How to Store Two Week Water Supply
If water is stored under the right conditions, it can be safe for quite some time. Most experts recommend rotating you water supply every 6-12 months. Even though you may rotate your water supply, the water may still go flat and lose its taste. There are two ways to deal with this. First, you can take the water out and pour it back and forth between two containers. This puts the oxygen back in the water. Second, you can add kool-aid or some other powder to get rid of the taste.
When choosing containers to store your water, be sure to avoid containers that will decompose or break, such as milk cartons or glass bottles. Some plastics, such as those used to make milk bottles, are biodegradable and will within a short time period begin to leak, so don’t use them. I would stay away from thick polyethylene plastic bottles that were used to store other liquids, such as bleach. If you clean them well enough you can use them, but you run the danger of drinking harmful liquids rather than water.
Empty two liter pop bottles make excellent containers. They are convenient in size and shape (even little children can carry them). Each bottle contains approximately one day’s worth of water for one person. They will not break if dropped or stepped on and will not burst if frozen. The drawback of such containers is that to transport or use the water will require multiple trips because they don’t hold enough water.
The best containers are containers made of polyethylene (heavy, hard plastic) with tight-fitting caps or tops. The dark- colored containers block out the sunlight and therefore control algae and bacteria growth. These containers come in sizes of 1, 5, 7, 30, and 55 gallons. I would recommend storing the bulk of your water in a 55-gallon drum. These do come with a hand pump to get the water out. Since water weighs 8 pounds per gallon, this will be hard to transport. I also recommend using the 5 or 7-gallon containers in case you need to transport your water. I have both in my house; the 55-gallon for washing and other needs and the 5-gallon containers for our drinking water.
The important thing to remember is that no matter what container you use you need to thoroughly clean them before filling them with pure water.
You also need to make sure that your water storage is not directly on the cement floor. The plastic containers will absorb water from the cement floor that will contaminate your water. Place the containers on boards or wood pallets to avoid this from happening. I found a local company that had extra wood pallets and I bought a couple of them for food and water storage for less than $20. Also keep your water away from harmful chemicals or odoriferous products because the plastic tends to absorb these odors.
There are many places you can get water containers. I prefer a company based in Utah called Industrial Container. The website for their products is www.industrialcontainer.com. You cannot purchase them online, but you can view their inventory online and then you can call to make your purchase. They are very helpful and their prices are half of what you would regularly see at stores or other online retailers.
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