JULY - AUGUST 2007, WE PURCHASED WATER BARRELS
It is our opinion that for a normal household, a 5 gallon water container is the
best way to store water. We found what we think is the perfect storage container
to store water. The plastic is not biodegradable and is very heavy. The color
of the plastic will also help hold out light. We sat a empty milk carton beside
the container so you can have a way to tell how big it is. You can also go by
Cordell's home to inspect them if you would like a closer look. They will cost
$5 each plus tax (total $5.43. We have to have to have a total minimum order of
20 barrels for that price and the order can be combined from all three co-ops.
The ordering deadline for these 5 gallon water barrels will be Wednesday the 1st
of August.
NOTE: the final price is $5.43 with Washington State Sales Tax added....
This 5 gallon container will be easy to handle when you need to dump it.
The bottom has a groove that just fits the lid so it will also stack 3 or 4 high for easier storage.
When ever you buy
any barrel, you need to make sure that you can clean it out. If it had pickles
in it, you will almost never be able to get the vinegar out of the plastic. These
barrels we have found are used to ship olives in salt brine. They were very easy
to clean up with a little hot water and dish washing soap to break up the olive
oil that did come off the olives. After 2 days with water sitting in the barrel,
there was not oil sheen on top of the water and the water tasted like normal drinking
water.
If you are interested in buying these barrels please send us an email and tell us how many you are interested in buying.
If you want to buy them you will need to get the money to Mary before the 1st of August ordering deadline.
OTHER SIZES OF BARRELS
Lots of people just buy new 5 gallon gas or kerosene containers. As long as they are new and have never had any thing
put in them, they are perfectly good water storage containers. I have known people who used them for 20 years and the
water being changed every year kept just fine. They are easy to handle but do not stack very well.
AGAIN THE EMPTY MILK CARTON
IS JUST IN THE PICTURE TO GIVE YOU PRESPECTIVE OF SIZE. YOU SHOULD NEVER STORE WATER IN EMPTY MILK CARTONS.
The normal price for these barrels is $11.89 each. If we buy them 20 or more at a time we can get them for $10 each.
Again if you want any of these containers, let Mary know. We will not place an order unless we have a total order of at
least 20 from all 3 co-ops at one time. You can buy them anywhere one at a time.
Years ago we stored all our water in white 5 gallon containers. We made one big mistake. Some of the containers were biodegradable and
we did not realize it. We purchased these 2 containers the same year (about 1990). The one on the left is still good and we dump it
once a year and put new water in it because it is not biodegradable. The one on the right as you can see is biodegradable plastic and
after about 5 years it fell apart.
We do not recommend using these white 5 gallon jugs because the plastic is too thin and they are not stackable. Here is
another picture just to show you the size of them if you do decide to go somewhere and buy some (making sure they are not
biodegradable plastic of course)
We always keep our water jugs inside black plastic bags to keep the light away.
But that did not stop the jug from deteriorating. This is that same jug on the
left inside the black bag that is itself deteriorating. But the jug is still good.
Because I keep the water outside they get really dirty if I don't keep them covered.
When you buy the 5 gallon olive containers we are recommending you will still want to put them inside black bags to help
keep the light out, the spiders and dirt off and make them easier keep them clean with when you change the water.
Several people have
asked us about storing water in 50 gallon barrels. We can get those barrels for you
at $13.50 each (regular price $16.95) if we purchase them 20 at a time. Here is
what they look like:
This one is in my back yard behind the house. It has a black plastic bag over it to keep the top clean.
I put a 1 gallon milk jug in front of it so you could tell the difference in the size.
We do not recommend that you store water in 50 gallon barrels unless you have a way to handle them.
I empty mine out once a year an it is a major task to tip it over, roll it over to the lawn and empty it.
If the time came to have to use it in an emergency, you would have to devise some kind of stand to roll it up on
so you could put a spigot in it to get the water out. The hole in the top is about as big around as a soup can
opening (capped with 2 plastic lids)
To open the lid you have to either buy a tool, or make one. I found a angle iron at Home Depot that just fits the opening.
You can not open the lid with out some tool.
