Water supplies for survival

[TrailDust]

At home I've got two 60 gallon storage drums fully loaded with water (bleach added, of course), plus an additional 10 gallon and five gallon containers. On top of that, I keep ten cases of bottled water (about 4 gallons apiece) on hand, and when I use up the oldest of the lot I buy a new one to replace it. With some warning I've got four clean 50 gallon garbage cans I could hose water into as well. That's what I keep on hand for me and my girlfriend.

What kind of water storage have you guys got? Any suggestions or recommendations? Be interested to know what kind of preparations you all have made.

[Sig_Fiend]

Originally Posted by TrailDust

Any suggestions or recommendations? Be interested to know what kind of preparations you all have made.

Not nearly enough unfortunately. I still need to do some research and figure out the best way to store a ton of water while keeping it from becoming contaminated and unusable. I'm lucky since we have well water (neighborhood well), so we're better off than those on city water but it's still not enough. I'm sure there are probably more efficient ways but, right now I'm taking care of the defense side of the equation before that stuff gets too exorbitantly expensive. Food, water, medical, and all the other necessities will be next. The toughest thing is convincing friends and family to prepare to become more self sufficient, especially with such obvious signs of a major possible economical collapse.

[TrailDust]

At least from what I've read using the bleach method of 4 drops per quart of water, provided the container is air-tight and lightproof, will store water pretty much indefinitely. That's what I did with my 60 gallon barrels, which now I want to buy one more just to feel more comfortable about water in a long-term situation. I've got all my other needs taken care of, except pistol ammo, so I've been concentrating on the other things. Thank goodness there are some of us out there prepared, God help the ones who are not.

[TexasRedneck]

Try to find some poly drums - being plastic, you won't have to worry about 'em rusting out. Go by a pool supply and get a pool test kit - that way, you can test and confirm adequate bleach levels. Dosage rates presume a non-contaminated water supply - and if it IS contaminated, you won't know it. Testing for "free chlorine" means that you're testing for residual chlorine that's "available" for disinfecting any contamination that might be introduced into the water supply. Personally, I prefer iodine, since it's a lot more stable and is available in a dry pellet form. Either way will work - but with a few parts I can build an iodine feeder unit capable of disinfecting a flowing water source (windmill, hand well pump, etc.).

[TrailDust]

Iodine has the plus of radiological protection for the thyroid in case of a nuclear accident or nuclear war scenarios.

[TexasRedneck]

yep - plus bein' a key component of dietary requirements.

[Texas42]

And you get used to the taste. . .eventually.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Texas42

And you get used to the taste. . .eventually.

At a dosage of .5 to 1 mg/l, you won't taste it.

[Sig_Fiend]

So wait, first off this is probably going to sound stupid but, is it at all detrimental to your health drinking water with chlorine in it? I mean I know a little isn't bad but, I'm talking if your entire supply has chlorine in it, long term is that bad or can you just boil it or something to get rid of some of the chlorine? I must confess I really don't know much when it comes to storing water long term.

[TexasRedneck]

Chlorine is a carcinogen. Drinking contaminated water can kill ya. Your choice.<G> But yeah - you can "kill" the chorine by boiling or aerating it. Thing is, it's better to have a little extra chlorine than bacteria that will lead to your death, directly or indirectly.