Survivalist Forum banner

Storing Water

14K views 36 replies 29 participants last post by  Wryter 
#1 ·
How are you guys storing water? I live in Phoenix and am looking for a reliable long term storage way on how to store water. Storing it inside would not be ideal due to space, but storing it in the garage or the backyard I worry about due to the heat. I have stocked up on water bottles and gallon jugs of water from the grocery store for a short term disaster, but I need a larger supply, say 50-100 gallons to be safe. I live by myself so I am not worried about having to supply others. I am looking for how you guys store your water.
 
#7 ·
#10 ·
We have hauled water here, the black poly tanks are good for storage as no uv can get to the water. The clear poly tank that I was for rain catch does go green with the uv.

So outside is fine as long as you can keep the uv out. The 275 gallon IBC totes are fine if food grade and you paint the poly tank black. Food grade can be had from tank n barrel in the Phoenix area.

Martin
 
#11 ·
Get a pool Granted the higher priced option!, but I have 12,000 gallons of drinking water after it goes through my berkey filters.

No way could you dig a hole to fit 5 gallon drums without machinery. I dug a 3 foot deep pond that was about 800 gallons a few years back because the wife wanted it...I was ready to bury her in the hole when I got done!! A pick axe and a shovel only.

It's funny because I was digging the hole and that's when we felt that little earth quake a few years back and I looked at her and asked if I was rocking...I thought I was passing out. Then I saw my pool splashing over the sides and I told her we just had a little earth quake.
 
#13 ·
Can you ever really over do water?

For the first post: Just get rainwater tanks, don't know how much they cost there but the common 10,000 litre (2641 Gallon) rain water tanks here cost about $1500 plus all the setup to install them.

Chuck in one of those and add a second one for overflow when you can afford it.
 
#34 ·
In the Kingman area we have to contend with caliche that has very hard granite and river rock embedded in it. I've found the best way is to rock bar a hole, throw in a cup of gypsum then fill it with water and let it set overnight. The water and gypsum will soften up the next several inches. Then repeat the process. How long it will take you to get the hole you want depends on how deep and how wide you need to go--it's taken me upwards of three days to get a hole large enough to plant fruit trees.

Oh, along this line, make sure you get a really good quality rock bar. The soft iron POS from Home Depot will bend if you get too frisky with it. After learning that lesson I bought a good one from my local Tru Value hardware store, then got some heavy duty 1 1/2" pipe and welded a 2 1/2" chisel point onto it. They get very hard use and I haven't bent either of them yet.

I plan on putting in underground storage tanks for water but will rent a backhoe to dig those holes. While I'm at it I'll excavate for a root cellar too.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I have couple 55 gallon drums sitting in the shade of the rose bushes against the back wall, and a couple of 15 gallon drums in the shade against the house. A few 5 gallon cans as well.

You can always treat water by my reckoning. I don't know how tasty or potable mine is as I write (I did hit it with a few capfuls of bleach before sealing), but between chemicals, filtering, and boiling, I know I have water for a month or so on hand. The key is to have water to treat in the first place.

Yes, the neighbor's pool is the next best source in the Phoenix-metro area.
 
#21 ·
I used to live in Hidden Valley (south of the City of Maricopa) and I kept a couple 55 gallon food grade drums of water on hand out there. Maricopa's been cut off by flooding before -- it washed out all the roads, including Maricopa Road/Hwy347 -- and where all the new houses are now was under a few feet of water.

Ironically, water shortage would be my biggest concern in another flooding event, so I kept water on hand. Flooding = no power = wells stop working.

55 gallon drums worked well, are highly unlikely to leak, and they were an economical solution that worked fairly well.

If I lived in the valley proper, I wouldn't be too worried about water. Unless something happens that contaminates surface water, one in four houses in the valley have pools. The SRP canals are also gravity fed.

I'd keep enough on hand for short term emergencies (water main breaks) and figure that in a major crisis -- grid disruption, severe wide spread storm damage, terrorist action, etc. -- I'd be drinking pool water and/or catching rainwater.

Phoenix, by the way, is not likely to run out of water in the long term. It has a very solid long term water supply, from multiple sources, and even in the current drought, it still has enough of an excess of water that it is pumping water into the aquifers to store for future use.
 
#23 ·
I have a multi-layered water storage plan. I have a dozen 50-gallon and 3 28-gallon water barrels (they are "repurposed" barrels that used to have olives or peppers in them also fitted with spigots) in the back yard under the eaves. I got them at C-A-L ranch for about $35 each). In the house and garage, I also have about 140 half-gallon bottles (re-purposed juice bottles) of water, which I add to every time I empty out a bottle of juice (rinsed out, then run through the dishwasher before re-filling with filtered tap water.)
 
#37 ·
Ice, I don't have nearly as many 50 gallon jugs as you do, but, like you, I have lots of re-purposed juice bottles filled with water. I also have an 800 gallon spa that I'm planning on converting into an aquaponics system one of these days. Until then, I could filter that water through my AquaRain filtration/purification system to make it potable.

If I could ever talk my better half into it, I'd put in a well AND a swimming pool. But my interim plan is to install a pair of 2,500 gallon storage tanks underground--pump the water with a hand pump. Refill via a food grade water hose while I can still get town water.

Another backup plan is to find a neighbor who has a well and wants to join my MAG.
 
#26 ·
I am going to start saving our empty gal milk jugs. I will store them empty and use if needed to go to sons well for water as we cannot carry heavy amt. Too old. We can easily put 30 in back of car. I am also going to get 2 more barrels to store in basement in addition to the 3 we already have filled. Gotta do what works for us.
 
#28 ·
I am going to start saving our empty gal milk jugs. I will store them empty and use if needed to go to sons well for water as we cannot carry heavy amt. Too old. We can easily put 30 in back of car. I am also going to get 2 more barrels to store in basement in addition to the 3 we already have filled. Gotta do what works for us.
Many people on here have said that the milk jugs deteriorate very quickly, and may not be the best option for water. Be careful and make sure you check them for leaks regularly.

I've been saving the Ocean Spray cranberry cocktail jugs (they are squarish so they stand together easily on a shelf, and have a convenient handle. When they are empty of juice, I leave a wee bit of water, and add a bit of vinegar. When it is time to fill the empties at the local spring, I rinse out the vinegar and water, and re-fill. I've got about 2 dozen, but will keep buying the cranberry/raspberry cocktail until the shelves are full.

The ones that have the white handle are the ones I've been using. https://www.google.ca/search?q=ocea...ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIldmFipXlxwIVAc6ACh2XNgeH

By the way, there is plenty of extra storage space under your bed, if you still need room for things.
 
#29 ·
Added to my previous post...I have just read a post wherein the different types of plastic bottles are discussed, and have come to the conclusion that the bottles I have been collecting are NOT the best ones for LTS.

They have #1 inside the recycle triangle, and it seems they will eventually leach into the water. *sigh

Now to find some bottles around here that I CAN use...
 
#31 ·
the way i have my plan set up is to have enough water and water purif systeyms on me to get me to my location. if your gonna hole up store it at your location in any or all of the above options . however,if you plan on leaving,rember, water is heavy so take what you need and maby a backup container. ..
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top