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A 55 gallon drum bouncing and rolling about, breaking ain't worth squat when you really need it.
true, I had thought about that and thats why Id like to store them horizontally side by side. Was thinking of building a wood stand to cradle them, kepp them off the ground. I decided against building a frame to stack them vertically like the pictures I showed at the start of this thread...
 
Consider: Water weighs 8.34 lb per gallon. Thus a 55 gallon drum clocks in around 458.7 lbs plus the weight of the drum.

In my neck of the woods, in the event of the "Big One", the ground is expected to move back & forth a distance of/near/about ONE FOOT for somewhere/about/almost 5 minutes.

A 55 gallon drum bouncing and rolling about, breaking ain't worth squat when you really need it. Laying it/them on some wood and/or cement blocks................I gotta think about that one.

Better anchor those puppies!

Foreverlost,

That's a great point!

I suppose some 4x4's in the cinder blocks as side support would help but on the ground would be best for sure.
 
Please remember what happens to water in the winter around here. There are many systems but the ones that allow constant exchange of water will give you the best results as long as the tank/barrel can stand the pressure. If there is no movement then you have to have it in a heated area or put heat on/in it. Having water flow through it all the time will keep it fresh and reduce the chance of freezing. Moving water wrapped well in layers of insulation will serve you well. ;)
 
The part you're looking for is called a washer bulkhead. Home Depot carried three sizes. They're all tapped for a variety of valves and fittings. You can hook up anything you want with them.
They're all NPT too.
 
I'm about to invest in some water storage (in addition to filters ) for the impending CSZ quakeapocalypse. 55 gallon blue barrels are an obvious choice. However, I'm wondering how durable they are in the event of a powerful earthquake. Can they burst? Would it be better to get a bunch of smaller 5 or 8 gallon stackable containers?
 
Can they burst? Would it be better to get a bunch of smaller 5 or 8 gallon stackable containers?
Im not too worried about it, they are pretty durable and Im going to place them in a location where they can move around (quake) and build a low profile rack for them to sit on side by side (not stacked) low to the ground (but off the ground by a couple inches) I doubt 55 gallons will bounce. If the quake is that bad to break them, I've got bigger problems.

I am actually slightly concerned about protecting the spigots (from something impacting them) on the bottom bung cap I might build that protection into the rack. The bung caps that come with the blue barrels are plastic.
 
If this is going to be in the house why not plumb it into your inbound water supply

What kind of pressure can these barrels and their fittings take? :confused: Will the fittings survive a quake?

Seems to me, if you want your water to survive a big quake, the last thing to do is to tie them down or put them in racks. Instead, lay them on ground, on a tarp to keep dirt off them. Allow them to roll around, why not? Don't leave any fittings in them other than the flush ones (just put enough chlorine in that you don't have to worry about the water). I'd think about covering them with something like a SIP (structural insulated panel) or a home-made version of one. Put a little heater inside and you are good for winter.

You'd need 9 barrels to equal one 500 gallon tank. Why mess with barrels? Look at the 1100 gallon tank in this list
http://www.gradybarrels.com/tank_sizes_specs.html
87" dia and 53" high, very stable. Easier to protect against freezing too. Keep it outside your home unless you are sure your home won't collapse (that's right, you mostly can't be sure).

One other consideration, if you are on a well, it might make more sense to invest in solar pumping than in a big tank or barrels. Solar and water pumping were almost made for each other. Panels are getting cheap these days. You will be very popular with your neighbors too, more than you would be if you were keeping them away from your water tank... :eek:

I am on a well but have a newish AC pump unfortunately. However I also have a generator, with a tank of propane that would pump a lot of water. What I worry about is that tank of propane rolling down the hill...
 