The other opening takes a spigot if you cut the plastic seal out. I keep a couple of spigots there with the barrels but have not
installed them because I want the list to keep an air tight seal.
If you are prepared to take on all that to store water, we have the barrels available.
We can also order these Spigot's for the 50 gal water barrels if you need them.
WATER BARREL STANDS
Here are some pictures of the 50 gal water barrel stands that Eugene Morris built.
The stand legs are 2X4's and the cross braces are 2X6's. You can make a stand for 1 barrel or many.
Well a little decoration never hurts you know.
When I drain the barrels in the pictures above I have to tip the barrel over,
roll it out on to the lawn and then drain it. THAT IS A LOT OF HARD WORK. Eugene
never has to move his barrels. He just puts a hose on the spigot and opens the
top lid. Then drains the water out of the barrel onto the lawn. When it is empty
he closes the spigot and fills it up again through the top cap. Some people also
use a hand pump but that is a lot of work too.
If you are going to have 50 gal barrels, we recommend you think about putting
them up on some kind of stand so the spigots will drain the water out (that is
experience talking here)......
Thanks Eugene for sharing the pictures and the great idea with us.
WATER STORAGE FACTS
Questions I like to know the answers to related to Emergency Water Storage:
Can drinking bottled water from the plastic container cause cancer (especially
if left in a hot car)?
(Answer provided by Pat Allen..... Thanks Pat)
False. In the United States, plastic
water bottles are regulated by the FDA as "food contact substances" and held to
the same safety standards as food additives.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/medical/a/bottled-water.htm
Do you need to put bleach in the water you store?
Every source I have read says that if you are using tap water the chlorination
in the water
is all you need to store the water if you rotate it every 6 months.
If you add bleach, how much should you add?
If you are storing non-tap water, The American Red Cross recommends
that you add 16 drops of bleach (1/4 teaspoon) per gallon of water, stir
and let stand for 30 minutes. If the water does not have a slight bleach odor,
repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes.
How long will water keep without rotating it?
The Red Cross also recommends that you change your stored water supply every six
months so it stays fresh.
How much water should we store?
The Department of Homeland Security recommends that you store at least one
gallon of water per person, per day and keep a three-day supply of water on hand.
The American Red Cross also recommends one gallon of water per person per day, but with
a two-week supply for every person in your household. For a family of four, that's 56 gallons of water.
Source: Walnut Creek, CA Water District Emergency Water Storage Site
Can you store water in 50 gallon barrels?
We have 15 - 50 Gallon barrels of water stored behind our house. I dump them once
a year. Makes great water for our burned up lawn in the summer and we have enough
water to share with the neighbors if we have a disaster. But they are very heavy
and if we ever had to use them, I would build a rack to roll them up on one at
a time to dispense the water. We have a spigot that fits the barrel. That should
give us enough for washing clothes and sanitary needs too. The blue barrels have
drinking water in them. They originally were used to ship rice water syrup. Very
easy to clean up. The black barrels had pickles in and can not be used for drinking
are for flushing toilets or washing clothes. After 5 years the black ones still
taste of vinegar. I paid $10 each for the barrels 5 years ago so our price of
$13.50 today is very reasonable.
What is the best size water storage container?
That depends on how much room you have, where you are going to store the water,
and how far you have to take it to dump it out every 6 months. For many people
a 5 gallon container is the easiest to handle. You can buy this one
on Amazon.com for $9.99 (5 gallon and 1 gallon containers are available in stores
everywhere.)
Can you store water in plastic gallon milk cartons?
Many people say the plastic is so thin germs can get in. That is no more true
than of any
plastic jug and you should not put any of your water storage near any chemicals.
I have
never read that the plastic on a milk carton would let chemicals or germs in more
than
any other plastic. Obviously the thicker the plastic the more it resists outside
elements.
The main reason the FDA says you should not use milk cartons to store water in
is because it is very hard to get all of the milk out of the pores in the plastic
even with washing,
and that can cause bacteria to spread into the water. Also milk cartons are bio-degradable
and will not last. They are also very thin and will rupture quite easily.
Are soda pop 2 liter plastic bottles good for water storage?
