We live in Mesa, Arizona and keep Qty-6 55 Gal. plastic barrels filled with tap water and rotate it thru our garden and fruit trees every few weeks. That's in additon to several 5 gallon plastic jugs that we fill at Water and Ice and run thru a cooler in our kitchen.
We've been behind on water storage, even though we've been pretty good about food storage. I just ordered two 55 gallon drums. In Colorado we can make due with less water per person than in a hot environment like Arizona. We're also using two liter soda bottles, as well as bottled water purchased at Sam's Club. So we're getting there. The drums I ordered are interesting. They're collapsible and made out of the same material as rubber boats. I'm going to fill them up as soon as I get them and make sure that they don't leak.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
I have two 55-gal drums with bottom spigots outside. I store sterilized water bottled in empty 1 Qt. canning jars. Takes up no more space than the empty jars would, and keeps the jars clean until I'm ready to bottle in them again. Plus, because it is sterilized, I don't need to rotate it nearly as often as I do the drums.
I do not have room to store drums inside the house or garage. Does anyone else store them outside, and how do you deal with winter freezing? Meaning, my usable water quantity goes way down when the barrels are frozen in the winter.
Our problem is not freezing here in Mesa, Arizona. It is aglę growth. So I rotate the water thru the garden and fruit trees. I guess I would try risking one barrel in the winter about 90% full.
It sorta depends on how cold it gets where you live. It takes a lot of cold to freeze 55 gallons of water. Unless it gets really cold, you might just see a thin layer of ice at the top.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
We have a big plastic drum in our garage. It's empty. We just can't bring ourselves to fill it up, living in Washington, a lack of water seems somewhat... well... unlikely. But we keep meaning to... :)
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
BTW, I got my collapsible drums finally. I don't know why they took so long to ship. They're, well, interesting. They don't stand up on their own like a plastic drum does. One I had to tie to the wall, the other I propped up against some other stuff. But I am glad to have the water storage. They're milspec, so they came with manuals with interesting instructions.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
That sounds like a pain, to have to prop them up like that. Why did you choose collapsible drums? So that when you decide you're done with this stupid water storing fad, you won't have a big empty drum taking up space like Ray does?
Like many guys, I am afflicted with a love of gadgets. The collapsible, reinforced rubber drums seemed cooler than the plastic ones. Plus, they were cheaper.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
Oy. So, I just bit the bullet and ordered five 55-gal barells for water storage. Would have been happy with the one I had, except now we have horses. We lost water for a few days a little while ago - and they burned through that barell in 36 hours.
This arrangement would give us a week or two to haul them somewhere with a pond or whatnot.
I figure I'll drain and refil the water every General Conference weekend, and add a tablespoon of bleach to keep nasty things from growing.
Bringing this one back to the top because I have a couple water storage questions. Picked up a couple of barrels for water storage and was wondering if there was any tips on storage. I 've heard of folks puting a tablespoon of bleach in them to keep them fresh longer. Is there any guidelines for the water. Also, does anyone know of some sources for some sort of hand pump to facilitate getting the water out? Thanks.
__________________
Jason (Formerly salesortonscom)
As I walk through this earth, nothing can stop, the Duke of Mirth!
The hand pumps are cheap and probably won't hold up to long term use. I would get the siphons that you can shake and create their own vacum to pull the water out.
dianoia's husband does water filtration for a profession. He gave me the info you will find in the first post here:
http://www.rogmo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170
The second post discusses bleach. My water barrels have bleach treated water, although I am considering switching to using pool chlorhine.
Many people's municipal water is chlorinated, and will store for a good while.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
The hand pumps are cheap and probably won't hold up to long term use. I would get the siphons that you can shake and create their own vacum to pull the water out.
dianoia's husband does water filtration for a profession. He gave me the info you will find in the first post here:
http://www.rogmo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170
The second post discusses bleach. My water barrels have bleach treated water, although I am considering switching to using pool chlorhine.
But Mirk, that post uses liters. We don't use liters here in the US of A!
__________________
Jason (Formerly salesortonscom)
As I walk through this earth, nothing can stop, the Duke of Mirth!
Look for a factory that might use food-grade barrells. They'll often sell them for cheap or give them away. The Rhode's Rolls factory nearby lets people just take them. Our stake recently got a lot of them for a pretty low price (about $10 each) from the Coca-Cola factory (I know, I know. . .).
__________________
"There is order in the way the Lord reveals His will to mankind. . .we cannot receive revelation for someone else's stewardship." L. Tom Perry
If I remember correctly, I put about 6-7 teaspons of bleach in each of my 55 gallon barrels. I think the recommendation is 1/8 a teaspoon per gallon. You want to keep them out of the sun and in a cool area. Sun will power the photosynthesis of any residual algae, which you don't want.
I got my barrels from a food company for $10 each. I did have to wash out the residual syrup. Despite that my emergency water will have the residual taste of cherry, peach, or blackberry. 7 barrells should last one person a little more than a year. For a family of 5, that could be 35 barrells, which takes up a lot of space and weigh several tons. Most people nowadays don't recommend a full year's supply of water.
Aren't there some tablets or filter gizmos that you can use on water that you just find around? Would any of this work on say a poisoning of a city's water supply?
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I've been gone for a few days (YW retreat and then sick as a dog with a nasty cold), but I'll have my other half look at this thread when he gets home today. He's been in municipal water for 17 years now, and done both the drinking and the sewer end of things. Right now he deals with the storm sewer system and oversees the city's storm ponds.
But a quick answer to your question, coco, is that it depends on what the substance is that's contaminating a city's water supply. If it's biological, a filter like a Katadyn or water purification tablets will work just fine. If it's chemical.... things get a bit more complicated.
__________________
They might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves.
I guess I naively supposed that it would reign, living here in seattle, and we could just drink reignwater. I really need to fill up that huge barrel I have in my garage.
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
See? I can have a good sense of humor and go with the flow. Unrattled by my circumstances. Master of my fate. Captain of my ship. Invictus and all that stuff. la la la
*dunks head in cold tub* pshhh!
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
