Suburban water storage

[Geardo]

2.5 gal jugs of bottled water are around .60¢ or less at winco.

I drink a gallon of water a day minimum. My wife and daughter are closer to 1.5 gallons a day. Add 2.5 gallons a day for the dog, dishes, hand towel showers and we are at about 5 gallons a day.

I normally buy 1 gallon jugs to make it easier to keep track of my water intake though for the week. Yes, I know there are cheaper ways to get water but it's an extra $3-4 dollars a week to make it stupid simple for me.

I'm now seriously considering buying the 2.5 gallon jugs a couple at a time when I buy my 1 gallon jugs for the week to start stashing them. When I hit 60 then I'll probably go into rotation mode and start filling 1 gallon jugs from the 2.5 jugs.

I already have a 35 gal once used food grade drum I keep full and a bottle of bleach on hand but that seems inadequate after reevaluating my water needs.

Thanks for explaining quantities. I agree sanitation is a big issue. I try to keep plenty of disposable plates/bowls/utensils on hand for this as well. Not that we will have a backyard soon, a latrine or 5 gal bucket toilet in the shed are options.

Based on the Winco 2.5 gal cost (are they really that cheap?) It is a no-brainer to stock away a 3 month supply of drinking water ($50) + another $50 for sanitation, and maybe some rain barrels for extra sanitation water.

 

[Geardo]

Sanitation is also key and water is part of that. 3 years ago during a really cold. January my well froze and I had no water- I used all of my stored water, most for flushing the toilets and had to go to the neighbor to get my containers (4x 7 gal reliant and 1x 50 gal drum) refilled- I went through about 30 gallons a day. I would have made a latrine outside but at minus 5 it was just not going to happen, the ground is hard as steel.

I've since fixed the well and have a gen-set too so water should never be a problem again (unless the well pump goes out). that frozen few days taught me just how much water my family goes through and like ammunition, more is better,

When I was growing up, our well started going dry every summer as more people moved into the neighborhood and drew down the water table.

I remember my dad having to fill a big tank in the back of his truck every couple of days.

Looking back on that makes me laugh at thinking I would be prepared with a few 55 gallon drums.... But bare survival is a lot different than being comfortable!

 

[mrblond]

When I was growing up, our well started going dry every summer as more people moved into the neighborhood and drew down the water table.

I remember my dad having to fill a big tank in the back of his truck every couple of days.

Looking back on that makes me laugh at thinking I would be prepared with a few 55 gallon drums.... But bare survival is a lot different than being comfortable!

I was on a well as well untill 8-10 years ago when it dried up, had to switch to the crap city water.

 

[3MTA3]

Used food grade IBC totes come in 275 and 330 gallon sizes and run from $100 to $175 each. Clean them and used some pool shock, then rinse out and fill. Treated city water can last ten years without any additional treatments. I plan on several (six of the 330 gallon totes) after I get situated and then each year will use one for garden water so the water in each gets rotated. They have steel reinforcement cages and can be stacked if needed. I plan to build a "shed" around mine (in a 2x3 pattern with an access aisle down the middle) for protection from the elements as well as appearance and opsec

Here is a local ad (no affiliation): <broken link removed>


Also get a Berkey water filter. The Big Berkey is the best one for most of us but do your research. Safecastle has the best deals and right now 25% off (again no affiliation). The black filters are even good enough to remove 99.99% of viruses let along bacteria. I got mine with four of the black filters. https://www.safecastle.com/collections/berkey

Get their membership and save money - you can get it for free if you snoop around.

 

[bolus]

My only concern with the soft rain barrel is they don't tell you the type of plastic, if it is safe to drink, etc?

If I'm far enough into having no water to start drinking from the rain water barrels (with rationing that will be after a month of no municipal water) then I wont really care if there are some plastic contaminants. Better than dying of leptospirosis from the nearby creeks.

 

[Geardo]

Used food grade IBC totes come in 275 and 330 gallon sizes and run from $100 to $175 each. Clean them and used some pool shock, then rinse out and fill. Treated city water can last ten years without any additional treatments. I plan on several (six of the 330 gallon totes) after I get situated and then each year will use one for garden water so the water in each gets rotated. They have steel reinforcement cages and can be stacked if needed. I plan to build a "shed" around mine (in a 2x3 pattern with an access aisle down the middle) for protection from the elements as well as appearance and opsec

Here is a local ad (no affiliation): <broken link removed>


Also get a Berkey water filter. The Big Berkey is the best one for most of us but do your research. Safecastle has the best deals and right now 25% off (again no affiliation). The black filters are even good enough to remove 99.99% of viruses let along bacteria. I got mine with four of the black filters. Water › Berkey

Get their membership and save money - you can get it for free if you snoop around.

Dang. This is serious. So about 1-2 years of water if you ration it right?

 

[3MTA3]

Dang. This is serious. So about 1-2 years of water if you ration it right?

Maybe six months if you consider some things:

• The first week of a shortage you will likely be fairly free with the water.
• When you realize it's going to last longer than that you will start to ration it a bit.
• What happens when close relatives who are also out of water show up?
• What happens when you see your neighbors and friends suffer from lack of water?

More is better and the totes are relatively inexpensive and water is cheap as well - at least it is right now. Three days without water is pretty much as long as you can last.

 

[Cavedweller]

Don't forget - if you are storing dehydrated food you are going to need extra water to reconstitute it. This will increase your water needs beyond just drinking and sanitation. One reason I am not a big fan of dehydrated foods.

