Cheap Or Free Water Storage

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Caribou

Caribou

Time traveler
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Dec 3, 2017
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Alaska
The grocery store bakery departments have one to five gallon food grade buckets that they often give away for free. These are used for frosting and such. Some stores even clean them before they hand them out. I clean them again when I get them home. These buckets usually come with a lid with a gasket.

Most often I'm given the 3.5 gallon buckets which are better for me to lift than the five gallon buckets of water.
 
I've decided to put a hand pump on our well. That way I can avoid trying to carry around buckets that I might have a snowball's chance in hell of picking up any more.
 
If you have a local craft brewery or homemade beer store, they often have (and throw away) 55 gallon food grade drums. They apparently receive liquid malt extract in them. One place not to far from me just sets them outside. If you ask how much they are they say $20 each. If they have a lot and you ask if you can just have one they will usually let you take a few for free. I got 6 of them on 2 different trips that way.
 
We use a 300 gal "tank" that contained car wash soap. It took us a while but we finally got it rinsed out and mounted it on a platform. It has a spigot that has an adapter for a water hose. It makes filling our chicken waterer and cleaning our coop area much easier than hauling water. As soon as I an figure out why tablet isn't letting me send pics and fix it I'll post skme.
 
I too use the 300 gallon totes. I get them for free.
Here's a little of my water storage.
CIMG8818.JPG
 
Restaurants will also have the 5 gallon buckets. Normally mayo or pickles come in them. I fill with bleach water and put in the sun for a couple weeks to take the smell out of them. I normally store flour, sugar, dehydrated items, etc., in them, but you can fill them up with water to store.
 
We paid $50 dollars for ours. We need a new on because spigot froze just after we got it and we can't find anything to replace it. It doesn't leak except when we turn it on and then not bad. I liked the fact that it didn't have pesticides or herbicides in it.
 
Redbeard said:
You get IBC totes for free? That's awesome!
Click to expand...
Free and brand new, never used!!!!!

There's a chemical plant nearby and they stack these in the yard 4-5 high, waiting to be filled. When a storm or high winds come through, it's somewhat common for a couple to fall off the stack. When they fall, it dents the cage. Once dented, they're not allowed to use them.
 
zoomzoom said:
Free and brand new, never used!!!!!

There's a chemical plant nearby and they stack these in the yard 4-5 high, waiting to be filled. When a storm or high winds come through, it's somewhat common for a couple to fall off the stack. When they fall, it dents the cage. Once dented, they're not allowed to use them.
Click to expand...
Dsng. . . i need on their list.
 
Back when we lived in an apartment I'd store tap water in empty and cleaned milk jugs. The water was not for drinking but to flush the toilets should there be a need. I'd use cleaned bleach jugs for general water storage.
 
You can also store water in old soda bottles in the home and fill from your tap. Here our town water is treated so no need to disinfect it.

We purchased 2 x 1100lt collapsible water tanks on eBay for $199ea which is far cheaper than buying the solid plastic ones here. When we buy our home we will simply dismantle them and take them with us.
 
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I bought 100 unused Mylar wine bags from someone on one of the prepper boards.
Can't remember who or what site.
They hold 2 gallons and have a twist valve.
Easy to fill and easy to dispense water out of them.
They work great for washing up when we go camping.
I think I paid $10 for the lot.
I keep several filled and stored for times when the power is out.
Not sure how practical they would be for storing large quantities.
 
Brilliant idea @backlash not something I had thought of for water storage but would work a treat.

We also purchased 10lt water bottles with water in them from Aldi for $3.99 that have sort of a wine casket push valve on them for dispensing the water and we store water in them in the home. When we go out firewood cutting we take a whole 10lt container with us and we keep one in the car at all times as we live in the country and quite often travel to remote places. Nice to know it is there if we break down etc.
 
Caribou said:
The grocery store bakery departments have one to five gallon food grade buckets that they often give away for free. These are used for frosting and such. Some stores even clean them before they hand them out. I clean them again when I get them home. These buckets usually come with a lid with a gasket.

Most often I'm given the 3.5 gallon buckets which are better for me to lift than the five gallon buckets of water.
Click to expand...

