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Common-Sense Water Storage
Copyright
2007 by Rocky Mountain Home
Solutions/Jim & Lisa Rodgers
Water storage is a must
anywhere, but especially in dryer
climates like Colorado--you’re
far more likely to run out of
water long before food. But you simply
can’t store a year’s supply of water in
a typical home. Now, please note, there
are LOTS of viewpoints and opinions on
how to “properly” store water in the
home…we advise readers to consult many
sources and choose the strategy that is
best for them. Below is how we’ve
approached our home water storage, and
what works well for us.
Our water storage solution has four
dimensions, based on the concept of
having multiple fall-backs
for emergency water supplies:
· First, we bought three 55-gallon plastic
food-grade water storage barrels. We
arranged our basement storage room so
the barrels were tucked back into the
least-used corner...and then placed some
shelving over them to allow us to stack
other (reasonably light items) on top,
to maximize storage space.
o Combine that with what we could scavenge
from our water heater and toilet tanks,
this provides a sizeable, several
weeks-long buffer for emergency
situation where water supplies might be
interrupted or tainted.
o We then pre-positioned accessories like
barrel drain pumps and barrel-opening
wrenches) nearby--in fact, we tied them
to the wall studs with long, strong
nylon cords so they couldn’t
accidentally walk away.
o IMPORTANT: ensure your water
storage barrels also are positioned near
a drain source, or placed so you can run
a hose to a nearby bathtub or sink, to
facilitate draining when needed. Also,
you might consider having an extra water
tap installed adjacent to your water
barrels--makes filling and refilling a
lot easier!
o We have friends who bought and installed a 300-gallon water storage
tank in their garage...it was big!!!
We’d love to do that too, but we simply
don’t have the room for it. If you do
have the room, such a large water
storage system provides great peace of
mind in the dry Colorado climate.
· Second, we know some emergency
situations could require vacating our
premises, or maybe we need to transport
some water to another location to share
with friends or family members. To meet
this need, we bought several of the
familiar, soft-sided five-gallon
polyvinyl water containers (available on
eBay, of course). They have a large
removable mouth closure for easy
filling, but also a plastic spigot to
allow controlled dispensing. And, of
course, these come in very handy for
family or Scout camping trips!
o Five gallon polyvinyl water containers
are probably a better solution for
apartment or condo dwellers...small
enough to fit in various nooks or
crannies within your home, but not so
small that you create a huge burden when
it comes time to change out the water
(which you should do about once a year,
in our opinion).
· Third, remembering that an average
family simply cannot store enough water
for a serious long-term supply, we
invested in portable
(camping-style) commercial water
purification filtering systems. Go for
the largest-capacity and most
comprehensive (e.g., removes
Cryptosporidium, Giardia, bacteria, and
viruses)
purification filtering system your
budget can afford, and don’t forget to
buy LOTS of spare filters--!!!
o The need for spare filters may not be
obvious to everyone. Just remember,
you’ll probably always need more water
than your filtering systems can actually
provide in an emergency system, because
you’ll probably want to help family,
friends and neighbors.
o Just as importantly, however, is that the
filter manufacturers periodically change
their filter designs....meaning you
might not be able to get replacements if
you don’t stock enough spares!
· Fourth, we also bought a small supply
of iodine-based water purification
tablets, which we rotate every three
years, due to short shelf lives. Yes,
these make the water taste awful. Yes,
drinking too much of this type of
treated water can unsettle your
digestive system. Still, we decided it
was important to have one more line of
defense for that all-important drinking
water supply, and bad-tasting but pure
water is far better than any impure
water you can name!!! Plus, in a pinch,
these are the smallest and lightest
possible form of water purification you
can have—we think they’re worth the cost
for peace of mind.
o You can also use colloidal silver, or
Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen. Each of
these have pros and cons—make sure you
understand what your water treatment
tablets do, as well as what they cannot
do, in terms of purifying your water.
We treat all of our stored water (large
or small containers, no matter what
type) with the appropriate amounts of
unscented household bleach. For
example, when storing water we insert 8
drops of bleach per gallon of water; ½
teaspoon of bleach per 5 gallons of
water, or 5 teaspoons of bleach per 50
gallons of water, when we first fill up
the cans or tanks. This helps prevent
algae or bacteria growth, but wait at
least 48 hours after adding the bleach
to the water, due to the odor, before
you try to drink it.
We also rotate our stored water at
least every two years, and recommend
at least once a year.
· We have seen websites that recommend
changing out stored water once per year,
and others that recommend only once
every other year.
· It seems to us you ought to be pretty
conservative in this area--protecting
your water supply is important.
Plus, as with any water source, you
should take care to smell and look at
this water before you actually drink
it. If it doesn’t seem quite right, it
is far easier and better to boil or
further purify it some other way, than
to treat the potential resulting medical
conditions.
Whichever storage length you choose, and no matter how you store
your water, you MUST remember that YOU
are responsible for ensuring the purity
of YOUR stored water. Should you ever be in dire need of water in an
emergency, drinking tainted water can
only make the situation worse! So, take
care, and ensure the purity of your
water, especially during tense times.
We hope you never need to use your water
storage in a real emergency, but if you
do, we hope you will have as much as you
need, whenever you might need it! And,
if you have any ideas or experiences of
your own to share, we’d love to hear
about them at
jimandlisarodgers@comcast.net. Good
luck!
Jim & Lisa Rodgers live in Colorado Springs and maintain a full
year’s supply of food storage. They
practice what they preach--if in doubt,
contact them and they’ll be glad to send
pictures of how they've creatively
solved food storage challenges in a home
with limited storage space, or you can
drop by to see it in person. Contact
them at
jimandlisarodgers@comcast.net, or
719-282-0764.
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