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| Tuesday, September 07, 2010 |
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I don’t know how applicable this will be for you. Maybe you’ll need to spread your collection of water all over the apartment — in the back of a closet here, under a table there, etc. However my mom uses old glass cider jugs. She’s had them for nigh on 30 years and through at least two moves. |
danithew: Try one of the water delivery companies, i.e., Arrowhead, is what we use. We only drink bottled wanter anyway, so we are constantly using our supply. They come in the 5 gallon sizes. We have them stored out in our garage; but, you could store them anywhere inside as well. If stored at reasonable temperatures they will last up to a couple of years; but, if you rotate them and use them as part of your regular water supply you never face the problem of stale water. I have over 120 gallons in storage, and you can build up slowly. |
Guy, that sounds like a good approach. We lack the garage but maybe a certain number of 5 gallon containers tucked away in the right place would provide a better sense of security. Thanks for that idea. If we are constantly using a supply, it would help to keep the supply fresh as well. |
PDOE, I’m sorry, for some reason your comment passed me right by. I think that suggestion of old glass cider jugs would work very well. It’s not that we don’t have any space (it’s a two-bedroom apartment and we’ve seen New Yorkers who work with tighter constrictions) – but space is definitely something we have to take into consideration. All ideas will of course have to be run by the chairwoman of the board. :mrgreen: |
Emptied and washed two liter bottles (or juice bottles of the same shiny platic) will last ages. Cheap, and you can stick them lots of places in a small apartment. |
I have never had an issue with gallon jugs breaking down – probably that NYC water eating through them – you sure you want to store or drink that stuff??? You could store soda or I hear alcohol never goes bad :) |
Daniel, this really worries me. Because in every disaster the first need is water. I see it on TV all the time LOL. We have cases of bottled water in the basement, plus a bunch of old pop liter bottles with water, and a 50 gallon barrel in the back yard. I can’t imagine that we would ever need that much, though, really. It takes disaster aid workers several days to get water out, but anyone can store several days worth of water. If water is out for a long time, we’re all pretty much screwed. I’ve never tried storing it in glass jars. Costco and Wal-mart, etc. often has those cases on sale for $3 or $4. That would be my recommendation for you. |
If you have a water heater it stores 30 or 50 gallons. Your toilet’s tank is an acceptable source if you don’t have anything else to drink. If you have a little bleach on hand you can get even more creative with your water sources. Don’t buy water in milk cartons. Buy a box or so of 1 liter bottles at Costco or the supermarket. Rotate it on occasion. Or, just have a massive supply of Coke. |
Devyn, I hear from everyone here that NYC water is some of the cleanest and best-tasting water you can drink. I’m talking about the water from the tap of course – not the Hudson River. |
Devyn, I went googling around and found (from a variety of sources) that NYC tap water is as clean as most bottled waters and tastes as good as most of them. Here’s one source: |
Besides a few barrels outside, we also have a couple of seven gallon cubes. Each is about 1 cubic foot and weighs around fifty pounds. That may not work for your apartment, but I deal better with a few larger vessels than with many smaller ones. A region-wide power outage four years ago left us without water for a couple days. It was nice to be able to wash and cook and carry on in a semi-normal fashion. |
John Mansfield – these seven gallon cubes you are talking about – who makes them? Is there a specific brand of container you are talking about? |
You might also want to check out this site. They have some pretty good stuff. |
Don’t count on being able to use the water in the water heater or toilet tank. Often those sources become contaminated if the main supply becomes contaminated. The water main to our neighborhood broke. The water in the lines quickly became silty. We keep water in 30 gallon soda syrup barrels and 2 liter soda bottles. When the water main broke, my wife had the kids load their wagon with water bottles and go door-to-door offering water. They became heroes because most people didn’t have anything to drink. The milk jugs are flimsy to begin with. The manufacturers are saving money my making the container wall as thin as possible. Soda bottles have to be able to withstand the carbon dioxide pressure in the soda (or is it pop. . . soda pop?)/ |
There are two common types of bottled water bottles. There are ones that are the equivalent of a soda bottle and can withstand pressure and ones that cannot. For example, Dasani is a Coke product and has to be put in pressurized bottles so that it will vend properly in Coke machines. Evian is a more flimsy bottle that won’t vend. I would suggest purchasing water in pressurized bottles for medium to long term storage. |
