Newbi - water storage

[herman]

Just starting to stock up on some supplies. I thought I would start with water.
can anyone tell me the best place to get large barrel containers? At there any suppliers near Boston so I can skip the shipping supplies?
Thanks

 

[mclina]

I picked up some used soft drink syrup barrels for $10 each a few months ago, from a guy near the Fitchburg airport. It was in a thread here. The guy had a pile of them out along the road, and inside there were hundreds of them.

I picked two of the cleanest ones he had, and washed/bleached them real good.

Not sure where to buy new barrels. Hopefully someone helpful will post.

Good luck.

Edit: I just checked the original thread. They were on Airport Road in Leominster.

 

[herman]

Thanks, used are fine if I can find them

 

[Palladin]

26ft dia swimming pool

 

[herman]

26ft dia swimming pool

Already have one of those!

 

[daddysuperfly]

i heard that local water departments may be a good lead on the 55 gallon blue poly barrels. I haven't looked into this yet myself.

 

[garandman]

Why do you want large ones? I find five gallon jugs to be more efficient to store and a lot easier to move.
Most of the ones that are used by outfits like the spring water supply outfits are made of polycarbonate and plenty strong.

One exception - rain barrels. If you build a stand, you can mount a spigot on them to draw from conveniently.

 

[MisterHappy]

Before you get a storage solution - what is the problem/disaster/whatever that you're prepping for?

If it's an interruption of city water, and you need it for domestic (toilet, cooking, bathing) purposes, or just drinking?

Is it a bug-in or bug-out plan.

Water weighs ~8 pounds/ gallon - a 50 gallon barrel is a hell of a weight.

If you have a non-potable source (like a pool, or rain-barrel) you have the water for your toilet. If it's for drinking, you can filter and boil (assuming you have the fuel) or chemically purify it.

Figure out the question that you're looking for the answer to, first.

 

[herman]

Before you get a storage solution - what is the problem/disaster/whatever that you're prepping for?

If it's an interruption of city water, and you need it for domestic (toilet, cooking, bathing) purposes, or just drinking?

Is it a bug-in or bug-out plan.

Water weighs ~8 pounds/ gallon - a 50 gallon barrel is a hell of a weight.

If you have a non-potable source (like a pool, or rain-barrel) you have the water for your toilet. If it's for drinking, you can filter and boil (assuming you have the fuel) or chemically purify it.

Figure out the question that you're looking for the answer to, first.

I want to store water for;

Issues with public water supply due to storms, tampering, shtf.
why big barrels, cheaper, takes us less room. I also plan on have a supply of 5 gallon containers.
boiling water takes a lot of fuel. I do have a pool so I have grey water on hand already.

 

[jto966]

Quick question,, doesn't water go stale or can't bacteria grow in it? My point is if I buy a 5 gallon container and fill it with water store it in my basement. Would I have to boil it before use 6 months later????

- - - Updated - - -

sorry, one more question. I have a couple blue 55 gallon drums and was thinking of putting one outside to collect rain water. To be used in case I need it for the toilet,, does it have to be covered or could it to avoid all the mosquitos?

 

[JCat]

Quick question,, doesn't water go stale or can't bacteria grow in it? My point is if I buy a 5 gallon container and fill it with water store it in my basement. Would I have to boil it before use 6 months later???

You can treat the stored water chemically with products like Aquamira or just use bleach (chlorine) in the appropriate amounts. You can look this up and come to your own conclusion but I'm seeing roughly a teaspoon of bleach for 5 gallons of water.

 

[MisterHappy]

Well, remember that it's getting cold. I'll open the drains on my rain barrels any day, as frozen is not useful to me. Depending on the type of barrel, a freeze may break the barrel. Remember that everything on your roof will end up in your barrel.

Water in and of itself does not "go bad"; but the plastics can degrade over time, which is why there's an expiration date on bottled water. If the water is not sterile when it's bottled, or if the container is not sterile, then you have the possibility of bacterial growth. This can be treated as noted above.

The real problem with water storage, IMO, is that we're used to using a LOT of water, on a daily basis. My mom grew up in a fairly rural area in NH, and in the dry part of summer, the family well would go dry. This entailed a 2-mile walk in each direction to get water at a roadside spring.

