Water

[Rick]

We touched on SODIS a bit with posts 66 and 67

[UnknownWarrior]

There is nothing magical about storing water. Use a food grade container. Use clean water. I change mine every couple of months. I clean out the containers with some hot water and a little soap. Rinse well and fill up for storage again. I've never seen anything in the water. Not even a hint of bacteria or algae. Even if I did, a quick rinse with some mild bleach water would end that. I would certainly never fill the jugs up and just forget them. A disaster some years down the road would be a bad time to find out something dire had happened to your water.

Thanks Rick, your post will surely help me as it answers my question.

BTW, if I'm gonna use the method like given for food and water here , then I guess it could be hard to inspect every year or half. The StabiliZed oxygen page says the water is safe for 5 years and the above page says it's safe for 2 - 3 years. What do you do if you hide your water supplies underground in concrete and tiles? I could do that in my garage. How do you inspect?

[Rick]

Let me say that I won't put a lot of stock into that web site. Anyone that tells you it's okay to store water in milk cartons and home bleach containers is just plain wrong. We've talked about the problems with milk containers before and the home bleach container will contain other additives besides just bleach. That warning aside....

I have three methods of storing water. All are above ground. I have a 50 gallon hot water heater that is also a storage tank if something bad happens. I just shut the water off and use the drain at the bottom of the tank. I don't have to worry about treating or rotating this water because it's in constant use.

I have two 5 gallon containers of potable water that I store in my garage and replace every couple of months.

Finally, I have two 50 gallon rain barrels recently installed. I will have to treat this water even though it is fresh rain water algae and bacteria can grow in the barrels so I will treat them as suspect and filter accordingly. I do treat the barrels periodically with sodium hypochlorite just to keep the algae down.

I don't add anything else to my water to extend its storage life. I just don't think it's needed. At least not in my case. I also have sodium hypochlorite, purification tablets and a water filter with extra filters should I have to bug out instead of in.

[UnknownWarrior]

I have two 5 gallon containers of potable water that I store in my garage and replace every couple of months.

Like how many months? Is 6 months okay? What if in case of emergencies, we don't get to refill our water (and are prepared to die due to one thing or the other), then would you drink this treated water, say after an year to so?

Finally, I have two 50 gallon rain barrels recently installed. I will have to treat this water even though it is fresh rain water algae and bacteria can grow in the barrels so I will treat them as suspect and filter accordingly. I do treat the barrels periodically with sodium hypochlorite just to keep the algae down.

I'm getting some large drums for doing this. But still hiding some water would be nice in my opinion. I'm sure that in future, there's gonna be scarcity of water. And the nations would fight not because of land but for water. Not nice to hear or think tho. Anyway that's why I took the hiding idea from that website.

[Rick]

Would I drink water that had been stored for several years? If that's all I had, sure. Better to take my chances with tainted water than die of dehydration. Death is pretty certain if you don't intake water.

You know, fuel drums were reused doing WWII to store water. Those drums were filled and then moved onto the islands for the guys to use. Ask any of the old marines that landed at places like Tarawa or Iwo. They drank it and lived.

I change my water every couple of months. Truthfully, when I think about it. It might be 6 weeks this time and 9 weeks next time but I try to stick close to 2 months. No magic number with 2 months. I'm just comfortable with it.

There may be a scarcity of potable water but there won't be a scarcity of water. If you have the skills and knowledge to turn bad water into good water then start selling it.

[Batch]

I know this post is several months old...

There may be a scarcity of potable water but there won't be a scarcity of water. If you have the skills and knowledge to turn bad water into good water then start selling it.

That's the way I think.

But, since some are into larger storage solutions. Why not take the water storage vessel and constantly use that water. You could also add a filtration system as well.

You could use a plumbing valve such as a ball cock to control the water level in the tank. You use a simple valve to dispense the water through a filtration system.

If you waned to bury this you could use an electric pump to dispense and use either a solar charged batter system to power the pump or use a manual pump.

[TucsonMax]

Quote:
There may be a scarcity of potable water but there won't be a scarcity of water. If you have the skills and knowledge to turn bad water into good water then start selling it.

That's the way I think.

Maybe where you live....
There has been a drought in Tucson for the last 12 years. Our average rainfall is 12 inches/yr, this year (so far) we have had a grand total of 6 inches and it won't rain in Dec.

[Rick]

Hence his avatar. He's trying to haul that cactus home to squeeze out the water!!!!