Pop bottles or heavy plastic juice bottles are much better for water storage.
They
will last longer, they won't rupture as easy, and they are easy to store in small
places like a closet or under your bed if you don't have much room. If you lay
them on their side be sure the lid is on tight and it is best to at least put them
in a plastic bag so if they leak the water will be contained.
According to my research on plastic pop bottles or thick plastic
juice bottles they are not biodegradable.
If you have any information on this, please email it to us so we can include it
here. Here is one example web page:
2 liter pop bottle non-biodegradable
If I live in an apartment how can I store water?
If you live in an apartment or have limited storage space in your home, you can
put
water bottles under your bed. Best to put them in a plastic container
that slides under
the bed, so if one of them leaks it won't get your carpet wet.
Here are some links I really like by Government or University type Emergency
Water Storage Web Pages:
(there are so many of these kinds of pages on the Internet it would be impossible to list them all)
American Red Cross Emergency Water Storage Fact Sheet
American Red Cross Emergency Water Storage Web Site
NOAA Drought Information Web
site
Utah State Emergency Water Storage Web Site
DeAnza College Emergency Water Storage Facts
Contra Costa Water District, Emergency Preparedness Water Storage Plan
Commercial Emergency Water Storage Supplies:
There are 100's of commercial water storage sites on the Internet if you want
to buy supplies like water storage containers. Just use your Internet search engine
to find them.
Here is just one of them that has a very clever idea for catching rain water:
www.composters.com/docs/rainbarrels.html
FEEDBACK FROM OTHERS WHO ARE IN THE KNOW
21 Jun 2007
Cordell,
About storing water in milk jugs: the reason for not doing that
is that about 25 years ago, dairies switched to a biodegradable jug (I
was informed upon investigation into the below-described events). They
eventually start decomposing and then, naturally, they leak.
I learned this the hard way, at the time having my fruit room floor
completely lined three deep with jugs of water. Started wondering why
the floor was wet; cleaned up the water, but next day it was wet again.
And then it got worse, and worse still. Lined up the kids assembly-line
style and passed all the jugs upstairs and outside, lined them up on the
patio, watched them for a couple of days, and found that about a third of them
were leaking. Within a week of being outside, another third started leaking.
In my provident living classes I recommend that milk jugs be used only
for short-term water storage, like keeping some in the freezer (if you've
got room), both for freezer efficiency and for taking on road trips and
camping. I've gone to the barrels outside, and 3- to 5-gallon containers
in the basement.
Also, I learned this winter when a water line froze that runs through
the crawl space, so I had to shut off the house lines completely, all the
outside water was also frozen so none of that storage could be used.
Also the 5-gallon containers in the garage froze. So it was only the
smaller containers in the basement that were usable. Good lesson for me. And
since I'm stake FS specialist, I get lots of opportunities to share the
lessons *I* have learned--LOL! I think that's one reason the Lord
sends me so many learning experiences!
Also (more practical experience with water storage), as a teenager I
spent two years in Tripoli, Libya (as an Air Force brat). The Air Force
required us to treat our drinking water with one TABLESPOON of bleach
per gallon. You place it in the gallons at night; by morning the chlorine
has dissipated, and it's drinkable. We all survived! (With no Tripoli
Trots--LOL). The rule now is, add bleach until you can SMELL the
chlorine in the water; then you know you've added more chlorine molecules than
there are bacteria molecules. Let it set until the chlorine dissipates
(you can no longer smell it), and then it's safe to drink. One might
need to do some type of filtering, such as the method of running a towel
from an upper bucket of dirty water to a lower catch bucket (I can never
remember what this is called--not osmosis), in order to remove the
particulate matter if the water source is especially yucky, but these
two methods combined use materials commonly available to us and will take
care of basically any situation we're likely to face in the U.S.
--Kathie Shepherd
Stansbury Park, Utah
(THANKS KATHIE FOR THAT VERY VALUABLE INFORMATON AND
FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH US.....And thanks for letting us
us have a copy of your Stake Emergency Preparedness Plan!!!!!!
WOW YOU DID A LOT OF WORK ON PUTTING THAT TOGETHER!!!Cv)
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