Water Storage

[emptyshell]

Newbie here looking for some advice from the seasoned pros. I’m looking for the best way to storage large(r) quantities of water say 50 gallons, multiple and how long they’d likely last. 

It would be for consumption-myself and pets.

What are the preferred methods. I’ve been researching but there’s so many varying opinions. Hopefully there’s some of you here that can give some pros n cons. I have a rather large garage that I can easily store multiple in no problem. 
 

Thanks guys. 

[ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ]

In my neck of the woods, we have Volunteer Drum.
Tons of new and used options.

https://volunteerdrum.com/shop/

I use a 333 IBC as part of my rain water catchment system.  It originally had molasses in it, so I am fine with storing water in it.

[emptyshell]

Nice, appreciate the reco. Going to need to check them out. 

[Beltfed]

If you are going to collect rainwater or well water for storage it will contain no chemicals that would reduce the growth of mold and such.  Even ‘processed’ water will only last a short time.  If I were doing it, I’ve have a filter system upon extraction then boil water for say ten minutes (research this) before drinking.  If you are extracting true ground water and not surface water, you should be good in the short term.  The earth is a great filter.  I was a geophysical well logging engineer for 21 years but you will be the judge.

[Jeb48]

We keep much smaller amounts of water more for when town water goes out from anywhere from a few minutes to a day. Seems to happen several times a month, old infrastructure. We keep a three 5 gallon plastic jugs and 3-10 1 gallon jugs. Of this two 5 gallon and three 1 gallon we put about 1/4 teaspoon of Clorox/gallon in to keep it from going bad. The rest is not for drinking but just to wash hands and flush toilets. Try to dump and refill every year or so.

[Ronald_55]

IBC totes are a pretty common option. They can be stacked, but I am not sure if more than 2 high. You can get new, or like @ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ get a used food grade one that has had something safe in it. I have seen local ones that had cooking oil, but I worry about getting them clean enough for drinking water. I am not close to you, so I am not help on a local source.  Good Luck. 

 

[Jackalope]

    We have a couple of IBC totes for our rain water collection system.   The water in one tote is used for our gardens, we always keep one tote topped off, and the water is cycled due to using it in the garden.  We also have 5 gallon containers and one gallon jugs that are kept full, with about 50 gallons in portable containers.  If we end up using our rainwater, it would be filtered and then treated with either chlorine or UV light, depending upon the quantity needed.

    We also have a spring, and the water from that would also be filtered and treated.  Additionally, we have a pond for non-potable water.  Water sources were a major consideration when we were looking for property.

 

[Beltfed]

Jackalope.  The secret to a spring is does it it run even in the hottest months.  If so, it’s ground water.  If not it’s surface water.  You live in an area with a lot of limestone and dolomite (low grade limestone).  Depending on where you are in that area, sandstone can be a problem. You may be drinking water that went into the grounds thousands of years ago.  Due to the high mineral content, you may develop stones.  If you wish, I would recommend a filter system for your drinking water to remove the calcite.

Bob

[emptyshell]

All great feedback guys, Thank You. 
Think I’m going to go with a few of the IBC totes. Seeing as I do not have running water nor ground water (time to move?)I will go with the collect and store then chlorine purification with the extra added safety of boiling route. 

Hopefully I live to report back  

[m16ty]

I’ve got a bunch of IBC totes that are brand new if anybody needs some.

[jaytex1969]

I got 4 of these for in the house. Primarily, I wanted something that my wife could move by herself, if necessary. They also stack nicely.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/reliance-aqua-tainer-water-container-4-gallon-or-7-gallon?p=WX2&i=713278

They live in the closet under the basement stairs and I fill/refill one every 3 months.

 

Jay

Edited January 31, 2023 by jaytex1969
(image deleted due to forum storage limitations)

[Danger Rane]

6 hours ago, jaytex1969 said:

I got 4 of these for in the house. Primarily, I wanted something that my wife could move by herself, if necessary. They also stack nicely.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/reliance-aqua-tainer-water-container-4-gallon-or-7-gallon?p=WX2&i=713278

They live in the closet under the basement stairs and I fill/refill one every 3 months.

Jay

I use a few of these as well. I got mine at Walmart for around $15. They are bulky in the store so they usually only have one or two in stock at a time. I refill them roughly every three months and I store them with bleach.

[Jeb48]

Was glad we had a supply of both drinking and flushing water last week. Water went out evening of Christmas Day and was out till Thursday afternoon. I mentioned above about our aging town infrastructure and 3 very cold days and some rolling blackouts blew 30+ main water lines and they shut down 90% of the system some didn't have water for a week. We managed the first 3 days and if I had known it was coming back on in another day we could have made it, but took all my jugs to a friends house in the next town and topped them off on Wednesday.

Decided to up my water storage a bit more by adding 9 gallons of sealed bottled water and another 3 gallons of flushing water(jugs on hand). With hind site I have a 15 gallon tank I use for watering trees that could have been filled sitting in my heater garage. I will at least fill that if we know another cold spell is coming, haven't decided if I should just store it filled. Flushing water turned out to be our biggest problem.

[DWARREN123]

Your toilet tanks hold drinkable water for short term use.

[eRay]

6 hours ago, DWARREN123 said:

Your toilet tanks hold drinkable water for short term use.

You're best source of drinking water in an emergency would probably be your water heater. I have two with 50 gallons each. I have a next door neighbor with a well so I could probably run a water hose from their house for drinking water. He has a generator for the pump. I live on the lake so I could flush the toilet by carrying a 5 gallon bucket of lake water. Not ideal but better than having to dispose of waste without the septic system.

[peejman]

1 hour ago, Eray said:

You're best source of drinking water in an emergency would probably be your water heater. I have two with 50 gallons each. I have a next door neighbor with a well so I could probably run a water hose from their house for drinking water. He has a generator for the pump. I live on the lake so I could flush the toilet by carrying a 5 gallon bucket of lake water. Not ideal but better than having to dispose of waste without the septic system.

Water heater is a good source if the system goes down, but not if there's a contamination problem. 

[Sleep profit]

21 hours ago, Danger Rane said:

I use a few of these as well. I got mine at Walmart for around $15. They are bulky in the store so they usually only have one or two in stock at a time. I refill them roughly every three months and I store them with bleach.

Like this idea.  How much bleach per 4 gallons.do you use  then do you boil. 10 minutes 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Sleep profit

[Jeb48]

I know drinking water can be used for flushing but I keep them separate because the drinking water gets refreshed at least twice a year and the flushing water doesn't but would use the drinking water if needed. We have a demand water heater so no extra storage there. Before I started refreshing the drink water I put 1/4 tsp/gallon but decided since we are on town water they are already adding chlorine.