Water Storage

[vbrtrmn]

I was looking for some information on storing water and found this series, the intro is pretty goofy, but the content is decent.

I was thinking about storing aluminum canned water, but I can't find any place which sells it. I remember seeing some shots of Anheuser Busch canned water after Katrina; there's a bunch of news links if you google for anheuser bush canned water, but no way to purchase it. I just emailed A-B's customer support, I'll post back if they give me any information.

I'm considering seltzer water, which is extremely cheap; though I'd rather have non-carbonated water. I think non-alcholic beer, which actually has a very low alchol content would be good for store.
Preparedness 101 - Water Storage - Part 1

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Preparedness 101 - Water Storage - Part 2

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Preparedness 101 - Water Storage - Part 3

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Preparedness 101 - Water Storage - Part 4

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[kernelkrink]

I just buy the Wally World distilled water in the gallon jugs, my well water is crappy so I drink and cook with the good stuff. About a year on the expiration dates, and I assume they will still be drinkable after that. They get rotated out during normal use anyway. For washing/flushing water the water heater has 60 gallons in it, and the well pressure tank holds about 20. For longer term outages all I need to do is wire in a generator to the well pump.

If you're gonna go with canned water, why not just buy the cheap store brand pop. Diet if the sugar bothers you, you can get tea, lemonade, etc if the carbonation is unwanted. Probably cheaper than actual canned water. Seltzer water used for cooking will pretty much release all the CO2 during the cooking process, just pouring it between two glasses several times will make it "go flat" as well. Check at boating stores, there are several brands of "survival water" that come packed in either "juice box" or bag type containers.

[MUSIBIKE]

Who sells the good water purification tablets?

HUMM, I like the water heater idea. That would be 40 Gallons for us in this one.

:-)

[vbrtrmn]

Who sells the good water purification tablets?

The guy in the video says that you can purify water by bringing it to a rolling boil or use 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach, per gallon of water; video 2 at 7:10.

[MUSIBIKE]

I just got around 15 gallons of distilled water and quite a bit of canned food from a buddy who passed away a week ago. Two cases of beer and some booze too. Also got his Cat.

With all of that and what is in the water heater, looks like we,( two adults and three pets ) are good for a couple of months.

[vbrtrmn]

Sorry about your friend, hope he had a good life.

I heard sometimes the water in the heater isn't really good to drink, since the insides of the heater tend to get mixed up in it; especially in older heaters.

[sjohnson]

If you drain a gallon or two out of the water heater monthly, the scale will not be a problem.

In any case, it's only scale, minerals that the heat of the water heater have caused to drop out of solution in the water.

The guy in the video is all for rainwater collection, but gets icky-poo about water heater and toilet tank water? lol, that's just dumb since the rainwater needs possible treatment and the other two are good to go right out of the container, having been treated by the municipal water system.

[kernelkrink]

If you have the room you can even plumb in several water heater tanks into your water system. Many tanks are replaced simply because the electricals went bad or someone switched from gas to electric. They are glass or porcelain lined so unless they were handled roughly and the liner cracked rustout is not usually a problem. You can pick them up for scrap prices or free. Automatic water rotation, the fresh water comes in as the old water goes out when you open a tap. Flush any sediment out and slosh some bleach in there before you hook it up. Added bonus in the summertime is the water sits in the tanks and heats up from the ambient air temp, so less energy is used by the actual water heater.

I just use the Coghlans (sp?) water purifier tablets sold at almost any sporting goods department in the camping aisle. The tablets are all basically the same stuff, the one I bought last time has a bottle of vitamin c tablets to add after the purification process is complete. Supposed to remove a lot of the taste. I can tell a little difference, but not much.

There is another type out there, not really a tablet but iodine crystals in a bottle. You add water, which dissolves some of the crystals and makes a concentrated iodine liquid. Based on a temp chart and bottle size you then add a measured amount of the liquid to your water. Never tried it but some people like it as one bottle seems to last for years.