I am new to prepping and have a few questions about water storage. I was wondering if it is better to keep the water I have purchased in its original bottle, most notably a 15lt bottle (like below)
These bottles are hard to store as they can not be stacked. Could I open these bottles and then pour the water into 25lt (5 Gallon) Food Grade buckets and then stack them? I was thinking that since I have opened the seal on the bottle will the water have to be consumed or go bad?
I use 2 litre pop bottles, 5 litre reused water bottles, 25 litre Jerry cans all filled with water from the tap. kept in a cool dark place and rotated twice a year.
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
I am not sure I guess my first instinct was to just buy water in large supply and then that saves me running the tap, just convenience I guess haha. I also think that maybe the still water is purer than the stuff in the tap and I wouldn't have to test and treat it for long term storage. Is this true?
I also don't really have a cool dark place at the minute as I don't have a dedicated area for the preps they just sit in my home so they are exposed to central heating etc.
Animalised wrote:I am not sure I guess my first instinct was to just buy water in large supply and then that saves me running the tap, just convenience I guess haha. I also think that maybe the still water is purer than the stuff in the tap and I wouldn't have to test and treat it for long term storage. Is this true?
I also don't really have a cool dark place at the minute as I don't have a dedicated area for the preps they just sit in my home so they are exposed to central heating etc.
Light degrades the plastic and waters suitability. You should if possible even keep it covered with a tarp or heavy sheet. The water will be fine if opened but you should rotate every 3-6 months with either tap or more bottled.
Newbie Prepper The ability to foresee is not reserved for Psychics and Lunatics. The mind is predisposed to see the future from its own past.
- Unknown Author
OK well, if I have to rotate it that regularly I should might as well fill it up with tap to save money. Is UK water supply OK to just store straight from tap with no treatment with bleach?
Also would you recommend storing the water in food grade buckets?
I think you cannot beat original packaging for anything, so given the choice i would prefer the original bottles... however i don't really like clear bottled water for storage as most of them are clear and contain BPAa which leach into the plastic..
OK if I am going to be rotating that often I should just use tap water. Is UK tap water OK to store without treatment? even in the north? (where I am from) haha.
Is water storage in food grade buckets recommended? Also I was looking at food grade buckets with taps on them to easily access the water, does the tap affect the health of the water inside?
I've never been a fan of storing bottled water, mainly because the bottles seem pretty flimsy,
only takes one to burst and you've potentially got a real mess on your hands.
Long term I'm hoping to have two 240L blue barrels + a water filter but for now I'm using some army surplus containers I picked up on eBay
Seem pretty expensive compared to the commercial ones but they're tough as hell and really made to last, one of mines date stamped 1974.
Also quite like the big and little openings and the brass chains that avoid you losing the caps.
That is nice Triple but I am also looking for a efficient storage solution as well to have a lot of water in a small space. That is where I got the idea for the buckets as they can be stacked on top of each other so I can store almost 10 x 5 gallon buckets in a small space this makes more room for food supplies on my shelf units.
But the 240L barrels seems like a really good idea but wouldn't they they need to cleaned thoroughly during each rotation? or just a bit of bleach be OK?
And I presume that you would have to filter it from the barrel or would you be able to drink it straight?
Well there again, a lot of water in a small space, buckets stacked on top of one another, on a shelf near your food supplies,
sounds like a disaster in the making to me.
Also almost goes without saying that jerry cans are ideal for going out and collecting water,
or indeed chucking in the back of the car if you need to bug out.
As for the barrels as long as long as they're clean and so is the water going into them, I can't see where either would be an issue.
Think I might have confused things a little bringing up filters, but that'd be for water gathered from other places,
rather than what I had stored in the barrels.
