never used them.
I rotate my water storage every time my well starts. I have 4, 86 gal pressure tanks so I store about 100 gal of water. It cuts back on well starts and I always have fresh water stored.
Here’s what the blue barrels don’t get you: the ability to employ solar disinfection (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection). The clear 2 liter pop bottles are the right kind of plastic to allow sunlight to kill the biological bad guys in otherwise clear water. Of course it won’t remove inorganic toxins, which are why Berkey filters are a good thing to have too.
A supply of good water stored in pop bottles – the club soda bottles won’t have sugar residue – is also useful as trading goods or charitable gifts, should it come to it. You probably won’t be giving away 50 gallon blue barrels of water when thirsty neighbors come calling.
I’ve got both kinds — country and western.
Well really, I’ve got water storage in 40L recycled olive oil tanks. I’ve got it in 5 and 7 gallon blue square jugs. I’ve got it in a 220 gallon polypro tank. And a 40 gallon polypro tank, and another that I just picked up…
I’ve also got my “rainwater collection system” of 3 repurposed 55 gallon drums, which I can filter if needed (with camping or backpacking filters.)
ANNNNDDDD, I’ve got 30-50 gallons of treated water in 2L and one gallon recycled bottles. They are conveniently sized for handing to someone, using as a wash station, throwing in a vehicle, or to limit contamination to one gallon at a time. The recycled bottles are much tougher than water bottles typically are.
One thing I have in common for ALL of my water storage is Britta filter pitchers. I pick them up for $3 at Goodwill, and buy the filters when I see them at yardsales or on sale at Costco. The britta filter takes any taste of the chlorine used to treat the water out at usage time. If you tasting anything other than chlorine bleach, you aren’t cleaning or treating your stored water adequately.
Absolutely worst case, I’ve got a kid sized pool in storage for rainwater collection and use as a cistern.
You can’t have too much water. However you store it, STORE IT now, while it’s coming out of the tap.
nick
(and no, the 50 gallons in your water heater doesn’t count. In an ongoing disaster, when municipal water fails, your tank will become contaminated by the system before you are aware there is an issue. Hurricane Ike speaking here…)
(added- boiling water for drinking takes a lot of fuel. I shake my head when municipalities issue “boil water warnings”. With a disaster that takes out the water system, WTF are people who don’t even have stored water going to use to boil water for 10 minutes before using it?)
You only need to bring the water to a full boil: At any altitude you’re likely to be at on this planet, the water will be at a high enough temperature to kill any pathogenic organisms. I’m not sure where the whole idea of boiling for extended periods came from but there is no reason for it.
Maybe it came from the CDC.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/drinking/making-water-safe.html
OK, a rolling boil, 3 minutes tops..Not 10 minutes or whatever…
And the 3 minutes is just to make certain it’s boiling
You beat me to it Nick. Not all water is for human consumption. I look at it like this getting, storing and purifying drinking water is the way to go. I’m not drinking water right out of a, bought new, blue barrel with out it going through my Katadyn vario water filter. As for water that is in used barrels?? We have a juice plant nearby so used food grade barrels are plentiful. Using used barrels as part of a rain catchment system off a metal roof and then purifying the water in a good filter is fine as well. In the Hazmat world we have a saying “the solution to pollution is dilution.” The more water that goes through those used barrels in a rain catchment system the less you will ever know what was in them. Wasn’t the case when we got used barrels and tried to sanitize them- water tasted like crappy apple juice. Would I use 2 liter bottles? No way just due to the fact that if a 2 liter falls on a cement floor it could bust. Heavier duty plastic like that used in blue barrel will stand up much better.
Ever try dropping a 2-liter soda bottle? Try it – repeatedly – from 6 or 8 feet – onto concrete. They are not going to break. Bounce – yes – break – no. Those damn things are nearly indestructible. I use them for rice – but only the ones bought new and rinsed thoroughly and dried. Since they are made from PETE, they are gas tight (so they hold the carbonation). The mice could chew through them, but since they can’t smell the rice they don’t know what’s inside them. 20 year old rice out of one tastes like it was bought yesterday with no odors or unusual tastes. Of course it helps to have a mountain of the beverage distributor trays with handles that allow you to carry 8 at a time and can stack from floor to ceiling.
The brook in my backyard runs in the worst of droughts and at -40 degrees, so I store minimal water. My solar system can also run my well pump. YMMV.
If you’re a dentist only making 95k…it’s probably time for some serious introspection.
My thoughts as well.
maybe in mexico
Another point here needs to be raised.
Many years ago I was given a couple of hundred expired 2 and 3 liter bottles of various brands of soda. I used them as targets (and yes, always picked up my sticky trash). It took me years to run thru them all as I saved them to only shoot them when the friend that had given them to me went shooting with us. After about 10 (???, I really don’t rem, just guessing) years, they started failing and leaking sugary crap all over that end of my root cellar. Yep, that’s right, those things failed even tho they were in complete darkness. Just rem that if you use those things for long term storage.
If you are storing rice and beans in them, they will probably last longer than mine did- I think the weight of the fluid on the sides was a factor and they would last longer without that stress. But point is, they WILL fail in a shorter time than I ever thought.
Almost all soda is acidic,drop a penny in cola and see how long it lasts(phosporic acid),useful to clean battery terminals
Any comments on the Epic water filter pitcher? It seems to put the Brita to shame based on what it reportedly filters out of the water. I am using one, and it really seems to work well. Pricier than the Brita, but the list of what it is claimed to remove is impressive.
Looks just like another basic filter out the bad taste type. Just remember that those filters (brita, pur, etc) are designed to remove ‘tap water contaminates’ because the water has already been tested to be potable water for drinking. They’re not designed to make water microbiologically safe to drink post grid down situations. Looking at the spec sheets, it’s only to make it taste better and get out the additional chemicals that are mixed within the potable water source.
