I like the idea of keeping a lot of water and food on hand. I currently keep 20-30 gallons in the basement of 1 gallon bottles of water that I cycle through, but it takes up a TON of space. There's got to be a better way? I'm not a "prepper" persay, but what's the harm, right?

Is there something better than what I'm doing? A neighbor collects gutter water into a 50gal blue thing. He does it for gardening purposes. I can't imagine you'd want to drink that.

I buy bottled water by the pallet from Sam's.

A quick Google search for "home wate storage" came up with several solutions including this 55 gallon one...

http://www.cabelas.com/product...c=aw.ds#BVQAWidgetID

quote:

I buy bottled water by the pallet from Sam's.

Yep. You do not want some large container. One gallon size is best, with rotating the gallons with use.

Glenn Reynolds recommends this:

Waterbob water storage in bathtub

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

I buy bottled water by the pallet from Sam's.

Yep. You do not want some large container. One gallon size is best, with rotating the gallons with use.

That was my thinking. I wouldn't want 50/55 gallons of still water just sitting waiting for me to drink it. The water heater makes me a little uneasy as well. If store bought jugs are my best bet I guess I'll just try and figure out a better way to store them

Even if you do go the 55 gallon route, if you have a decent filter/purifier it'll be drinkable and tasty.

I have a community water system, similar to municipal water. We have a 125,000 gallon water storage water tank, for approx 300 homes, above ground. In the event of a catastrophe or power outage, that equates to roughly 48 hours of water supply.

I have 2 full sized bath tubs in my house. I bought 3 water storage bladders (link below). If SHTF I have 48 hours to fill ~200 gallons of water. A much better option than individual containers, IMO. 1 piece of the puzzle.

https://www.amazon.com/Reservo..._product_top?ie=UTF8

I've got a 55 gallon water drum in my garage. Filled it with water from my hose, then put in an appropriate amount of chlorine dioxide water treatment (Aquamira, I think). The treated water has a 5 year shelf life.

The kit I got came with a bung wrench and a hand pump to get the water out.

I've emptied it out at some point for a move, using gravity siphon, and refilled it without issue.

We keep about 5-6 cases on hand and I also bought one of those ceramic type filters and a supply of iodine tablets that one uses when camping. We have a large pool so that will do in an emergency.

Those relying on municipal supply should be concerned about contamination or main breakage too. No warning to fill, have it stored ahead of time. I use the one gallon jugs on a shelf in the garage.

I have a fifty gallon pickle barrel I got from a hardware store.

these seem like they would work good. so you can take water with if needed.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wat...132948&wl13=&veh=sem

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I've got a 55 gallon water drum in my garage. Filled it with water from my hose, then put in an appropriate amount of chlorine dioxide water treatment (Aquamira, I think). The treated water has a 5 year shelf life.

The kit I got came with a bung wrench and a hand pump to get the water out.

I did the same thing at my previous house, two of them. I also put them on top of carpet dollies to move them around easier in the garage (4-500 lbs each). I actually replaced the water after 7 years w/ water preserver. I still have the blue barrels in storage until we move to our next house.

I lived 45 miles from the gulf for years, when a hurricane was coming we would scrub and Clorox the bathtub, plug the drain and fill it to be used to flush the toilet, take spit baths, etc. For drinking water we kept several 5 gallon jugs that we filled with water for drinking, brushing teeth, cooking, etc. I also owned 2 canoes that I would put under the eve of the house to catch water that could be used to flush the toilets. We also had two freezers, as we emptied stuff out we would fill the space with gallon jugs of water. If a hit was for sure we would put the chest freezer on my dads truck, fill it with the most hard to replace foods (fish, shrimp, deer, dove , quail, etc) and drive it further north to my aunts house, plug it into a extension cord and cover it with a tarp and leave it for the duration of the power outage. The food that we planned to eat for the first several days would be put in the upright freezer with the frozen water jugs and we would not open it until we were ready to remove food to cook for that day, and then for as short a time as possible. Beer we kept in a mesh bag in a fast flowing stream to keep it somewhat cool. If needed the bathtub water could be used for drinking by either boiling or disinfected with Clorox or halizone tablets. And as the food was used up in the freezer (we only kept about 4 or 5 days of food in it) then the jugs in the freezer could be used for drinking.

The only other thing you can go is buy the 5 gallon culligan style water bottles and a stand for it. They make racks for those, that you see in some grocery stores etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Redleg06:
A quick Google search for "home wate storage" came up with several solutions including this 55 gallon one...

http://www.cabelas.com/product...c=aw.ds#BVQAWidgetID

Costco has a similar kit.

I have two 55 gallon blue drums, a bung wrench, water purification, and a siphon that I put together when living in Alaska.

I use these Waterbrick http://www.waterbrick.org/prod...category/waterbrick/

3.5 gallons, great stacking, extremely durrable and more uses then just water storage.

They aren't cheap though, when I bought a pallet it was for 150 bucks, now its closer to 350.

I live next to a river.

You don't really specify the circumstance you need this water (take it with you? etc.) But if its just on hand at at home just get a decent sized pressure tank, plumb it inline to your supply line. Then it will be constantly replenished and fresh and available once power is gone. 30 gals is easy and cheap.

Around the Y2K era I bought 4 large plastic garbage cans and put them in the basement, cleaned them with bleach solution, lined them with steel sack garbage bags, filled them with tap water, added some bleach, put the lid on, and taped the lids shut with cellphone tape. I kept them for about 6 months then dumped the water.

I always planned to develop a better system that would accomplish the same mission, maybe rotate out the water monthly and find a better inside bladder to hold the water.

I now have my Motorhome parked in the back yard. It has a 150 gal water tank that has a combination of filters that filter all water going in. There is also a 10kw diesel generator. I'm currently adding 1200watts of solar piped into 6 -6V. L16-415amp.hr Lifeline AGM batteries. All in the Motorhome, ready to roll.

I keep a bunch of Life Straws on hand and each family member has one in there car. I keep a large family sized unit in the RV.

My daughter recently moved to Santa Monica. I sent her a case of survival wafers and sealed bags of water just in case of a earthquake.

Can't live with out water.