C'ant find water barrels 50gal will trash cans do.

-- Thanx (news@prep.com), August 19, 1999

Answers

I hope you are going to filter the water after you draw it out.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), August 19, 1999.

If you're talking about plastic trash cans, watch out for the chemicals in the plastic. You'd want to line plastic trash cans with some food-grade plastic liners before filling them with water you intend to drink. I think they're available from either www.usplastic.com or www.usplastics.com.

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), August 19, 1999.

Most trash can and trash bags as well are treated with insecticides, so do not use them to store anything. Try getting those blue water barrels that I see for sale at many locations. Diane

-- Diane (prepare@highlandtraders.com), August 19, 1999.

I have read that these are very dangerous due to the chemicals which are used to impregnate them, and that one must ONLY use what are called food-grade plastic drums for food and/or water. I even read that one must not use a garden hose for filling them for the same reason, but must use an RV water hose, and now must find one. You can check out the mail order Y2K prep houses if you aren't finding them locally. I cannot recommend the one from which I ordered, because they were priced much too high, but I was a newbie and that was my first purchase. You can find better prices. There have been posts that Costco has some coming in sporadically in some locations, but they are snatched up quickly. Good luck!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), August 19, 1999.

Around here you can get 55 gal. barrels for $12 that have been steam CLEANed. I know people that get their water from springs that dry up for a few months in the summer and have used them for water storage with no ill effects for years. They are painted inside and don't rust. FWIW

-- CT (ct@no.yr), August 19, 1999.

Thanx - I ordered food-safe mylar bags for 55 gal drums (4 for $16.95) from www.glitchproof.com and used them in 32 gal plastic garbage cans to store wheat. I am recommending them to new GI's because you can't pick up the 55 gal drums from Coke and Pepsi like we could earlier this year. I don't know this for sure about garden hoses, but I believe they would be fine to use since the water won't be standing inside the hose for a long period of time. When you turn hose on, run it a minute or two before you fill. We did use our RV hose for potable water since we already had it.

-- Sylvia (bluebirdms@aol.com), August 19, 1999.

I'm planning a similar tactic.

I wrote to Rubbermaid to find out if there was anything different between the plastics they use for their "food storage containers" and their "roughneck trash cans". Their response letter basically said that their "roughneck" refuse containers were designed for the typical residential storage, misc. bulky items, and other non-food products. The polymers they're made of "comply with food additive regulation 177.1520 for olefin polymers". At the time, I wasn't sure just what exactly this meant, but I was betting if it complies with a food additive regulation, this is a good thing. After some tough digging, I found the following at a gov't web page...

******************** From the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) PART 177--INDIRECT FOOD ADDITIVES: POLYMERS--Table of Contents Subpart B--Substances for Use as Basic Components of Single and Repeated Use Food Contact Surfaces Sec. 177.1520 Olefin polymers. The olefin polymers listed in paragraph (a) of this section may be safely used as articles or components of articles intended for use in contact with food, subject to the provisions of this section. (a) For the purpose of this section, olefin polymers are basic polymers manufactured as described in this paragraph, so as to meet the specifications prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section, when tested by the methods described in paragraph (d) of this section. ********************

Rubbermaid went on to say that since the containers weren't designed for food storage they have never been submitted for NSF or USDA sanction, but they were aware of them being used this way without problems. In a nutshell, my guess is they are coming out of the same plant. I figured if they work for food, why not try water.

Anyway, I figure I'll use "real" bottled water for drinking, but a couple of 45 gal Rubbermaid trash cans will be good enough to store some "other water" such as for washing, etc. And afterwards I'll also have a couple of nice new trash cans.

One final note. I figured I'd better try this idea out before I relied on it. So I bought two of the square Rubbermaid "roughneck" containers. They are the 45 gal. ones with two wheels, model #1345. I chose them because I figured the square design would take less room to store. One thing I didn't count on... once filled with water, they were very unstable. I attribute this to the shape and the wheels. I filled them with chlorinated water and set them out on the back deck as a test - figuring the outdoor heat (90+ most days) would speed up any mold problems, etc. After about 1 week, one of them tipped over. Two weeks later, the second one tipped over. While filled, they also showed signs of "stress", i.e. the sides had some strange bulges that weren't evident before filling.

My recommendation to anyone thinking about this is to get the round cans - I have a feeling they will do better at handling the weight of the water. Also, although the water from the 3 week test still smelled of chlorine (since I was starting with clean tap water, I only used half of the recommended "disinfection" amount), I was surprised at the number of bugs, including moths and millers, that had made their way into the can, even with the lid on. My lids will be taped/sealed to keep the critters out.

I think the plastic cans, at least the "round" shaped Rubbermaid brand, could probably be used safely, at least for your "other water" needs. Beware of some brands that are made of *recycled* plastics - never know what you're getting, or what that plastic had originally been used for (insecticide containers? oil or petroleum products?).

E.M.

-- Eyell Makedo (make_do@hotmail.com), August 20, 1999.

Our local WalMart has rain barrels in their Outdoor/Garden Center...55 Gallons for $25.

-- Ron Southwick (southwick@a-znet.com), August 20, 1999.

Use the white plastic 5, 6, or 7 gallon buckets you do for food storage. Easy to stack, can be carried by an adult even filled.

Food grade buckets say HDPE and have a 2 in the recycling triangle. All the new paint buckets I've seen at hardware store are also food grade.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), August 20, 1999.

Ron southwick@a-znet.com Can you get a part number so we can get them here (AL) Thanks Jim

-- Jim (a_234@hotmail.com), August 21, 1999.

Gardenerssupply.com--75-gall rain barrels, come with thumb-switch hose, overflow, insect screen, safety grid. Have two, stable, work as advertised. Around $100 each, less if you buy two. Realgoods.com also has rain barrels. Each company has diverter for downspout.

Also have two Rubbermaid garbage cans I use to store water for my ornamentals--work okay if you don't fill them too full--maybe 3/4--stick with size around 35-gall.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 21, 1999.

I have a 1300 gallon poly tank that came from a farm supply store. It is my main water supply cistern. Have been using it for 6 years. They come in many sizes, and are th ebest deal I was able tofind. In my early ressearch, it seemed like I was going to have to pay close to $1 per gallon for storage containers. I was looking into another 1500 gallon tank a few months back and they were under $400. A 225 gallon that was shaped to fit over the wheel wells in a pick-up was about $130.

-- David A Jones (jonesey@hotmail.com), August 25, 1999.

Our local (Seattle) Costco has 10 gal water barrels with a handle and two spouts for $15.99. Just remember the weight factor when storing and moving your water. take care ben

-- ben (bent@premier1.net), August 26, 1999.