5 Gallon water jug: rotating the water for freshness

Reptile

Reptile

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I bought 2, 5 gallon jugs 3 years ago.
Water cooler type jugs.
The water is now "expired".
Should I dump it and fill with tap water?
I could dump and refill every couple months.

Or, should I just go and buy new jugs?

I could dump the current ones and get credit for the jugs and get new full jugs.

Or, I guess I could dump them and keep them for an impending crisis and full them up before hand.
 
Leave it just the way it is. If you ever need to use it, just add 8 drops of bleach per gallon.
 
I keep my water supply in gallon jugs, 4 to a crate, 20 something crates. They are a great way to store water. They're like frigin leggos, you can build all kinds of variations of shelving to store all your other supplies. lol
Any way my point is that I don't always get my water rotated correctly and I'll find an outdated one buried somewhere. I've drunk it well past its expiration date, it was perfectly fine.
 
Are you using 5 gallon containers you bought for water storage or prepackaged 5 gallon containers from the store? Is that where the exp date is coming from?

Water doesn't expire. The oxygen in it can deplete though. But the plastic containers are usually made to degrade over time and can give the water a plastic taste.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5087733_bottled-water-expire.html

Buy some decent storage containers. Stabilized oxygen is also a good alternative for treating water and lasts a long time.
 
Last edited:
Cowgirlup said:
Are you using 5 gallon containers you bought for water storage or prepackaged 5 gallon containers from the store? Is that where the exp date is coming from?

Water doesn't expire. The oxygen in it can deplete though. But the plastic containers are usually made to degrade over time and can give the water a plastic taste.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5087733_bottled-water-expire.html

Buy some decent storage containers. Stabilized oxygen is also a good alternative for treating water and lasts a long time.
Click to expand...

"Oxygen can deplete"?

Why do you care how much oxygen is dissolved in the water? Where does it go?

"tastes like plastic" is icky though, if you can taste it, whatever is causing that taste is going into your body. Yuk.
 
water doesn't 'expire'. It may taste flat after being stagnant but unless there is bacteria in the bottle already it will not go bad. you do not need to rotate your water.
 
Pure water does not go bad. Grocery store HDPE jugs do.

Dakar652 said:
Stabilized O2? Dude just blew my mind.
Click to expand...
Apparently "Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen" is sold as one of those woowoo new age curealls, sellers are careful to obfuscate the active ingredient, if any.

If you don't want to use bleach (the tried and true standard), a chlorine dioxide treatment (e.g. Aquamira) avoids some of the drawbacks of bleach for long-term water storage.
 
Reptile said:
Ok, sounds good.

How long before adding bleach can I drink it?
Click to expand...

You can drink it "after" adding the bleach[wink] and letting it stand for 30 minutes or so. Pouring it from container to container will allow excess chlorine to evaporate, aerate the water and improve taste.
 
Pure water doesn't go bad, as others have said. May have a funny taste from the container, but if SHTF are you really going to care about that?

I'd worry more about the bleach thing if you're concerned that the bottle seal may have let go or if you're storing your own water. Keep in mind that liquid bleach does lose potency over time. For long-term preps look into bleach tablets. That way you can mix a batch only when you need it. I've seen the tabs at big box hardware stores in the janitorial section, and some supermarkets in the laundry section.
 
milktree said:
"Oxygen can deplete"?

Why do you care how much oxygen is dissolved in the water? Where does it go?

"tastes like plastic" is icky though, if you can taste it, whatever is causing that taste is going into your body. Yuk.
Click to expand...

Poor choice of words. I couldn't think of how to put it but Pennypinchers post is more accurate. It seems flat. I have read that you can sort of correct that by shaking the container. Not sure how accurate that is.
 
7.62x39 said:
I keep my water supply in gallon jugs, 4 to a crate, 20 something crates. They are a great way to store water. They're like frigin leggos, you can build all kinds of variations of shelving to store all your other supplies. lol
Any way my point is that I don't always get my water rotated correctly and I'll find an outdated one buried somewhere. I've drunk it well past its expiration date, it was perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

Wait, you have 80 gallons of water? I feel cramped having more than 2 cans of coffee on the shelf.

I "rotate" my water using a faucet! Fresh every time.
[laugh2]
 
I have some bottles going on three years old. I try to rotate them. Along with the dry foods too. Spaghetti sauce I try to get to within 2 years or the jar expiration date.

