Water Storage Ideas

[KK6SJJ]

http://www.disaster-survival-guide.com/emergency-water-storage/

The above link discusses water storage options and if you scroll down the page there is a chart you can reference for chlorinating water depending on the size of your container.

 

[KG6YGC]

http://www.disaster-survival-guide.com/emergency-water-storage/

The above link discusses water storage options and if you scroll down the page there is a chart you can reference for chlorinating water depending on the size of your container.

This is an excellent site. I use the 7 gallon Aqua-Tainers and the blue 55 Gallon drums. BUT...the water treatment doesn't appear to be consistent with FEMA specs @ 16 drops vs the disaster-survival-guide site @ 8 drops per gallon.

Here's the FEMA document
https://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf

<snip p11 and 12>
Add 16 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let
stand for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight bleach odor. If it
doesn’t, then repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. If it still
does not smell of bleach, discard it and find another source of water.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Bump, looking at options to store emergency water. Fema document has good information on safe storage.

 

[TIN_CAN]

I use rain water direct in a 1000L food grade tote in cage right now for toilet wash dishes and shower, tank gets good sunlight and I see some green algae scattered about so I add javex to tank when I first arivve at property and seem to work ok but going to improve on filtration and covering tank from sunlight.

 

[Alabama Buckeye]

I use rain water direct in a 1000L food grade tote in cage right now for toilet wash dishes and shower, tank gets good sunlight and I see some green algae scattered about so I add javex to tank when I first arivve at property and seem to work ok but going to improve on filtration and covering tank from sunlight.

Halt algae growth in hydroponics with black versus white 5 gallon buckets.
Why not paint the totes?

 

[TIN_CAN]

Halt algae growth in hydroponics with black versus white 5 gallon buckets.
Why not paint the totes?

I plan to use till we winterize in November sometime, then pull out existing tank wich is nasty and install the new tank, which I am just going to spray all black cage and all, and start fresh when I get up there again in the spring. Hope to solve as when is closed and we come up to stay its a bit fusty smelling from the shower drain which is right above the grey water filter run off, when we flush toilet multiple times and run all the taps a bit it clears the fusty smell. I am sure the existing tank is the culprit.

 

[Alabama Buckeye]

my First thought is stagnant water is lines; since it clears up after flow through. I imagine you drain lines when property vacant for awhile but perhaps all is not vacated, due to a droopy section? I'm guessing your plumbing is PVC? Doesn't have antibacterial benefit of copper.

What if at season opener you were to valve switch to auxiliary 5-10 gallon tank of high chlorine/gallon. Might resolve question of tank or line fault.

And if PVC plumbing, high chlorine/water flush approaches antibacterial benefit of copper.

 

[brandon7861]

my First thought is stagnant water is lines; since it clears up after flow through. I imagine you drain lines when property vacant for awhile but perhaps all is not vacated, due to a droopy section?

Be aware of Legionellosis and eliminate all capped lines (stagnant sections of pipe) no longer in use and you should be ok. When in doubt, chlorine!

I use rain water direct in a 1000L food grade tote in cage right now for toilet wash dishes and shower, tank gets good sunlight and I see some green algae scattered about so I add javex to tank when I first arivve at property and seem to work ok but going to improve on filtration and covering tank from sunlight.

Sunlight may promote algae, but darkness promotes mold growth. If you get a good green algae (rather than a toxic red, or blue variety) it will likely serve as a filter and remove nitrates/phosphates from the water that allow other bad things to grow. Learn your algae and take advantage of it! Brown algae is a topic of its own if you grow crops with it and want to avoid root rot.

 

[brandon7861]

We have no running water where we live. We do have a well now, but it is not plumbed in. Before that, we used lake water pumped into a barrel (gravity fed to house). Surprisingly, we never had any health issues with the lake water (even though things were swimming in it), but when we got the deep well put in, things changed. Being we have no household plumbing, we opted to have the well guys not install a check valve so that the water would drain back down in the winter when the well pump was unplugged. After a year, the hose that ran in the window to the barrel, and the hose from that barrel to the shower, started to grow a mold that would not otherwise have grown in a flooded and or copper system. We started having lung issues and felt like crap all the time. Each time we would start the shower pump, the first minute would produce an atmosphere in the shower that made breathing uncomfortable. Dark+wet+air+time=very bad for people. I'll take algae and lake bacteria over mold every time! I now bleach all our hoses 3x a year minimum and have had no further issues.

 

[Alabama Buckeye]

I'll take algae and lake bacteria over mold every time! I now bleach all our hoses 3x a year minimum and have had no further issues.

