do I add MORE chlorine to store? I've checked Hyatt's book and others and still can't figure out what is right.

-- John Q (contemplatingwater@storage.com), December 05, 1999

Answers

Hi John,

This is what the American Red Cross has to say about water. You can go to www.redcross.org/Y2K.html

sorry linking is not my best area.

It reads:

Do I need to treat water before storing it?

Use directions provided by your local or state public health agency. In the case where your local or state public health agency does not have information, follow the recommendation below. Make sure the water storage container you plan to use is of food grade quality. If your local water is treated commercially by a water treatment utility, you do not have to treat the water before storing it. Treating water with bleach is superfluous and not necessary. Doing so does not increase storage life. It is important to change and replace stored water every six months. If your local water is NOT treated commercially by a water treatment facility, that is, if your water comes from a public well or other public, non-treated system, follow instructions provided by your water provider for what may need to be done to store such water for extended periods. Still, change and replace stored water every six months. If your local water comes from a private well or other private source, consult with your local public health agency about recommendations regarding storage of water. Some water sources have contaminants (minerals or parasites) that can not be neutralized by treatment with liquid household chlorine bleach. Only your local public health agency should make recommendations about whether your local water can be safely stored, for how long, and how to treat it.

hope this helps Beth

-- Beth (Craig@icu2.net), December 05, 1999.

Beth--thanks. Exactly what I was looking for!

-- John Q (contemplatingwater@storage.com), December 05, 1999.

However, with city-chlorinated water it is recommended that you rinse out your containers with a 5% bleach solution so as to kill any organisms that might be present in the container. (The same solution can be reused for innumerable containers at one time.)

A reminder about the shelf-life of chlorine/bleach. Bleach begins to lose its effectiveness after about 6 months. At one year, it has lost 50% of its power. So use twice as much! If you can detect a faint chlorine smell in your drinking water, it should still be safe to drink. A regular Brita or Pur water filter (pitcher type) will remove the chlorine taste prior to drinking.

If you do not have a dark place to store your drinking water, at least cover it with a dark tarp or garbage bags. Light promotes the growth of organisms in water. If you are storing your water outside, leave space for freezing--about 20% I think.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 06, 1999.

Old Git and everyone,

Re: the decrease in effectiveness of chlorine over time...

Do you know if that decrease occurs _after_ the chlorine bottle is opened? Or does that include the normal, sitting on the shelf before being opened, time?

Speaking of allowing room for expansion if freezing is a concern, I'll throw a slightly off topic to this thread question-- I have one of those waterbeds that have six individual tubes to hold the water. It's not heated-- it has a big foam pad that goes over it. It's possible that the temps could get cold enough in my room to freeze it. (We won't be staying in our rooms if we lose our main heat, but rather consolidating to one room). Anyway, I would say that the tubes are between 2/3 and 3/4 full. Does that seem like enough room to allow for freeze/thaw expansion?

(Can't use the water from them for drinking or flushing in our septic's case, so if I had to drain them I'd have to lug each one down a flight of stairs and outside-- If I knew they wouldn't burst, it's something I'd rather not bother with. Will have plenty of other things to take care of....)

Thanks...

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), December 06, 1999.