I'm concerned about water and have been filling 5 gallon containers with a teaspoon of bleach but now I'm worried I don't have enough. How can you tell if you have enough? I'm thinking of getting a 55 gallon container.
Do you store water in 55 gallon containers?
- Thread starter shanrose
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I have a few 30-gallon containers with water.
I have (and will fill if/when I deem necessary) some IBC Totes (pictured below). They're normally 275 or 330 gallon and compared to the footprint of 4 55-gallon drums, they hold a lot more for the same floor footprint.
Don't know what they cost new but I get unused, slightly damaged (the cage itself) for free. Most used but still OK for drinking water sell for $50-100 each.
I have (and will fill if/when I deem necessary) some IBC Totes (pictured below). They're normally 275 or 330 gallon and compared to the footprint of 4 55-gallon drums, they hold a lot more for the same floor footprint.
Don't know what they cost new but I get unused, slightly damaged (the cage itself) for free. Most used but still OK for drinking water sell for $50-100 each.
Thanks - do you buy locally or online? Are they BPA free?
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We store water in sand and gravel about 25 feet below ground level. We don't worry about it freezing during the winter.
No. We do not store water in 55 gallon containers. We use a myriad of sizes ranging from 15 gallon (water cooler size) down to 2 liter soda bottles. The weight of water is about 8.34 pounds per gallon. A 55 gallon drum would weigh nearly 460 pounds. You would need a forklift to move it.
How much do you need? How long do you want it to last? The general recommendation is one gallon of water per person per day. Personally, I triple that amount. Do you have pets? For dogs and cats the recommendation is one ounnce of water per pound of body weight per day. Again, I err on the high side. We have plenty of room to store what we need, and ample water in the area, so it isn't a concern for us. It is simple arithmetic to calculate what you think you will need.
Hope this helps.
How much do you need? How long do you want it to last? The general recommendation is one gallon of water per person per day. Personally, I triple that amount. Do you have pets? For dogs and cats the recommendation is one ounnce of water per pound of body weight per day. Again, I err on the high side. We have plenty of room to store what we need, and ample water in the area, so it isn't a concern for us. It is simple arithmetic to calculate what you think you will need.
Hope this helps.
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I have water in the blue 55 gallon water containers. Also have the opener for the top round plastic pieces and the hand pump to draw out the water. They work fine.
One gallon of water per person per day, not used for bathing is probably enough. You'll be skimping on it, though.
One gallon of water per person per day, not used for bathing is probably enough. You'll be skimping on it, though.
....And, welcome to the forum! Head over to new member introductions and tell us a little about yourself!!
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Never bought any. Got them for free.
They're food grade so I'd GUESS they're BPA free.
They're big so shipping would be expensive. I see them locally on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. They're also available at retailers like Tractor Supply.
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I don't keep water in 55 gallon containers. I keep it in 5 gallon jugs that I get for free here and there. I put the water from my faucet through the Berkey first. I buy new caps for the top to help keep the water clean. You can buy them in stores filled with water. I've gotten mine all for free from watching Craigslist free ads, Facebook marketplace and some yard sales. There are a variety of stands available to make using it easier.
There are other jugs for keeping water, but since I have two different stands for these, and I get my jugs for free, it works for me.
There are other jugs for keeping water, but since I have two different stands for these, and I get my jugs for free, it works for me.
I will collect rainwater in 55 gallon barrels for watering the garden. Nothing active now, it's winter and I am between locations. I can filter it for drinking If needed, or hit Todds Fork, 250 yards north.
Stored water is in 1.75 liter containers, or the 40 gallons in the Water heater.
Stored water is in 1.75 liter containers, or the 40 gallons in the Water heater.
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Nope. But I do keep 2 gallons of water under each sink in the house, several 1 gallon jugs of distilled water in the electrical building and another 20 gallons of water in the shop. Any place else and it would freeze solid.
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I use bleach
I have two locations. Up north I store water in 1, 2.5, 3.5, and 5 gallon containers. We also have a well, an RO filter, and a Katadyn filter. Here we have four residences and six containers. One 1,500 gallon, four 3,500 gallon, and two 5,000 gallon (we leave the one 5,000 empty) and a few 1 gallon and 2.5 gallon containers. We have rain catchment for all the larger tanks.
Some people can their empty pint and quart mason jars with water. They don't use bleach but rely on the canning process to kill anything. My brother has small pond dug in a stream on his property. There are far too many options to list. You need to have an amount, that you determine for yourself, to get you through the immediate situation and a resource for continued access.
Some people can their empty pint and quart mason jars with water. They don't use bleach but rely on the canning process to kill anything. My brother has small pond dug in a stream on his property. There are far too many options to list. You need to have an amount, that you determine for yourself, to get you through the immediate situation and a resource for continued access.
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I currently store drinking water in containers ranging from 2 liters to 55 gallons. I also have rain water barrels that hold 60 gallons each, the water in the rain barrels could be pumped through a filter system to provide additional drinking water if necessary. Based on my family size, I think that I keep about a 30 day supply of drinking water.