 

[3MTA3]

Don't forget - if you are storing dehydrated food you are going to need extra water to reconstitute it. This will increase your water needs beyond just drinking and sanitation. One reason I am not a big fan of dehydrated foods.

Also rice, oatmeal, beans...

Think hydration, cooking, sanitation. Most of us have no idea how much we really use or need. It's worth taking a weekend and running your own drill to find out.

Also don't forget about all that water stored in your water heater. I'd still fill every bathtub and container I had before I lost water pressure even if I had a large supply held back. Even non potable water could be used to fill a toilet tank for a flush.

 

[Cavedweller]

A tip I remember from long ago: If you buy canned vegetables of the "no salt added" variety, you can drink the water from the can after draining the veggies.

 

[cigars]

This is awesome! I am assuming its a longer term solution then 1 gallon containers from the store, since you can refill?

How long do you expect a few of these to last?

I haven't done the math yet. I hate math. But with 220 gallons I can ride things out a bit longer than my neighbors who think that they can just knock on doors and borrow supplies after shtf.

 

[Geardo]

• What happens when close relatives who are also out of water show up?

• What happens when you see your neighbors and friends suffer from lack of water?

This is the advantage of not having any friends or family! Lol

 

[3MTA3]

I haven't done the math yet. I hate math. But with 220 gallons I can ride things out a bit longer than my neighbors who think that they can just knock on doors and borrow supplies after shtf.

I think I planned on 5 gallons per day per person for the first week. Since it may be a short term situation the extra water is used for toilets, washing up, etc.. After one week I figured that meant it was a longer term outage and plan on 2 gallons per day per person, which IIRC is recognized standard. Toilets are now impractical with tighter water rationing so it's time to dig a trench or other way to take care of sanitation. I already decided where mine will go in that eventuality. What about TP? Consider personal cloths and some way like bleach to clean them after the paper is gone. Seems like thread drift, but it's all related.

Do you know of any local water supply you can filter if you need it?
Do you have a location scoped out for an outhouse or trench?

Funny how preparedness topics seem to show how much so many things are interrelated.

 

[Member 34319]

Definitely get a Berkey filter. No sense in storing water, especially rain water outdoors, if you can not treat it. Berkey also gives a good info based need calculator on their website.

Berkey Water Filter Systems - World Leader in Portable Water Purification

For storing indoors.

Buy bottled water and keep it on hand. At least 1-2 cases per person per month. Depending on how long you feel you will need it.

Water bobs are great, you should have one for each of your tubs, as well as your garbage or waist containers.

WaterBOB - Emergency Drinking Water Storage | Keeps Water Fresh and Clean

Water bricks are also a great product. They stack well and can go in your crawl space.

Emergency Prepardeness - Disaster Relief Products

If you live near a water source, like a pond. Consider a water roller. Like this hippo roller. For transportation of h2o in the case it becomes hard or impossible to do so otherwise.

Hippo Roller

 

[Ura-Ki]

Ok, several states have water collection restrictions, and it can even vary in various counties. Do we know IF we can even collect rain water in our A.O.? I know when we lived in PDX, there were all sorts of water "Rules" and collection was not allowed, in fact, we had to pay for run off of our property! At My ranch in Co. Rain collection is verboten, and the fines are ruinous!
I bring this up in case collection is restricted, and also if you have storage that some one could think was collecting when it isn't, could lead to troubles we all want to avoid!

 

[FortunateSon]

Ok, several states have water collection restrictions, and it can even vary in various counties. Do we know IF we can even collect rain water in our A.O.? I know when we lived in PDX, there were all sorts of water "Rules" and collection was not allowed, in fact, we had to pay for run off of our property! At My ranch in Co. Rain collection is verboten, and the fines are ruinous!
I bring this up in case collection is restricted, and also if you have storage that some one could think was collecting when it isn't, could lead to troubles we all want to avoid!

From the State of Oregon -

"It is legal to collect and use rainwater without a surface water right IF it is collected from an artificial impervious surface (like a parking lot or building roof). You can read more about the uses that are exempt from a water right in our Water Rights in Oregon publication located at: http://www.oregon.gov/owrd/PUBS/docs/aquabookdec2013publication2016revised.pdf

 

[Cavedweller]

Collecting rainwater in Oregon is legal and encouraged. See http://www.oregon.gov/bcd/Documents/brochures/3660.pdf

You need deeded water rights to remove water from "public" sources (rivers, streams, lakes) but let's face it, after TEOTWAWKI, who is going to enforce those laws?

 

[3MTA3]

From the State of Oregon -

"It is legal to collect and use rainwater without a surface water right IF it is collected from an artificial impervious surface (like a parking lot or building roof). You can read more about the uses that are exempt from a water right in our Water Rights in Oregon publication located at: http://www.oregon.gov/owrd/PUBS/docs/aquabookdec2013publication2016revised.pdf

I'm so glad the birds don't crap on my roof...

 

[Cavedweller]

Collecting rain water is fine, but in the summer it can be a long time between rains. For the super serious, consider having a solar still for recycling waste water. Many designs are available by googling.

How to Make a Solar Still - DIY - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

 

[Superglide]

My small above ground pool (15 foot round by 3 ft deep) holds 530 cubic feet of water.
One cu ft = 7.5 gallons approx.
So that works out to almost 4000 gallons give or take a belly flop or two.