Water Storage and More
Since I am still dealing with limited typing and I have been receiving so many questions, I have decided that until I can type again I will forgo the posting schedule I had and just answer your questions and deal with immediate concerns. Thank you so much for all the questions and comments. I am sure when you have a question there are a dozen people out there with the same question who just haven’t asked it yet.
Water storage:
Water should never be stored in milk jugs. There are two reasons, first, they are porous and chemicals can easily leach into your water. Milk jugs are designed to begin biodegrading as soon as they are manufactured. This leads to the second reason they are poor containers for storage. They will leak. I knew this and I purchased some water in milk jug type, containers to have on hand when we were anticipating a power outage. We had the outage but I failed to use all the water. You guessed it, one day I went into the garage and the bottle had biodegraded and leaked all over the sewing machine cabinet on which it was sitting. Lesson learned.
Speaking of leaking, if you have read the section in Mother Hubbard on water storage you know that water should never be stored on concrete. Just in case you haven’t heard that before it is worth a mention. Plastic containers, any plastic, should not be stored directly on a concrete floor. Always place a wooden board, a few layers of carpeting, an old metal rack, something on the floor first. Concrete absorbs water from the ground beneath it. Concrete contains many poisonous chemicals and as it absorbs ground water these can leach into plastic containers. You would not taste them when drinking the water or when using it to prepare foods but they could make you sick.
Storing water in hard plastic juice containers and soda bottles is fine. They are constructed in a higher grade plastic and are good storage containers. Be sure to clean them well and if you ever open a container that has mold or particles floating in it use it only to water outdoor plants or to flush a toilet.
Storing water in old detergent containers and using the water to wash your hands is a tricky question. If you have small children I wouldn’t risk it. No matter how well you labeled the bottle for hand washing only, I would be afraid a child might drink it. Gosh, they’ll drink the detergent! If you are all adults in your home I don’t see a problem with doing this, just label it well, for two reasons, you don’t want anyone drinking or cooking with it and you also don’t want to assume you have a supply of detergent when you really have water.
55 gallon drums…It is very, very difficult to get syrup out of a drum. You will need to clean them several times and let the bleach sit in the barrel for a day or two before you rinse it out. Fill the barrels about 1/4 full with a bleach and water mixture. Rotate the barrels and be sure you turn it upside down and let it sit, as it is really hard to clean inside the top. I would not count on this water for drinking or cooking. It should be reserved for cleaning, toilet flushing and watering a garden. If you are purchasing used water barrels be aware that the barrel will absorb the flavor of the item originally stored in it, so, a pickle barrel will leave the water tasting like pickles, etc. NEVER, NEVER store water in a barrel that has been used for anything except a food ingredient.
The best way to store water is in glass, which is why I recommend filling your canning jars with water as you empty them. I know someone is going to send me a note and say glass breaks in an earthquake, yep, it will. If you live in earthquake country you should have your jars stored in boxes and you should have strips on your shelving to hold the boxes on the shelves. Where is earthquake country? Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, the Virginias, New Jersey, New York and New England…Did you know that? Naturally some are more prone to earthquake than others, but some faults move so rarely residents are not aware that it can happen there also. One of the most dangerous faults in the US is the New Madrid which would cause massive damage in all those states surrounding Kentucky.
Speaking of canning jars…I understand there was a shortage of jars last year in some places and if you missed it, Jeanette commented that her stores were well stocked right now with jars. You may want to think about stocking up. It would be a good time to send an email around to all your family and friends and ask if anyone has any jars they are willing to part with before you purchase a bunch. I gave away lots a few years ago when my family started shrinking. Some older women may be willing to give you jars if you just return a % of them filled. As we prepare to garden we also need to think about how we will preserve what we grow.
Keep those questions coming and I will try to keep up with the answers.
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Tips for storing water in canning jars that I don’t have boxes for? I’ve gotten lots of jars from family over the years, and most of them came without the boxes. Any ideas?
Julie,I have an idea about finding boxes for canning jars. My neighbor would go to the local grocery store and ask them to save the boxes that the mayonnaise they sold came in. They arranged for her to come into the store to get them on certain days of the week at a certain time. Remember, mayonnaise comes in quart, pint, and sometimes half pint sizes. By consistently doing this, she was able to obtain boxes for all of her jars.
While I am commenting, let me put in a word about bottle size. If you are single and you don’t normally feed a lot of visitors, consider canning your food in pint size jars or smaller. This would be true if there were only two of you at home. By doing this you will not be filling your fridge up with so many leftovers, and in case of a power outage, you won’t have large bottles of food in danger of spoiling.
Using smaller jars also works if you have a large family you are feeding. Sometimes only one or two family members will like a certain food–like apricots or pickled beets. By canning in smaller jars for the tastes of these family members you will also keep the number of opened jars in your fridge to a minimum.
Do you need to add anything to the water to be stored for drinking? I have heard a few drops of bleach, but I am not in love with that idea.
We are still waiting for the electricity to our well to be restored from the ice storm about two and half weeks ago. I would like to suggest having some of the larger water bottles that are made for refridgerator dispensing on hand. They work great for leaving on the edge of the sink for handwashing – much better than pouring from a bottle. Ours in 2.5 gallons and can be refilled though the lid/dispensor is a bit of a hassle. The water slows down after a few seconds due to needing air, but this has kept the kids from wasting water washing their hands.
I would also suggest keeping some empty pails handy to put under the eves for catching melt/rain water. It might not be potable without treatment but will flush a toilet.
Handsoap – foaming or watered down pump. Too much takes too long to wash off = more water. We soap up before using water, then rinse. Really isn’t the water before hand to thin the soap for spreading.
We have been in a bit of a bind because we moved here only two months ago. At our last home water was not a problem – it was almost everywhere but treating it was. Our emphasis was on filtering & treatments. Here is the opposite so while we are not totally without the difference in approaches is somewhat of a problem.
This is great advice. I’m looking into rainbarrels myself for the coming spring rains, mainly for gardening purposes.
I have purchased distilled water in plastic bottles shaped as the milk cartons but they are of a sturdier plastic. Do you still consider these in the same catigory as the milk containers? Elizabeth
Would plastic vinegar bottles work for water storage? I’ve been using vinegar as a water softener in my wash and so as I empty those, I could fill them with water if the plastic will last.
These are all great ideas! Thank you!
I read recently in your article “Water Storage – What if the Tap Goes Dry?” that chemicals are available to add to storage containers to preserve the water for five years. Where can I find more information on this? What are the chemicals? Thank you.