On the smaller containers <5 gallons, I have had leakage problems, the heavy walled 2 liter juice bottles seem to hold up okay, but the gallon and 2 1/2 gallon containers have leaked in the past so I no longer use those. The blue 35 and 55 gallon containers work okay, but I had to jump through hoops to figure out a way to cycle the water in them, to keep things fresh.
On the smaller containers <5 gallons, I have had leakage problems, the heavy walled 2 liter juice bottles seem to hold up okay, but the gallon and 2 1/2 gallon containers have leaked in the past so I no longer use those. The blue 35 and 55 gallon containers work okay, but I had to jump through hoops to figure out a way to cycle the water in them, to keep things fresh.
Do you have a hand pump?
Now I'm really afraid I don't have enough. I read a review on Amazon where something grew in one of those 55 gallon drums I was considering. I prefer clear to see what's inside.
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I bought some American Maid and hubby complained the lids leak. I guess they're all a standard size if I order new lids?
How would you filter it if the grid was down?
That's what hubby said why we couldn't store it outside. I guess it would crack as the ice expanded.
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We have a big Berkey Water Filter that I would filter my stored water with. It doesn't require electricity.
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I use 5 55-gallon rain barrels in the sping/summer/fall mostly for watering the garden. I keep emergency water for drinking in Waterbrick containers. They stack securely and compactly. They are easy to carry since they lay alongside your body with extending your arms to far. My only beef with them is the spigot. The design for them to use as a dispenser stinks.
For filtering of "questionable or stale" water, I have a LifeStraw gravity type filter.
For filtering of "questionable or stale" water, I have a LifeStraw gravity type filter.
Yes I used the unscented bleach. Good point about BPA's/ dehydration. Thanks for the tip about pool shock - you mean chlorine you put in pools?
I'm sure everyone has thought about this but what do you plan to do about bathing? If we store water there will come an end to it. So did you buy bathing wipes or some kind of shampoo that you don't rinse out? I'm pretty fastidious and can't imagine it.
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Baby wipes are your friend. I buy them by the case.
I have several cases stored in the basementBaby wipes are your friend. I buy them by the case.
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I would strongly recommend you invest in a couple of filtration systems, and maybe read up on water purification. You could make your own filter to remove larger particles, even use coffee filters, and then boil and add your bleach. Use your barbeque pit if you have no other way.
Berkey filters are excellent, but even the portable filters used by backpackers will work.
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My water system is mainly aimed at meeting the demands of drinking. That said I have a good 30 day supply of drinking water on hand at 2 gallon/person-day. I have an RV water pump that I can connect to my drinking water storage and a cold water pipe in the house, in an "event" I can turn off the city supply line (valve inside the house) and turn on the RV water pump connected to the cold water line, then the house plumbing can deliver my emergency water to the water heater, and to every sink in the house. I use it to cycle my potable water and practice for events. When my water gets old I turn off the city water, connect to my emergency water and then start doing laundry, dishes, shower normally (pressure is a little low), and anything else that uses a lot of water. I leave it like that until my emergency water runs out (usually several days), then Turn off all the emergency valves, I treat each barrel, turn on the city water, and refill the emergency water supply from the cold water line. I do keep about 10 gallons of distilled water for my wife's equipment, and I keep about 25 gallons for filling toilet tanks and such (in real emergencies I turn off the toilet feed valves).
My rain water collection system only operates from April until the end of October and it holds enough to water my garden for 2 weeks. I have an irrigation boost pump that I use to water the garden. In an emergency I could use that water for toilets. In a real SHTF event, I can use that water to fill a Berkey type gravity water filtering system (ceramic and carbon stages) to provide sustainable drinking water. If the weather is cooperating I could extend the rain water collection 8 months, but once the average daily temperature drop below 30F there is a high likelihood that I would freeze and break by pipes and Barrels (which would render it useless).
Note, based on an old solar class I took, when you have exposed pipes on a clear night you can have significant heat loss from your pipes due to black body radiation that results in freezing before the temperature gets down to 32F. This is why rooftop solar water heaters typically have a drain valve that opens at 35F.
My rain water collection system only operates from April until the end of October and it holds enough to water my garden for 2 weeks. I have an irrigation boost pump that I use to water the garden. In an emergency I could use that water for toilets. In a real SHTF event, I can use that water to fill a Berkey type gravity water filtering system (ceramic and carbon stages) to provide sustainable drinking water. If the weather is cooperating I could extend the rain water collection 8 months, but once the average daily temperature drop below 30F there is a high likelihood that I would freeze and break by pipes and Barrels (which would render it useless).
Note, based on an old solar class I took, when you have exposed pipes on a clear night you can have significant heat loss from your pipes due to black body radiation that results in freezing before the temperature gets down to 32F. This is why rooftop solar water heaters typically have a drain valve that opens at 35F.
I have a wonderful spring and 2 wells, we store our water in the ground.