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The way any water container lasts a quake is how or what it is sitting on. If you make a very sturdy rack or have them standing on concrete,they should do fine. Have them on a old wood deck or some 2x4s maybe not. Remember a pint's a pound the world around so how much do 2 55 gal containers and your rack/stand weigh?
As far as the spigots being OK ,if they touch anything in a quake,I would expect them to pop out of the barrel. Threads break off easy. If the barrel is standing up and nothing touches the fittings,as long as they don't weigh too much they should be fine.I would think they would roll with the drum. If they were long,tall and heavy,the threads could give out
I'm figuring this out also,and I'm thinking of keeping the fittings plastic and close to the drum. Nothing should need to stick out very far
I guess if you made a rack somewhat like a oil drum stand is made it should be fine.
Could a guy get some ,maybe,1 1/2 inch closed cell foam to rest the tank on in the rack?
 
the blue drums can be stored standing up, or on their sides in a rack.

the problem with storing them upright is you need something to extract the water... a pump or a siphon tube. If SHTF, I dont want to rely on storing extra items.... that may get damaged or lost in the event.

storing them horizontally, the drums are more stable in a quake, but then you need a spigot/hose bib pre attached to the bottom bung hole... or you could siphon from the upper bung cap. The downside is the spigot could get damaged, if it breaks you wont have any water at all. Im thinking of ideas to build some spigot protection into the rack design.
 
the blue drums can be stored standing up, or on their sides in a rack.

the problem with storing them upright is you need something to extract the water... a pump or a siphon tube. If SHTF, I dont want to rely on storing extra items.... that may get damaged or lost in the event.

storing them horizontally, the drums are more stable in a quake, but then you need a spigot/hose bib pre attached to the bottom bung hole... or you could siphon from the upper bung cap. The downside is the spigot could get damaged, if it breaks you wont have any water at all. Im thinking of ideas to build some spigot protection into the rack design.

As the devils advocate, might I suggest standing them upright and just go buy a RV or other similar drinking safe hose and just siphon the water out as you need it. No pump required, unless you want to go to harbor fright and buy one of those little hand primer pumps.

You could easily install a garden hose connection and run PVC down to the bottom of the barrel and cut it at an angle.

Just another thought, but it sounds like you already have a good idea your working on.
 
As the devils advocate, might I suggest standing them upright and just go buy a RV or other similar drinking safe hose and just siphon the water out as you need it. No pump required, unless you want to go to harbor fright and buy one of those little hand primer pumps.

You could easily install a garden hose connection and run PVC down to the bottom of the barrel and cut it at an angle.

Just another thought, but it sounds like you already have a good idea your working on.

Im still open to the idea of storing them vertically and using a siphon. It might depend on how difficult it is to design and build a rack. Im just thinking ideally I like the idea of a hose spigot.
I just havent had time right now to sit down and draft something out as im in the middle of another home project. Ill get to it, if I come up with a cool, easy to build rack Ill share here.
 
The way any water container lasts a quake is how or what it is sitting on. If you make a very sturdy rack or have them standing on concrete,they should do fine. Have them on a old wood deck or some 2x4s maybe not.

Seems to me this is exactly backward. If you want things to not break, don't subject them to high accelerations. Let them roll, particularly laying on the relatively soft ground, only loosely restrained.

They might work in a very low rack if the rack itself is not bolted to the concrete, and can itself slide around a bit.
 
couple of projects completed and hoping to get back to this. I found out what the fitting is I need its a spigot with a 3/4" pipe thread and will fit any RV water hose.
hose bib.jpg

so tonight I took the time to model up a horizontal rack made from 2x4's. It has the drums set back a bit to protect the spigots and doubles as a table or shelf. I made it so I can add as many supports as I want to support the drums since they will weigh so much. I don't think it will cost that much for material, my cutlist is 7ea 8ft long 2x4s, 3 2x3s and one 4x8 sheet of plywood or OSB. Here is a screenshot, for scale I made a crude model of a 6ft tall person. Fun stuff.
water storage rack.JPG
 
Interesting!

I'm no expert, but wouldn't your rack be better (on soil) with another sheet of ply along the bottom? Kinda letting the entire rack act as a skid/sled in the event your soil liquifies, instead of tearing it apart.

As pictured I'd imagine that rack would be perfect on cement slab, in a garage etc.

The more I think on this, I'm wondering if there's any info (tests etc) on the inter webs in regards to storing those barrels on soil to survive earthquakes.

Also, isn't there a risk of folks with wells, having their wells fail during an earthquake?
 
I'm no expert, but wouldn't your rack be better (on soil) with another sheet of ply along the bottom? Kinda letting the entire rack act as a skid/sled in the event your soil liquifies, instead of tearing it apart.

As pictured I'd imagine that rack would be perfect on cement slab, in a garage etc.

thats a good point about soil surface but I designed the rack to sit on a concrete floor in my shed.

Its working great so far but I had to redesign the barrel supports from the picture shown....
 

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