Rotating seems the best for me, that way nothing is wasted.
 
Coyote33 said:
Wait, you have 80 gallons of water?...
Click to expand...

Probably closer to 90. Stored in the milk crates it doesn't take up as much room as you might think. As I mentioned before, it is actually beneficial. The water is the shelving that holds my cases of mountain house. I have a secure 12x12 room in my basement that houses all of my "just in case" supplies
 
Water does not go bad; bottled water is not "pure", meaning that it's not purely H2O. To get that, you need distilled water.

Bottled drinking water, or stuff from the tap, has trace minerals, possibly purification chemicals, etc. This is why Fiji water tastes different from Poland Spring, and from the MWRA's best. It is possible that the stored water will have stuff in it that will change the flavor over time; the plastic of the bottle is not completely stable, and may flavor it, too. That's why there's an expiration date in 2 months on stuff that's 4 billion years old. [laugh]

The real question is not whether it's drinkable (unless there's real nasty stuff in it, it is), but is it palatable?

Take the oldest bottle, and chug some. If you want to see how it will taste in a SHTF venue, go mow the lawn on a hot day, then chug it. If it's drinkable, keep the other sealed ones; if not, you know that you will have to rotate stock.

This is probably the cheapest part of preps for rotation.

It's like nuking the site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure.
 
Do not store water long term in the plastic jugs you buy it in at the supermarket, they will break down over time. If you're storing for a short term (a year or less) put them on a bottom shelf where they won't wreck other supplies when they leak.

I have some much more durable 5 gallon containers I bought for long term storage, and empty and drain and refill them every couple of years, because there probably are icky plastic chemicals leaching into them over time.
 
If you have time, I would dump and refill.

I rotate mine every 2 years, clean the jug if you even think it has an nasties or are recycling HiC bottles (1 Gal each with handle is my favorite).
Fill with HOT water, if you run your water heater low normally, crank it up the day before.
Solar Sterilize - getting late in the year, but 4-6 hours is enough depending on sun position and clouds.
Store in a dark - temp neutral area.

The tops on yours could be a challenge to re-seal unless you can save the old tops or get more from a refill station at Wally World - think I've seen them in Leominster.


Yes, store on the bottom I have had two recycled RV Water Line Anti-Freeze bottles leak - these are for toilet flushing - NOT POTABLE.
 
Whats the theory behind using hot water to initially fill the jugs? My thinking is its not hot enough to kill anything nasty, but the inside of the water heater is warm and dark which I would think is a perfect condition for things to grow in.

Storing water that was boiled, I get that. 120ish doesnt make sense to me. Ive read it a bunch of different places so Im not doubting, just trying to wrap my head around it.
 
Thank you all for replying. Your advice is most helpful.

Since this is a SHTF scenario, I am going to keep the jugs as is. I am going to buy more water jugs though.

If I have intel of incoming nuke, I could dump the older jugs and refill with fresh tap before the fallout.
 
You can 'freshen' water by agitating it.

Other comments are correct, water doesn't 'go bad' - unless it's contaminated. I rotate mine to be sure it's not contaminated and to inspect the storage area.
 
I like jugs too--gallon sized jugs.

If reptile said he had 1 gal containers and not 5 gal I'd say drink one and see how it is. A dry run is always informative! But cracking open a 5 gal container is sort of wasteful.

1 gal is easier to carry and while I don't typically drink bottled water, I will take it camping, to the beach, boating, etc. because it's so cheap and I'll refill it sometimes if I'm going to use it immediately. You can also freeze 1 gal jugs with the top removed, which will keep everything in the cooler cold and then you can still drink it.
 
Reptile said:
I bought 2, 5 gallon jugs 3 years ago.
Water cooler type jugs.
The water is now "expired".
Should I dump it and fill with tap water?
I could dump and refill every couple months.

Or, should I just go and buy new jugs?

I could dump the current ones and get credit for the jugs and get new full jugs.

Or, I guess I could dump them and keep them for an impending crisis and full them up before hand.
Click to expand...


Dump and refill. Not worried about bacteria etc. but the plastic leaches carcinogens. IMHO
 
At on time I had 50 gallons in the CHEAP Poland Spring 5 gallon bottles.

They ALL leaked down to nothing.

Now I have the rugged 5 gallon water cooler type jugs from Poland Spring.
 

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