I was unaware mold grew in a flooded environments. You spoke of flooded or copper environs. Why no check valves on you hose lines? Would inhibit mold spores entering hoses.
I assume you utilize a gravity filter system for potable water, maybe a Berkey ceramic filter system?
Speaking of "feeling like crap". Suffered myself a long time from Giardiasis, a result of my life in Alaska. Stayed ahead of dehydration with my love for Dark home-brew
I'd would have loved to visit your area. I won't fly anymore.

 

[brandon7861]

I was unaware mold grew in a flooded environments. You spoke of flooded or copper environs. Why no check valves on you hose lines? Would inhibit mold spores entering hoses.
I assume you utilize a gravity filter system for potable water, maybe a Berkey ceramic filter system?
Speaking of "feeling like crap". Suffered myself a long time from Giardiasis, a result of my life in Alaska. Stayed ahead of dehydration with my love for Dark home-brew
I'd would have loved to visit your area. I won't fly anymore.

It is not flooded, air goes in the hoses. That is why I had the issue.
The reason for having no check valve is because the well is not plumbed into the house. There is a little unheated shed covering the well, and from there, I have a hose (through a PVC pipe to hold it straight) into the house where a barrel fills. If there were a check valve, the water in the line would freeze since it's above ground. The hose to the window drains back down into the well so even at -40°F we have no issue.

Now that I bleach the hoses and well on occasion, we don't have the mold issue anymore. We don't filter the water either. It is safe to drink, but with the mineral content, it would plug filters rapidly. Once the water is heated a little, the calcium bicarbonate turns into the carbonate and precipitates out (with iron) making the water look cloudy. For cooking, we fill three gallon jugs down the road a few miles where there is a spring by a creek with excellent water someone pounded a pipe into. There are a lot of those natural springs around here.

Before the well was put in we would use lake water. I would use electrocoagulation with a car battery and a pair of rods (one aluminum, one steel) in 5 gallon buckets followed by sand filtration.

 

[Alabama Buckeye]

It is not flooded, air goes in the hoses. That is why I had the issue.
The reason for having no check valve is because the well is not plumbed into the house. There is a little unheated shed covering the well, and from there, I have a hose (through a PVC pipe to hold it straight) into the house where a barrel fills. If there were a check valve, the water in the line would freeze since it's above ground. The hose to the window drains back down into the well so even at -40°F we have no issue.

Now that I bleach the hoses and well on occasion, we don't have the mold issue anymore. We don't filter the water either. It is safe to drink, but with the mineral content, it would plug filters rapidly. Once the water is heated a little, the calcium bicarbonate turns into the carbonate and precipitates out (with iron) making the water look cloudy. For cooking, we fill three gallon jugs down the road a few miles where there is a spring by a creek with excellent water someone pounded a pipe into. There are a lot of those natural springs around here.

Before the well was put in we would use lake water. I would use electrocoagulation with a car battery and a pair of rods (one aluminum, one steel) in 5 gallon buckets followed by sand filtration.

I see sayeth the blind man. No insulation nor insolation; insolation, the bane of algae growth.

Can you count on your trusted water source to remain pure, and available?

I mentioned gravity fed water filters. Its a miracle! Turn pond scum water to safe drinking water. There are two principal brands to my knowledge British Berkefeld (Berkey) and AquaRain. The latter was my choice 20+ years ago and still doing it's job today. The Royal Berkey, 3.25 gallon Vs AquaRain-404, 3.0 gal; what a difference 1.5" height makes.

AquaRain 404 Family Filter

Model 404 Family Unit is the perfect size for a family or group. This unit has a 3 gallon stainless steel housing with (4) high performance ceramic filters and is rated 1 gallon per hour when kept...

www.getmeprepared.com

Current comparison $430 with 2 filters Vs $345 with 4 filters. The difference is not merely rate of filtration.

AquaRain vs Berkefeld

What is the difference between the AquaRain Water Filter System and the British Berkefeld? The British Berkefeld water filter is a well-designed system that relies on ceramic technology...

www.getmeprepared.com

The filters do require periodic cleaning and with the high mineral content you speak of it would be more often. In my experience cleaning these ceramic filters gently prolongs their life. I use the older worn out green scrubber pads often associated with the kitchen sink. They become soft with useage and I feel they do very little if any wearing done on the filter elements. I still get ~ 1 gallon filtered water per hour with 4 elements, from when new.

 

[brandon7861]

Unglazed terracotta flower pots make great gravity water filters. There are a few videos out there about it.

 

[Alabama Buckeye]

Unglazed terracotta flower pots make great gravity water filters. There are a few videos out there about it.

Before I was a little shaver we lived in Spain. Was my first experience with drinking cool water stored in terracotta jugs. The magic of evaporative cooling.