Suggestions on storing 2 1/2 gallons of water in a vehicle for 2+ years

[CamoDeafie]

Agreed about metal or ceramic for long term water storage.. but.... I'd be concerned about rust even with stainless steel. Ceramic might be more brittle if like literal clay pots with wax sealing on the other hand... stainless steel tanks have been used for a long time... aluminum can corrode/react with chlorine in the water, and leach out aluminum oxides, so thats another reason to avoid used aluminum water bottles

 

[Pacific NW Rider]

Just for sake of a discussion. I am putting together a 48 Willys Jeep and off road travel trailer to go on long far away from civilization adventures. To that end one of the things I want to store in the Willys is an emergency 72+ hour food stash for two people. I already have the basic food kits from one of the major Survival Food outfits with a 25 year storage life. BUT they require water to prepare so I need a way to store water for a long period of time. And it has to be a pretty rugged container as it will get bounced around. This food along with other items will be stored in a small foot locker under the back seat of the Willys (if the seat is retained otherwise it will just be packed with other stuff in the 36" X 39" x 36" rear bed of the WIllys.

SO anyone got a favorite container or containers (preferred multiples for safety) That can add up to 2.5 gallons of water?

And is there any reason not to use 2 liter pop bottles they seam almost indestructible.

Dont forget to chlorinate the stored water. 8 drops per gallon of household bleach will do it. I stored water in my garage, in 20g polypropylene containers for 2 years and it was perfect.

 

[HB of CJ]

Get some diet tonic water. No sugar. One liter size or what works for you. The plastic bottles are very well made and the unopened liter bottles can be made into very effective fire extinguishers. Unscrew, place a strong thumb over the opening and shake.

I found a couple liter bottles of this stuff in the SUV that had to have been there for 5 years. Perfectly good. Will endure hard freezes. I use the quinine for nighttime leg cramps. Lots of vids on U Tube showing how much fun such bottles are.

 

[ATCclears]

What about a case of water from Costco? $3.00

Write the date on the outside of the plastic. Replace every six months. Simple.

 

[revjen45]

Freezing is something to take into account. As my wife was loading groceries into the trunk of the car she noticed that the carpet was wet. We kept a couple of gallon jugs of water in the trunk and they had frozen and split. Now we don't leave jugs in the car during the coldest part of the year.

 

[The Heretic]

I have some Nalgene bottles in my daily driver - enough to fill a bladder or two in my GHB.

Someone here on NWFA gave me (free) a number of commercial lab grade carboy bottles that would probably resist freezing and rough treatment - but personally I would not carry them in my daily driver as I have no way to fasten them down so that they are safe in a serious car accident - take that into account; if 2.5 gallons of water goes flying and hits a passenger, they could be seriously injured or killed.

There are water containers meant for off-road use. I would use those instead.

 

[Spitpatch]

 

[BigDog67]

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.

W. C. Fields

 

[Camelfilter]

Any number of suitable containers "free", if you normally buy and enjoy said on occasion.

Arizona Iced Tea.
Kroger Apple Juice (Fred Myer).
Gatorade.

Etc.

Nice features on most above are a wider mouth, easier to ad in powders if you want to. "Emergen-C" brand as an easy example.

Sturdier plastics than just standard water bottles, some above being more cube shaped may better utilize space.

Rinse well & use the bleach drop method previously mentioned. Pack as space permits using a wool or fleece blanket, towel or microfiber shop clothes. To mitigate plastic on metal vibration.

likely all but the most sturdy (and expensive) plastic bottles will get chewed thru swiftly without mitigation. Nalgene camp/commute stuff, cubes, rotopacks, Scepters (Mil Surp) etc.

 

[BigDog67]

I freeze water in Gatorade bottles to put in my cooler. They stand up to repeated freezings. But they can only be filled about 7/8 or so to allow for expansion.

 

[jbett98]

There's a bunch of different options with Land Rovers. Far more then I would have thought.

 

[galvweld]

Am fortunate to have a deep well as a water source here in Arizona so need not worry about water or power. Keep a generator in good repair for emergency home use. Well is 400 feet deep and supplies limited water, have a 2500 surface tank on site I keep full. Actually need to haul some water today to keep supply at maximum. Have 3/4 truck outfitted with convenient 200 gallon tank. Use a 1/2 horse transfer pump.

During a recent Winter storm in Oregon went without power for 9.5 days. Since generator also kept limited power to house and we needed water for bathrooms to function. I went back my experience from Alaska. Loaded numerous five gallon buckets in the pickup and hauled toilet water from the McKenzie River. Toilets work great on river water.

