*Water Storage*
By Tailgunner


Under optimum circumstances a person can live without food for about 3-4 weeks, water for 3-4 days, and air for 3-4 minutes. In any kind of emergency water is an important need to life. You should store water on the chance that something will happen to your water supply, or the power supply to get water, or the city water system. We have stored water for a number of years, rotating it out every six months for quality purposes. We have had occasion to use it twice and I was thankful for being prepared each time. 

Its important to determine how much water to store and what you are going to store it in to begin. For storage purposes calculate a minimum of 1 gallon of water per person per day as a basic rule of thumb and plan for two weeks worth. This is for simple cooking and drinking only. If you want to use water for limited washing of face and hands store double it at least. Be sure to store your water away from paint and petroleum-based products, acids or anything releasing objectionable odors like fertilizer or household cleaners. While able to hold water, many plastic containers are permeable to certain gases and chemicals.

Rotate your water once every six (6) months or at least yearly. That way you can ensure your water is fresh when you need it. I have stored water in 55 gallon plastic drums, 5 gallon plastic "camping" containers, cleaned milk jugs and commercially sold plastic water containers. A precautionary note-on many commercially sold containers of water like at the grocery store, look on the bottom of the container and see if it has one of the biodegradable triangles present. If so, it is probably designed to degrade over time, making a big water puddle in your storage place. Trust me I know, I did it. Get good water containers designed to be used for camping or long term water storage. I have found a combination of both, a large 55 gallon food-grade plastic drum and 5 gallon plastic "Coleman" camping water jugs the best for my circumstances. If I need to leave my home for some reason, I can carry the 5 gallon containers.  If I can stay home then I have the additional water in the barrel.

When I rotate my water, I check for quality of the water. I look for algae growing or objectionable odors. And I taste it. I wash out the containers once a year with a solution of chlorine and water. Then rinse with clean water and fill with clean, fresh water. In the event that you run out of stored water, you will need to pre-locate an alternate source. Always assume any water is contaminated. If the water you locate contains a lot of debris, first strain the debris through a paper towel, clean cloth or coffee filters. Then treat by one of the following methods:

BOILING - after straining the water bring to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes then allow to cool. This uses a lot of energy in the form of fuel to heat the water. But is effective at killing all the bugs in the water.   To improve the taste pour the water back and forth between a couple of pitchers, this will ariate the water and it will taste better.

LIQUID CHLORINE BLEACH - any brand - must contain 5.25% - 6% sodium hypochlorite without soap, fragrance or phosphates. To one gallon add 16 drops (1/4 tsp) bleach, for five gallons add 80 drops (1 tsp) chlorine. If bleach is more than one year old, it loses approximately 50% strength. In this case, the amount of bleach should be doubled. After treating with chlorine, mix well and allow water to stand 30 minutes before using. On date of purchase list the date on the bleach bottle with a permanent marker. 

DRY CHLORINE - also called calcium hypochlorite has the added benefit of extended shelf life. Providing it is kept dry, cool and in an airtight container, it may be stored up to 10 years with minimal degradation.  This can be found in pool supply stores or some Walmarts.  Use with attached instructions. We used this in the old Lister bags and water buffalos. You should try to get a residual chlorine kit to determine if you have any chlorine in the water after 30 minutes. These are usually found near where you buy the dry chlorine. Read the directions on the kit! 

IODINE - if no instructions are provided on the container, use 12 drops per gallon of water. If the water is in question, double the amount of iodine. Mix well and allow the water to stand 30 minutes before using. 

PURIFICATION TABLETS - these tablets are either iodine or chlorine based. One or two tablets will purify one quart of water depending on contamination of water, temperature and length of time allowed for treated water to stand. Follow instructions on the package.

STABILIZED OXYGEN - for long term water storage, treat 1 gallon of already-chlorinated water by adding 10 drops of stabilized oxygen. For one gallon non-chlorinated water, add 20 drops. To purify 8 oz. of Giardia-contaminated water, add 5 - 20 drops of stabilized oxygen, remember to check the label. Since this water purification method is less known than the others, here are some products on the market: Aerox, Genesis 1000, Dynamo 2, Aerobic 07, Aquagen. 

WATER FILTER/PURIFYING UNITS - there are a number of water filter and purifying units on the market. Before purchasing one, there are several things to consider, durability/reliability, how easy is the unit to pump, how much water output can you expect in a half hour, will this particular unit filter giardia and other bacterial agents, does it still work in brackish water, longevity (how many gallons can you expect to get out of a filter), cost and availability of additional filters.  If you plan on using filters get spares no matter what type you get or how many thousands of gallons of water they say they will produce.

TIP: To improve the taste of any treated water, pour water from one clean container to another several times. This will help re-oxygenate the water and remove some of the flat taste noticed after treatment and storage. Also adding powdered drinks like Kool-Aid or Tang will help disguise any off-tastes in water. 

Lastly, do not have only one method of purifying or filtering your water.  If that one becomes unusable you must have some kind of backup!  Think ahead and you can prevent dismal performance when you need it the most.

Tailgunner


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