This sometimes works at the bigger box stores that have bakeries too. I have good luck with my local grocer.....they charge $2 each, but they are clean when I get them.
I have also gotten them from Walmart/Meijers for free but they are dirty buckets. No biggie for me. If I have room in the cart, I take em! Store policy changes from location to location though. There's one store 30 miles south that say the store policy is not to give them away and there's a store 30 miles west of me that tell me to call them before I head over and they'll save them for me. I guess it just matters who you talk to. I like to use them to store rice, pasta, popcorn, sugar, salt, etc. They are food grade and mouse proof! I always have extras around here......
 
backlash said:
I bought 100 unused Mylar wine bags from someone on one of the prepper boards.
Can't remember who or what site.
They hold 2 gallons and have a twist valve.
Easy to fill and easy to dispense water out of them.
They work great for washing up when we go camping.
I think I paid $10 for the lot.
I keep several filled and stored for times when the power is out.
Not sure how practical they would be for storing large quantities.
Click to expand...

Back in my box wine days I would rinse out the empty wine bags and then fill them with water. These I would freeze and use as a ice for my cooler when I went out on my boat. As they thawed I had potable water. Sometimes I used the original box but mostly just the bags.
 
Grimm said:
Back when we lived in an apartment I'd store tap water in empty and cleaned milk jugs. The water was not for drinking but to flush the toilets should there be a need. I'd use cleaned bleach jugs for general water storage.
Click to expand...

Milk jugs are NOT a good plastic jug for water storage, for a couple of reasons:
  • The plastic wasn't made for LONG-term storage & water that comes in gallons or the milk is in a plastic that eventually sports 'pin holes. The plastic degrades over time. When I first started my water storage, I used those gallon jugs & I put my gallons in totes. I could fit 6 gallon jugs in a tote, but it really took up a lot of room, but I didn't want my jugs sitting loose. THEN .. when I checked my totes there were a LOT of gallons that had leaked into the totes!
  • I also saved a LOT of jugs & stored them empty, in our garage. These were easier to store overhead, in a garage attic, without being too heavy on the floor of the attic/ceiling of our garage. Plan was to fill them all up, with advanced notice of a SHtF event and deal with the enormous number of gallon jugs then. Upon inspecting the jugs a couple of years later, I found them ALL brittle & breaking easily. Again ... proof the plastic is NOT made for long-term storage.
  • The bacteria from the milk can leach into to the plastic & is hard to remove, when washing. It can then contaminate your drinking water. If you are going to rotate your water jugs, then by all means, as mentioned above consider using those pin-hole-prone milk jugs only for SHORT term storage for NON-consumable water storage.
Also note: Do NOT store your water jugs (of any kind) directly on concrete. There are chemicals in the concrete that can leach through the plastic and into your water. Place something like an old rug, towel, wood, piece of flooring, etc. under the jugs.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
You can also store water in old soda bottles in the home and fill from your tap. Here our town water is treated so no need to disinfect it.

We purchased 2 x 1100lt collapsible water tanks on eBay for $199ea which is far cheaper than buying the solid plastic ones here. When we buy our home we will simply dismantle them and take them with us.
Click to expand...

You can also STACK those soda/water bottles for a great space-saving water storage solution! (Photo source: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=soda+bott.../i.ytimg.com/vi/RkOovPIv8hw/maxresdefault.jpg )
iu
 
ReadyMom said:
Milk jugs are NOT a good plastic jug for water storage, for a couple of reasons:
  • The plastic wasn't made for LONG-term storage & water that comes in gallons or the milk is in a plastic that eventually sports 'pin holes. The plastic degrades over time. When I first started my water storage, I used those gallon jugs & I put my gallons in totes. I could fit 6 gallon jugs in a tote, but it really took up a lot of room, but I didn't want my jugs sitting loose. THEN .. when I checked my totes there were a LOT of gallons that had leaked into the totes!
  • I also saved a LOT of jugs & stored them empty, in our garage. These were easier to store overhead, in a garage attic, without being too heavy on the floor of the attic/ceiling of our garage. Plan was to fill them all up, with advanced notice of a SHtF event and deal with the enormous number of gallon jugs then. Upon inspecting the jugs a couple of years later, I found them ALL brittle & breaking easily. Again ... proof the plastic is NOT made for long-term storage.
  • The bacteria from the milk can leach into to the plastic & is hard to remove, when washing. It can then contaminate your drinking water. If you are going to rotate your water jugs, then by all means, as mentioned above consider using those pin-hole-prone milk jugs only for SHORT term storage for NON-consumable water storage.
Also note: Do NOT store your water jugs (of any kind) directly on concrete. There are chemicals in the concrete that can leach through the plastic and into your water. Place something like an old rug, towel, wood, piece of flooring, etc. under the jugs.
Click to expand...