When I built my house, I knew I wanted to have 4 IBC’s as water storage in the basement: They had to go in before the first floor did so it required a bit of planning…
I investigated buying used ones (commonly available) and new ones, and by the time I factored in delivery and cleaning the new were cheaper…a little bit. So, I got them.
WRT cleaning, the strategy I settled on would have been steam cleaning inside/out, fill with water and vinegar (5 gallons of white vinegar / 270 gallons of water) and let it sit for a few days, drain and flush, then fill with baking soda and water, let sit, flush 3 or 4 times. For the new ones, I skipped the steam cleaning.
I don’t drink pop and rarely by juice, so re-using those sorts of bottles isn’t much of an option for me. I’d also worry about them bursting open if whatever has you resorting to stored goods involved a good shaking or things flying around.
A couple sturdy 5 gallon camping water jugs will see most people though most emergencies and don’t cost very much. I use those and a couple square half-gallon Nalgene water bottles as 5 gallons of water is a bit heavy to lug around and I don’t have a lot of space. Decanting into the smaller, lighter water bottles is handy.
I’m fortunate and live just (at the end of my street) off a large river so I can concentrate more on purification methods than on storage. Having said that, I DO use a lot of 2 liter pop bottles for storage in a chest freezer in the garage dedicated to them. They are perfectly sized to store and use for cooling in ice chests when the power goes out (been there, done that). A bonus is having pre bottled ice water as they melt and as a previous poster noted, they are ideal for UV purification if needed.
I also have blue barrels, bottled agua, a full years worth of Zero water filters for several people, Sawyers, pool shock, rain barrels, as well as everything needed to collect, settle, filter, and purify river water (including heavy metals). I don’t drink pop but my GF and my neighbors drink diet pop (no residue) and they give me the bottles – so free is good. I store excess to fill if needed and as giveaways.
Being there won’t be a water shortage if the SHTF around here I only maintain ~ 300 gallons on hand at any one time which can be quickly upped to a good deal more. I’m of the opinion that frugality is good and one should make use of any and all resource available to you. During my years of travel in the military I visited some very poor countries where the folks had scant resources and made do with what most Americans would scoff at as trash. Know what? They survived very well on almost nothing and that’s not something you can say about your average westerner…
Regards
@Flight-ER-Doc , thanks for the update on the boiling water.
All of the various storage methods have drawbacks. The aquatainers can get brittle with exposure to sun, and possibly chlorine. Even my white barrels will get brittle in the sun, if I let them. (I tested this with the cut off tops, in full sun for one summer they were brittle) My stainless steel tanks (which are 100L each, I mis-typed above) have a rubber gasket around the lid that will fail with time, and they are more prone to condensation on the outsides attracting rodents or eventually rotting their stand.
Just like I have different shoes, and different firearms for different tasks (and at different price points) my water storage comes in a variety of flavors….
n
(and 150 gallons of it is disguised as rainwater catchment for the garden, which is normally untreated. In normal times, I use it to water the garden. In a disaster I can use it as is for washing, or filter and treat to drink. One hint that works for me, put the barrel up on a couple of concrete blocks, with a couple of solid skinny blocks on top, so it’s elevated about 12 inches. The spigot at the bottom works a lot better on the raised beds when it’s higher.)
No criticism from me if you buy purpose built water containers. I have used rinsed soda bottles for some of my water storage with bottles still doing fine in the closet for 7+ years. There is enough chlorine in the city water to address a few molecules of corn sugar- but I doubt there is even that. My bottles are still crystal clear. Just posting here to counter the fear mongering that soda bottles are a bad option. I have had purpose built 7 gallon water jugs fail too. Just monitor your stuff and don’t get complacent. Everything fails eventually.
Just as an aside, we use R/O (reverse osmosis) water at work for testing various chemicals. When we have trouble with our system we get it in 55 gal drums. After being opened they tend to start growing mold after about a month if not used up. YMMV
My water plan in WI is very simple. We have a basement with a crock/sump that is always, ALWAYS, filled with water. And it’s very clear. So in a SHTF situation I simply run my water thru a Big Berkey and drinking water galore. Also have several Katadyn and Sawyer mini filters and such. We in WI also have plentiful rain and snow so I feel drinking water is not to hard to come by as it would be for you guys in the arid southwest or down south. In my remote location I have a fairly shallow well ( 30 ft ) so it’s easy to get water from that even without power. Hell up there I dig a 3 ft hole and I get water.
Virtually all plastics degrade, it’s just a matter of how much time it takes combined with storage/use conditions. Remember, a product is designed/engineered to a price point. If you are expecting it to last a lot longer than it was intended to, you may have an ugly surprise.
Plastic and aluminum drink containers are about 1/3 as thick as they were a few years ago, making them much more delicate. (this was done to lower the cost of manufacturing, and lower the weight to save money on shipping)
Got a friend who keeps a few of those 36/48? count water bottle packages in the garage. Gets field mice in there, and since the change to light weight bottles he often discovers they have chewed through multiple bottles. This never happened with the original heavy wall version.
Be careful about (rain)water collection. In some areas, it is illegal to divert water to save it, even though you may intend to use it on the property it was collected on. I’m surprised this hasn’t been tossed in court.
This is the reason they package Adult Beverages in Quarts and Mimitures. My dear old dad used to say, To each their own, as the lady said as she kissed the cow.
http://www.tankbarn.com is a great site for quality water storage at good prices. I bought 2 of the 15 gallon containers that ship for free. he has stackable ones going up to 500 gallons.