Guy Murray, (in response to comment #13), That site looks really useful. After looking at it a little bit (so far) I think I like the containers shown here and here. The containers look pretty sturdy. They may appear slightly pricey – but considering how much we spent on gallon containers that ended up rupturing, I think it could end up being money well spent. One thing I forgot to ask in the post – what is the story with bleach or Clorox and storing tap water? I think I remember my mother saying that one drop per container of water would do it – but she might have been talking about gallon containers. Also, is it important to store water out of the way of sunlight? Does it make a difference? |
Danithew: “these seven gallon cubes you are talking about – who makes them? Is there a specific brand of container you are talking about?” Walmart usually has them in their sporting goods section, if no Walmart any camping supply store should have em. I have two for dechlorinating and treating aquarium water, and several more for storage, label of course “FISH” and “DRINKING”. No signs of degrading after two years so far, but store spout up because the lid tends to leak and I haven’t solved that problem yet. |
We live in an apartment in Philadelphia and our solution is similar to what comment #5 said: Two liter bottles. However i have noticed that the water takes the form of the soda it was recently in. I am thinking of buying a bunch of water cubes and using those instead… |
danithew: My experience is that it is best if you can to store the water out of the direct sun light. We had one of the five gallon Arrowhead bottles stored where it got sun every day, and it eventually developed some algae. Now at home we have one of those large plastic storage sheds in our garage, which is where I keep our water. Keeping the doors closed keeps it dark and several degrees cooler than the garage. Personally, I think the key not only to good food storage, but also water storage is to eat and drink what you store so that you keep items rotated and they don’t just rot on the shelves. Don’t know much about the Clorox or bleach issue, other than I think it helps it purify and/or keep it fresh. |
Guy, Oddly, plastic bottles are filled with water and placed on the roof in Africa for a few days to kill things off. |
Get some iodide water purification tablets. That way if the water does get a little gamey or develop some algea, you can still use it. Better yet a high grade water filter/purifier. #17 Trevor. Didn’t you see that article about Walmart giving up on trying to open a store in NYC? A real New Yorker would go to the camping section of Paragon Sports, kitty-corner from Union Square. |
Wow … I’m really grateful for all the ideas and suggestions in this thread. Thanks folks (and if there’s more, keep ‘em coming!). |
Use Clorox or bleach jugs, the gallon size. Very strong and durable. |
It’s not just New York water that makes those milk jug things break down. They just do. I learned this the hard way when I bought about 30 jugs and put them in different closets in the house, under the idea that if we had an earthquake we might not be able to get into some parts of the house. Eventually,they will leak and ooze out onto the stuff around them. But you’ve gotten pretty good advice about what to do. Just get plenty of purification tablets. |
Paula, we discovered yesterday that one of the jugs broke and the water seeped into some dry macaroni and cheese boxes next to it. We didn’t discovered this had happened for awhile and one of the boxes broke open from mold. Maybe I should have taken a picture. It looked like the green spores that would take over the world and kill all of us. Not fun to clean up. |
Store a water purifier with a filter & purifier, the kind used for removing giardia from river water during backpacking. Store extra filters too. You could potentially drink almost any liquid you could find, without having to store & rotate any. Not the best solution for everyone, but if you’re short on space, then don’t store water, instead store the machine to make anything into potable water. Katadyn and MSR are good brands. |
The Church also has some pretty good ideas and suggestions as well http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7534-1-4065-1,00.html |
We have a variety of water storage. We put some in 2 liter soda bottles. I have used plastic and glass 1/2 gallon juice bottles. I have mylar containers in cardboard boxes for structure/rigidity. We have the 5-gallon water-machine water containers, and 5-gallon plastic containers purchased just for water storage. My favorite, though (because I don’t have to worry about how clean the containers are) is to buy a case or two of bottled water at Costco nearly every time I go. We have a good supply of these, but cycle through them to keep rotating them. The bottles seem to hold up better than the gallon-sized ones (we had leakage problems as well with those) and have about a 1-2 year shelf life (going by the date stamp on them). I also like the fact that they are already in personal-sized portions so we could easily each grab a bottle whenever without having to manage (or move) a 5- or 10- or 25- or (perish the thought) 50-gallon container to get the water we need. Another benefit…these are easily stacked (and covered if necessary to keep from sunlight), stored under beds, etc. And Costco’s cases are CHEAP. (p.s. Because we had leakage problems, I have put as much of my bigger water storage in plastic bins to catch any leaks. ) (P.S. on #23 — I wouldn’t recommend bleach bottles because the plastic is NOT food grade. FWIW. |
