Storing water for emergencies

[noobmom]

In the past I've purchased the large plastic containers of water to have on hand for emergencies, but I want to move away from that because 1) it costs money 2) I want to avoid plastics.

I have several large glass containers that formerly held apple juice. I want to use these for storing water, but everything I've read says I should treat the the water with chlorine bleach first. I am on city water and I realize that my water is treated with bleach already, but for some reason this freaks me out.

I found one source which also stated I could can the water. If I did that, I would have to buy gallon canning jars and probably a bigger pot since the pot I normally use for canning isn't big enough. It would be a little costly, but I've been meaning to get a large stockpot anyway. And there is the question of BPA in the lids, so maybe that's no better than a few drops of chlorine bleach?

Just curious what everyone else does for emergency water storage.

[mumkimum]

I use old juice containers. For the amount of times we'e used our water storage, and considering it is for an emergency, I haven't been bothered by using plastic or not adding bleach to it when I put it in there, I just wash/rinse the containers well and try to replace old stuff in a semi-timely fashion (I would have some bleach in the house if I needed it, I suppose anyway, in a water emergency).

[bender]

We have a hot water heater. In the event of an emergency, we can drain the 60 gallons for drinking.

[luv-my-boys]

its like which of the two evils do you pick? For us I decided that I'd rather buy the plastic gallons of water. If we ever do need them I'd rather take the chance of at least knowing I have clean safe drinking water (albeit with bpa) than finding out we dont have good water we have stored. After all its an emergency and the risk of not having any water is greater than having water stored in plastic.

[lifeguard]

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys

its like which of the two evils do you pick? For us I decided that I'd rather buy the plastic gallons of water. If we ever do need them I'd rather take the chance of at least knowing I have clean safe drinking water (albeit with bpa) than finding out we dont have good water we have stored. After all its an emergency and the risk of not having any water is greater than having water stored in plastic.

This.

Dh actually just bought a case of water yesterday which peeved me 'cause it seems so wasteful. I prefer we buy the large jugs of water for emergencies as at least they can be refilled. We also have purchased a handpump that fits into the top of those jugs - much easier than trying to pour them.

[Magelet]

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys

its like which of the two evils do you pick? For us I decided that I'd rather buy the plastic gallons of water. If we ever do need them I'd rather take the chance of at least knowing I have clean safe drinking water (albeit with bpa) than finding out we dont have good water we have stored. After all its an emergency and the risk of not having any water is greater than having water stored in plastic.

I just went out and bought 6 gallons of water in plastic jugs for the two of us. Did I feel ridiculous paying 88 cents a gallon for city tap water? yes. Do I avoid plastic water bottles because of the BPA at all times? yes. But we live in an earthquake and storm prone area. The haiti earthquake reminded all of us I think that it wasn't that long ago that we had a magnitute 7 earthquake here, and while our buildings are more equipped to handle it, it seems, water might well be out for days, and emergency stores are vital.

[PenelopeJune]

What kind of water do you buy? I bought 5 or 6 a few years ago, that came in the jugs with the same material as milk jugs, and they ALL leaked after just a few months. Is there a kind that I can buy that won't leak like that?

It wasn't even an "emergency" but a few weeks ago the water lines in our house froze solid and we didn't have a drop of water anywhere. My landlord said, "Oh, it'll thaw by Wednesday." (It was Saturday when I called him!) We finally got him to come out and thaw our lines with a space heater under the house (which took a whopping 5 minutes ) but we went 12 hours with no water, which sucked. I don't want to do that again!!

[lifeguard]

PenelopeJune - the jugs we buy are the large ones meant to go on watercoolers. They are pretty heavy duty plastic & I really couldn't see them leaking unless they got punctured by something quite sharp. You do have to give a deposit on them though so they are not as cheap as other options.

[tifpaul]

Where do they sell the larger sturdy jugs for water coolers? I don't get out much to shop around.

[hibana]

Originally Posted by tifpaul

Where do they sell the larger sturdy jugs for water coolers? I don't get out much to shop around.

If you find a local spring water supplier (like in your state or your quadrant of a large state) they will deliver the water cooler jugs. Normally those jugs are not sold in stores.

[mamatoakd]

I found the 5 gallon plastic containers of water at Home Depot.

FYI, I read somewhere a long time ago that plastic containers should not be stored on cement (i.e., directly on a garage floor) as they react, breaking the plastic down faster.

[annethcz]

I store water in glass jugs (usually old alcohol bottles ) in our basement. I don't add bleach. I've read that if you sub out 1/3 of the water every 6 months, it should be fine. What I do is water my house plants with the water, and then refill the jug, making sure to rotate through my stash.

[artemis33]

I've been thinking of getting a couple of these (or similar from another place). They are plastic but at least don't have BPA. I agree that we're talking emergencies here, so clean water in plastic is way better than none!

http://www.rei.com/product/777828?pr...:referralID=NA

We used to use similar ones on long camping trips and they work pretty well. I think if you rotate the water often (using it for plants is a great plan!) it isn't too bad.