Had two wells on property Oregon. Both had water at 14 feet. Depending on where you live a neighbor may have a well you can share? Or get ambitious and see if you can hand drive a well point to shallow ground water. Survival water should come before getting permission from local or State government to place an "irrigation well, not piped to house." Some States don't even allow you to capture run-off from rain on your own property, even if it hits your roof and runs into your down spouts.

 

[Mark W.]

Am fortunate to have a deep well as a water source here in Arizona so need not worry about water or power. Keep a generator in good repair for emergency home use. Well is 400 feet deep and supplies limited water, have a 2500 surface tank on site I keep full. Actually need to haul some water today to keep supply at maximum. Have 3/4 truck outfitted with convenient 200 gallon tank. Use a 1/2 horse transfer pump.

During a recent Winter storm in Oregon went without power for 9.5 days. Since generator also kept limited power to house and we needed water for bathrooms to function. I went back my experience from Alaska. Loaded numerous five gallon buckets in the pickup and hauled toilet water from the McKenzie River. Toilets work great on river water.

Had two wells on property Oregon. Both had water at 14 feet. Depending on where you live a neighbor may have a well you can share? Or get ambitious and see if you can hand drive a well point to shallow ground water. Survival water should come before getting permission from local or State government to place an "irrigation well, not piped to house." Some States don't even allow you to capture run-off from rain on your own property, even if it hits your roof and runs into your down spouts.

HUH want are you going on about? I was asking about how to best carry 2.5 gallons of water in my Willys Jeep to be used to make the 72 hour emergency rations eatable. What does any of what you said have to do with that inquiry?

 

[Tony617]

I have the following water packet that I keep in my car. They expire every 5 years. We use these in our earthquake kits as well.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Datrex-1...=sem&msclkid=66cd200a39c4123ed47a7ff7de189486

 

[galvweld]

HUH want are you going on about? I was asking about how to best carry 2.5 gallons of water in my Willys Jeep to be used to make the 72 hour emergency rations eatable. What does any of what you said have to do with that inquiry?

Only possible resources.

 

[Mark W.]

If I am stuck out in the woods or desert or middle of no where. Anything not with me at the time will be of no use.

 

[galvweld]

No water, no food, no help. Stick your head between your knees and kiss yourself goodbye.

 

[Tony617]

I have the following water packet that I keep in my car. They expire every 5 years. We use these in our earthquake kits as well.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Datrex-125-ml-Emergency-Disaster-or-Survival-Water-Pouch-Pack-of-128/863008810?wmlspartner=wmtlabs&adid=22222222223108650107&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=s&wl2=m&wl3=75316679921958&wl4=pla-4578916214943789&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=& wl10=Walmart&wl12=863008810_10000001882&wl14=emergency water packets&veh=sem&msclkid=66cd200a39c4123ed47a7ff7de189486

i also have two stage life straw but need to have clean water to rinse it out so have emergency water packets for that.

 

[Siglvr]

I've been watching this thread for some time. Thinking someone will come up with a great answer which am unfamiliar with. I just realized what you need and why you have not received a good answer yet. It's simple. Forget about storing 2 and a 1/2 gallons of water. You don't need 2+ gallons of water. But you do need water. As you have a vehicle, just get a few Datrex packs of water and perhaps 1-2 water filters. There is water everywhere around here, all you need is enough water to get to that source and a way to filter it once you get there. Bamm. Don't store 2 gallons- get a small amount of water so you can get there (it might be a puddle 10 feet from where your jeep died) and the ability to purify more. End of story.

f it was me I'd get a MSR filter, a Life straw and a UV filter. I've sucked what amounts to 3rd world sewage out of snowmelt water with an MSR filter and none of us got sick. I've UV filtered and lifestrawed and it all works good. You don't need 2-1/2 gallons of water stored, you need unlimited fresh purified water, which the filters can achieve and as water weighs 8 lbs per gallons, your filters are a lot less lbs than the 20 the water would weight which you are thinking you need .

Best

 

[CountryGent]

I haven't looked in a long time for storage water but there use to be "canned" water available with a long shelf life that the life rafts had onboard. Also, I wonder if just buying a few boxes of bottled water will work for you, and just rotate the boxes out once a year.

The canned type are still around. We keep a few in each vehicle, along with bottled water, and water purification tablets and a "life straw".