One more thing about bleach purification…bleach loses potency within a year, so it needs to be rotated as well. |
Don’t forget about the water in your hot-water heater. |
Chlorine Bleach. 8-16 drops per gallon. Treat water 1 hr. Let stand over night for chlorine taste to dissappate or add Vitamin C tablets to nutralize chlorine and chlorine taste instantly. Rotate Household bleach yearly. |
Also, is it important to store water out of the way of sunlight? Does it make a difference? I have a 5-gallon jug full of green water to prove that it does. ;) |
Yeah, the plastic used in making milk-jug type bottles is _intended_ to bio-degrade. 2-liter soda pop bottles are designed to last a long time with potable liquids. That plastic is intended to be re-cycled. If you have a high level of chlorine in your tap water, you don’t need to add bleach. If you don’t have chlorine in your tap water, or have little, then one drop of Clorox bleach, UNSCENTED, per 2-liter bottle. |
Meh… Just buy a couple eight-packs of bottled water and call it good. |
Brian Duffin, Don’t forget to read the comments. :) |
I saw a neat new product that will turn a bathtub into a 45 gallon drinking water container. Check out http://www.hewsystem.com |
#36, interesting. I have to admit on Sept. 11 I filled my bathtub up with fresh water. I’m not sure how I would have kept it fresh for very long though… covered it with something? |
My dad worked in the lab at the hospital and he brought home water cubes that had been full of saline. They worked great for water storage and for camping as well because they had a little spigot you could turn on and off and were inside a cardboard box. You could probably buy these somewhere, but I think reusing sterile containers is more earth-friendly. |
A heads-up to those of you still using chlorine and/or plastic jugs. The bladder, prostate and lung cancer risk among people using chlorinated water is 93% higher than those whose water does not contain chlorine; and swimming in chlorinated pools (heaven forbid!) has been linked to miscarriages and heart disease. As for plastics deteriorating, the very reuse of most plastic drinking bottles leaches dangerous, carcenogenic materials into your system. Since you may not want to take MY word for it, I will leave you with a couple of quotes from Dr. Andrew Weil, a Harvard trained MD, at http://www.drweil.com: 1. “Chlorine. . . is a health hazard and may trigger asthma in children. Among adults it has been linked with other health problems including bladder and rectal cancer and may increase the risk for coronary heart disease. . . Chlorine disinfection of water is obsolete.” 2. “Polycarbonate plastic containers may leach the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) into food and water. Since the 1950s, BPA has been used to produce the plastics found in water bottles, baby bottles, toys, and the linings of food and beverage cans. In the United States, studies have shown that BPA appears in the blood and urine of 95% of people tested. . . It may be time for the EPA and FDA to revisit the safety standards for BPA established in the 1980s. . . more research is needed. . . polycarbonate plastic containers may not be safe for storage and transport of food and beverages. Better choices are polypropylene (#5 pp), high-density polyethylene (#2 hdpe), and low-density polyethylene (#4 LDPE). . . check your plastic bottles and put away the Lexan types (polycarbonate) in favor of ones made of safer materials.” Educate yourself, and let’s get this information into the hands of our legislators. It is ridiculous to pretend to be concerned about cancer when, every hour of every day, we continuously titrate the disease into ourselves and our children. |
Just to let you know that HEWS -home emergency water system is on line at hewsystem.com I invented and |
You will love the hewsystem.com, it is affordable.When you live along the coast you may have to evacuate and come home to no water or electricity. During Hurricane Hugo we paid $10 for a bag of ice. My husband loves the home emergency water system. |
Guy Murray provided a link in comment #13 that I found very useful. I think my wife and I are going to start by buying a couple of these 5 gallon water jugs. |
Danithew, it took me awhile to get notice your comment. Too bad you didn’t take photos :) As I said earlier, I had the bright idea of putting many bottles of water around different places in the house so that if the house were damaged in an earthquake, I’d still be able to get to some. So that meant that they leaked into the backs of closets, etc. And it meant that I couldn’t remember where I’d put them all, so it took a long time to ferret them all out once I’d figured out what was happening |
Paula, after cleaning it up and writing this post – I had the same thought – that I should have taken pictures. (see comment #25, if you don’t know what Paula and I are talking about). I actually put on one of those surgical face-masks when I cleaned. It was really quite ugly and scary looking and I did worry about what might happen if I breathed in any of that mold. |
I was stuck after Hurricane Wilma with no water for a week. I found this nifty bathtub bag that holds 65 gallons of water and was only $29.99. I bought mine at Ace Hardware in Ft. Lauderdale. The company also made a 5 gallon one that fits in your sink. this may be a solution for you all. http://www.mywatersafe.com |
Coke 2liter bottles worked for me during Hurricane Wilma. |
