storing water

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I own 4 55-gallon barrels made of food-grade plastic (they're blue). How long will the water remain drinkable before it gets bad? Or..will it go bad? I've heard many conflicting opinions regarding bleach, grapefruit extract, etc... I did clean them out with baking soda & warm water as recommneded by the manufacturer, but they don't have much to say about water getting old. If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate them. One more thing, I'm kinda leanin towards the grapefruit extract, but someone said that alters the PH level. Whatever. You'd think in our day and age, issues like these wouldn't even be debateble. Thanks again - Jeff

-- Jeff K. (jeffonob@hotmail.com), December 08, 1999

Answers

Jeff, again this question is about preparations, so would belong on the prep board. I don't know the answer cause I rarely read the prep board, to my detriment. I read tap in an airtight food-grade container such as yours will last for 10 years, but I'd encourage you to run that by the prep group to be sure, cause depending on your town's water, I'd hate to see y'all get sick cause I was wrong.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 08, 1999.

Jeff, Proper conditioning of your barrels and potable water supply should last longer than your need for them in case of emergency anyway. You have at most about three months of bare minimum supply if there are just two of you depending on it. More dependants, less supply, less time until you need reliable replacements. I hate to say it, but if you make it long enough to exhaust your supply, then you probably don't have the necessary skills to make it over the long haul anyway and should seek shelter elsewhere. Not trying to be an A**, just a reality check. Good luck, and God bless. Please check the prep forum http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=TimeBomb%202000%20%2 8Y2000%29%20Preparation%20Forum Copy - paste into location box - hit enter key, also try this site. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ottaway/dw_home1.htm Or mouse click here >

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-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), December 08, 1999.


Jeff....

Last October I dumped my water from my barrels to move them inside from out back behind the garage. The water had been in them for over one year. I checked the water, and it was as good as the day it went in. (14 tsps of bleach is what I used.) it tasted fine also. Keep them in the dark if you can. I always use a purifier before I drink any water anyway, just as a precaution. waterman

-- waterman (waterman@bluebarrel.com), December 08, 1999.


Hey Jeff, I'm one of those always prepared Mormons. I bought 4 blue water barrels in 1993 and filled them up with regular tap water. No bleach or clorox added. We tested the water this summer. The water looked very good. It had just a slight after taste, nothing terrible. So we have done the six or seven year time test. No problemo!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), December 08, 1999.

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