I personally will drink any clean water. Room temperature or cold.
I never had tap water "go bad", if thats possible. If you make sure the tops of the bottles are tightened like any bottle, then you should be fine.

I cannot find a reason why tap water in a bottle would somehow become "bad" water.

 

As long as there are no preexisting contaminants tap water will last as long as any other.

 

Right on spot. I only rotate mine out every 2-3 years.And only becuase i hate filling the barrels

 

Would tap water that has been treated (e.g. chlorinated) by the city have a longer shelf life than water drawn from a well?

 

Be sure to sterilize your bottles and caps before using. You can boil them or use a product like "One Step".

 

I read that chlorinated city tap water being stored in appropriate water storage containers did not need to be treated for long term storage, but other water (well, rain-collected) had to be treated for storage. Can't remember the exact site - but it was one some other survival site.

 

I store our well water here. I sterilize the bottles ,rinse well ,refill and add 3 drops of bleach per gallon.
So far no problems .

 

I do the same here but with tap water and I just "agitate" the aquatainers every month or two

 

There is no problem with storing tap water. The treatment will likely give it longer life.

 

The general rule for tap water provided by govt agency, city, pud, etc., is a five year shelf life. It will help to use clean containers. If you are reusing old containers, fill with water and add a few drops of chlorine bleach. Let sit overnite, then refill with tap water. The other issue is what type of plastic container you use. Some plastics decompose differently that others. More defined info can be found on this site with a search of water storage.

 

how about this?

lately, i have added 2-liter bottles of tap water to our deep freeze (clean soda bottles)

this water is safe and provides extra "freeze life" to the freezer in case of power outages

when you need water you just pull one out and let it thaw ahead of time

this doesn't need preserving chemicals and i don't think "going bad" is a real issue as it is frozen solid preventing any growth of contaminants (bio or otherwise)

if i need more freezer space then take some out, or add some more as freezer space becomes available

isnt a lot really, maybe 4-10 bottles given the freezer usage but i thought it was a nice combo usage for saving water and preventing thaw of food when power is out

opinions?

 

lately, i have added 2-liter bottles of tap water to our deep freeze (clean soda bottles)

this water is safe and provides extra "freeze life" to the freezer in case of power outages

when you need water you just pull one out and let it thaw ahead of time

this doesn't need preserving chemicals and i don't think "going bad" is a real issue as it is frozen solid preventing any growth of contaminants (bio or otherwise)

if i need more freezer space then take some out, or add some more as freezer space becomes available

isnt a lot really, maybe 4-10 bottles given the freezer usage but i thought it was a nice combo usage for saving water and preventing thaw of food when power is out

opinions?

That is something I do also. I have a chest type freezer and put plenty of 2 liter bottles in the freezer filled with water. I loosen the caps, so they don't bulge or burst, then tighten them down after they freeze. Through a couple of hurricanes, my freezer stayed cold for several days. When my refridgerator started loosing temperature, I put a couple of frozen bottles in an ice chest and save the stuff in my fridge, by keeping it in the ice chest. As they start to melt, I use them for refreshing Ice water. Hurricane season is primarity in the summer and warmer months. It's good to have cool water when you need it. Now that I have a generator, the fridge stays cold and so does the freezer, but I rotate plugging in each one for a few hours, so I can run the a/c.:thumb:

 

Responding to DSarver, we had 2 liters full of water occupy otherwise vacant space in our freezer. When the electricity went out for a week, the freezer temperature was still below freezing 3 days later (by then, we were back and hooked up a generator).

 

Just make sure you do the following:

- if filling from say the kitchen sink, make sure you give everything a good scrub down with bleach, pay special attention to the spigot, you don't want cross contamination to happen

- rinse all the bottles well and take a new tooth brush and scrub the caps and threads on the bottles with hot water

- wash your hands with hot water and soap before you start

- try not to cough or sneeze anywhere near your 'filling station' - when you sneeze it covers a 6m area - how is that for an ew factor

And something I found out in my reading - never put containers that are storing water directly onto cement. So sit them on a board or such.

 

...And something I found out in my reading - never put containers that are storing water directly onto cement. So sit them on a board or such.

Why is it bad?

 

How about sterilizing the bottles with hydrogen peroxide? I´m a bit weary of bleach...

 

Can use denture tablets to help clean used bottles like you can with hydration bladders?

 

I use "Homer buckets" to store tap water. Those are the 5 gallon buckets available at Home Depot. They are very durable, have handles for easy transport, and lids that fit very tight. And they're cheap. In a SHTF situation the buckets can be used for other things as the water is used. Very good to have around.

~John

 

There are issues with some plastics and sunlight as well, this merits some research.
UV causes some plastics to break down, etc...

I sterilize with potassium metabisulphate but bleach will do the job.

 

You can easily sterilize with a product called "One Step". I use it to sanitize my equipment and bottles when I brew beer.

http://www.homebrewers.com/product/6016B

 

I've currently got over 200L of frozen tap water sitting, ready to thaw.

I'm also willing to drink the water out of my hot water tank just the same, and would use (after prep) water from the toilet reservoirs.

Best bet would be to contact your local water supplier, and ask them since they will have a full grasp of what chemical treatments have been done to your water supply, and the overall quality of the water.

But in a disaster, I'll take my tap water over ditch water any day.

:

 

Tap water can be stored ofcourse and I have a pair of 55 gallon food grade drums filled. I have a Pepsi bottler near and they sold the empty syrup drums for $5 each. I cleaned them with a intense spray from a garden hose and set them in the basement for filling. (You'll need to set them first as they'll weigh over 400 lb when filled!) I added 4 teaspoons of sodium hypochlorate (common laundry bleach) to achieve a 3-5 ppm chlorine residual. I turn the water over every 2 years and I've sampled the water at 2 years. It tastes clean and fresh, crystal clear. These drums have a standard "bung plug" that you can buy a low cost pump to screw in when you need to draw from them otherwise the standard plug stays in place.

 

Hmm... Would "hardening" the safe room with water barrels be doable? Water barrels themselves arent bulletproof, but surely three feet of water is. Any info on this, or rather, what caliber is required to go thru-and-thru a water filled barrel? I would think a 400 lb steel drum would pretty much be hurricaine proof also...hmmm....

 

Ever watched mythbusters?
They proved that between 1-2.5 feet of water will stop even the most powerful bullets. The more powerful the bullet the less water needed to stop it.

 

I save just about every plastic bottle I get. I especially like the one-quart soda bottles because they fit into my Prius center console cup holder (just barely). I have everything from one-ounce eye-dropper and spray mist bottles to one-gallon jugs in dozens of different configurations.

Cheap to store, easy to dispose of if need be.

My suggestion would be to put about one drop of household type chlorine in a half-gallon bottle filled with tap water you want to store for more than a couple of weeks. I understand that chlorine dissipates so if you're storing water for more than a year I'd worry about bacteria growth.

I use Britta pitchers to filter the water and put it into bottles I take with me every day. When I'm on the road I always refill the bottles and drink mostly water, probably about two gallons in total per day. I find this keeps me very refreshed unlike drinking soda or coffee all day (like I used to do).

David