I am very aware of all of this. Keeping a few gallon milk jugs in the bathroom behind the toilet in case you need to flush it in a SHTF event is not a big concern. When we did this I kept 2 jugs at a time and switched them for newer ones every 3-6 months.
 
Grimm said:
I am very aware of all of this. Keeping a few gallon milk jugs in the bathroom behind the toilet in case you need to flush it in a SHTF event is not a big concern. When we did this I kept 2 jugs at a time and switched them for newer ones every 3-6 months.
Click to expand...

GREAT idea! (Especially with your rotation routine!) :thumbs up:
 
For water storage now I use gallon jugs made out of the same plastic as soda bottles. They have a great harder plastic handle that can be removed too.
 
we brought our rain barrels when we moved. Got them for $15 ea from a soda bottling place, and made them into rain barrels. When we put our gutters up on our new mobile home, we will add a 'water washing' filter to keep our the leaves & large debris (learned to do that from our last place, where we did NOT have a washer). We put on our own spigots & use to water garden. The critters prefer 'natural' water too. We were fortunate to get a small creek running through our property as well; we consider it a good asset, the neighbors think we are nuts, I'm sure. Of course we would need to filter & boil/treat it, but it is still handy to have our own water access in case of emergency. IMG_3353.JPG
 
Caribou said:
The grocery store bakery departments have one to five gallon food grade buckets that they often give away for free. These are used for frosting and such. Some stores even clean them before they hand them out. I clean them again when I get them home. These buckets usually come with a lid with a gasket. Most often I'm given the 3.5 gallon buckets which are better for me to lift than the five gallon buckets of water.
Click to expand...

angie_nrs said:
This sometimes works at the bigger box stores that have bakeries too. I have good luck with my local grocer.....they charge $2 each, but they are clean when I get them. I have also gotten them from Walmart/Meijers for free but they are dirty buckets. No biggie for me. If I have room in the cart, I take em! Store policy changes from location to location though. There's one store 30 miles south that say the store policy is not to give them away and there's a store 30 miles west of me that tell me to call them before I head over and they'll save them for me. I guess it just matters who you talk to. I like to use them to store rice, pasta, popcorn, sugar, salt, etc. They are food grade and mouse proof! I always have extras around here......
Click to expand...

I have found that these buckets get brittle after a few years, so I don't store liquid in them (not all are the same, though, so some last longer than others). I do like them for dry foods like pasta and rice - I line them with mylar bags (just never feel that I can get them fully clean).

We have some (lots) of the 55 gallon drums - bought for $10 each from a winery. We've ended up tracking down some totes on craigslist ($40 a piece). The footprint of the totes works better for us.
 
goshengirl said:
I have found that these buckets get brittle after a few years, so I don't store liquid in them (not all are the same, though, so some last longer than others). I do like them for dry foods like pasta and rice - I line them with mylar bags (just never feel that I can get them fully clean).

We have some (lots) of the 55 gallon drums - bought for $10 each from a winery. We've ended up tracking down some totes on craigslist ($40 a piece). The footprint of the totes works better for us.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the brittle issue. I've not experienced that but if I do then I'll get some new buckets, replacing the water every few years sounds like a good idea anyway.

I have considered the possibility that there may be some product left in the pores of the buckets. they are usually clean when I get them. I run them through the dish washer before I place food or water in them. If when I use the water I notice a grease film on top I'll siphon the water out and run it through my Katadyn and use the very top for flushing. If I don't notice a skim of grease on the top I'll probably just pour it into the filter.
 
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