what kind of water do i buy that last long,or how can i prepare my own i heard that you can put some drops of peroxide per gallon,any sugestion?

-- moreno (zualcyda@aol.com), December 04, 1998

Answers

You can prepare your own. Put tap water into storage. Use old plastic pop bottles, or food grade water containers......you can get 5 gallon collapsible water bags at Walmart, you can also get 6 gallon 'jerry cans.' If you want larger tanks, try

http://www.watertanks.com

for barrels or for soft tanks ($89 for a 200 gallon tank). You might also be able to get old syrup tanks from soda distributors for next to nothing (55 gallon drums). If you use drums, be sure to get a drum pump.

You can treat the water with ordinary household bleach, 8 drops to the gallon, or with ionized oxygen which seems to offer water purification without the long term effects from the chemicals in bleach and iodine. It is sold under several brand names (Aerobic Life, Ion-stabilized Oxygen). Water treated this way should last a couple of years. Keep it dark in order to prevent breeding of little undesirables.

Boiling water (at least 10 minutes at a rolling boil)is the best purification technique for water that may be contaminated. You won't need this for your stored water, but keep it in mind if you have to drink water from a pond, stream, or river. Solar distillation:

http://www.solardome.com/SolarDome84.html

also works well, and doesn't require a heat source to boil the water.

Boiled water tastes flat. Air(and taste) can be restored by pouring the cooled water back and forth between two buckets or by shaking it in a partially filled jar or canteen. Filtering can help, even with boiled water. Chlorine in some form is also regarded as a dependable disinfectant for drinking water. Household bleach is good for this purpose (8 drops per gallon of water). When introduced in proper quantities, chlorine destroys any existing organisms. For as long as enough remains in the water, it prevents recurring contamination. It is better to err moderately on the side of over-dosage than not enough.

-- rocky (rknolls@hotmail.com), December 05, 1998.

Don't forget your hot water heater probably holds 30 to 40 gallons of good water. However sediment in the bottom will not be pleasant. Go flush it out now by opening the spigot on the botttom (you'll need a hose to direct the water to a drain).

LM

-- LM (latemarch@usa.net), December 05, 1998.

Don't forget you can gather water too. Definitely store plenty, but if the big one hits, you don't want your lifespan limited by your water storage. A plastic sheet stretched between a few trees and draining into a 5-gal bucket can collect rainwater safely. And you can collect a surprising amount of dew in the morning with a large sponge...often several gallons. Try it and see how well it works in your area. (You might want to avoid putting chemicals on your lawn...) Another option is a solar still, which is basically a hole in the ground with a bucket at the bottom, clear plastic layed over it with a rock in the middle weighing it down...The sun heats the ground, water evaporates, condenses on the plastic, rolls down into the bucket. A tube from the bucket lets you suck water out conveniently. This too is very clean water, between the distillation and filtering by earth. If you want more detailed directions I can post them later.

-- Shimrod (dont@email.com), December 05, 1998.

Solardome calls for silicone sealant. Be careful! Didn't a family almost croak a few years ago because of poisoning from sealant they gooked in their dishwasher?

-- TTF (seenit@ww2.com), December 05, 1998.