Before you do your water-storage prep for real.....kill the main water valve, and see how your storage plan works (including the purification of the water you drink).

When Irene came through, we did not lose water, but the dishwasher was not working - you'd be surprised how few dishes and glasses are actually needed when you have to hand-wash them.

 

[richc]

Costco has some of the blue barrels for sale.

 

[JCat]

Costco has some of the blue barrels for sale.

Which location did you see them at? Do you remember the price?

 

[richc]

Which location did you see them at? Do you remember the price?

http://www.costco.com/.product.1176...vc=itempageVerticalRight|CategorySiloedViewCP

FYI I bought one earlier this year at $99.99 delivered. I don't recall if that was the regular price or on sale.

They also have an eight pack of these available.

 

[garandman]

Here's a related question. I want to buy some more durable jugs that are easy to carry and I notice that while most are 5 gallons, they are available in 6 and 7 gallon sizes. Anyone try carrying these larger sizes? Water is over 8 lbs a gallon so a full 7 gallon jug would weigh over 40 lbs - I'm thinking 3 x 5 is better than 2 x 7....

 

[ShadeWPI]

Garand - First, water is exactly 8 lbs / gallon at the right temperature. 1oz liquid = 1oz weight of water at "room temperature" about 70 degrees F. I once tried carrying to 5-gallon jerry cans of water with a properly padded and shaped yoke the way Mad Max does with the gas cans in Thunder Dome, I'll tell you, it wasn't pretty. Not only are they heavy at 40lbs, they're unwieldly as the water likes to flow,slosh and shift unless totally filled with no air. If you need to carry water, either hydration bladders or some stores carry "space saver" 1-gallon water containers that are about 2" wide, 12" high and 20" deep to fit on the top shelf of a fridge but use up very little "space" they can be stacked 2 or 3 into a back-pack and are much easier to carry than larger jugs - the slim profile does not allow the water to shift much, even if their's an inch or two of air at the top.

Happy - very good things to point out. It's virtually impossible to sterilize water and a container in a home setting. While you should do your best to get it as close as possible, don't trust it, add chlorine to the water before your store it. My recommendation is to use a little extra chlorine for long-term storage and plan on filtering it when you use it. If for some reason you can't filter, you can drop the chlorine levels to safe drinking levels by heating the water (sub-boiling) or letting it sit in an open container in the sun for a day. As a gas, chlorine evaporates quickly and loses solubility as the water heats.
For those with out-door rain bottles, consider adding a storage barrel in the basement that you can transfer your stored rain-water into at the end of the summer. You can pump it out in the spring, but you'll have some emergency water through the winter. I helped a friend set up a large rain-water collection system at his house that uses a 2-barrel prefilter system and 4 storage barrels plus 2 storage barrels in his basement. 100 gal emergency water goes a long way.

 

[garandman]

Garand - First, water is exactly 8 lbs / gallon at the right temperature. /

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's actually a bit more than that - at standard temperature and pressure, it's 8.328676 lb/gal. But in the Army we always used 8 lbs/gallon as the planning number. Two 2 quart canteens and two 1 quart canteens we figured at 12 lbs because they weren't usually full to the brim anyway.

 

[ShadeWPI]

sorry, mixing up my imperial units and english units again. 1oz (imperial) of water = 1oz weight

 

[Katie-B]

Find a dairy farm that buys Teat Dip.It's sold in 5,15 and 55 gal containers.

 

[garandman]

Here's a related question. I want to buy some more durable jugs that are easy to carry and I notice that while most are 5 gallons, they are available in 6 and 7 gallon sizes. Anyone try carrying these larger sizes? Water is over 8 lbs a gallon so a full 7 gallon jug would weigh over 40 lbs - I'm thinking 3 x 5 is better than 2 x 7....

Cliff Notes: I am an idiot.

Went out to buy some jugs today and found some Reliance 7 gallon jugs at WalMart for $12 something. Duh - if 7 gallons is too heavy for where you are going, fill them with 5.....Evidence that common sense is indeed not common.