Water Storage

[techo]

The top of the list for disaster prep is water storage.
For Miami area folks, I picked up a couple of new 55 gal food grade blue barrels from this co. a couple of years ago for $45 ea.
I don't know if the price has gone up but, this place has a wide variety of barrels, drums & containers at wholesale prices.

IFCO Industrial Container Systems
1587 NW 163rd St
Miami, FL 33169
(305) 621-3335

I treated the filtered water I put in them with Oxy-Stabile.
http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_inf...oducts_id=1137

If you are really serious about water storage solutions here is a good place to start.
http://www.watertanks.com/products/0005-005.asp

[MarshallDodge]

One place I recently learned about is your local soda bottler. They will sometimes have empty plastic barrels that were used for the syrup.

The Pepsi bottler near me sells them for $10 each. I have not purchased any yet but the people that have seemed to be pleased.

[Vic303]

I've gotten the 55gal used blue barrels from the local bottling plant too. $5 each.

[techo]

The problem with used barrels is you can't get them cleaned out because the product leeches into the plastic. Then again I'm picky about my drinking water.
Used barrels would be good for general purpose water though, like storing rain water for washing and showers. I have a low cost filter set up for rain water.
http://shop.monolithic.com/products/...ic-drip-filter

[Abraxas]

Tagging

[shadowalker]

You can also use mylar drum liners to create a barrier between the drum and water, you should be able to get them for $5 to $10 depending on quantity.

For a lot of people it isn't realistic to store a long term water supply, it simply consumes too much space. I have a one month of water on hand for my family.

You should have a supply of water and have known sources of water and a good water filter (such as a Katadyn) and other methods to make water safe for drinking.

[Vic303]

I don't mind the Hawaiian Punch aftertaste in my barrels, actually. We cleaned them well, and let them soak for a while too, but what taste is left is not objectionable.

[chadbag]

Also, get a Berkey filter with the black filter elements and the optional heavy metal / flouride filters. We use this for our day to day drinking water actually (get rid of flouride as well as chemicals and crap) but this will take surface or pond water and make drinking water out of it so for emergency use you could get water for your family from your local ground water/pond/etc. Use a cheesecloth or something to pre filter it to avoid covering up your filter elements and slowing the flow with the algae and stuff...

These filters also will get rid of lots of the bad taste and chemicals that leach into the water from plastic drums...

Keep your drums in cool temperatures out of light to slow down the rate at which the plastic chemicals leach into the water.

Also, I use the 5 or 6 gallon plastic water storage things for my water. 55 gal drums cannot be moved once full and you should rotate your water once a year anyway and it is easier to use and also rotate with smaller storage containers.

Chad

[Shihan]

I have tried several times and my barels still taste like soy sauce LOL but where I live in the summer it could taste like pepto and still go down well.

[Vic303]

A good & very useful alternative to the 55gal drum is to reuse 2L soda bottles. Wash them out, fill & cap them and store them in the backs of cabinets. They are even better when put in the chest freezer to add mass to the freezer. You can use them as 'cooler ice' and refreeze them repeatedly without failure. Just be sure to leave expansion room in the bottle when you fill them. By filling the bottom of my chest freezer the unit runs more efficiently too. And has the advantage of providing a non-messy way to delay the thawing of the freezer if the power is lost for an extended time.