Is storing bottled water smart?

I plan on having at least a good supply of water and food stored in case of an emergency but I wanted to know will water last years in the bottle? I also live near a huge lake which is kinda polluted (Lake Ontario) and if I had a decent machine that purified water desalination I think its called? Would that be efficient and worth the cost? I also wish I could stockpile gasoline but thats to dangerous and also illegal where I live but I take it gas would be most precious during sit X?

Yes and no. Stored for a long period of time, the plastics will start to break down and get into the distilled water.

If it were for a long term survival having an abundance of the cleanest water around IS a good thing.

If you start with relatively clean water (old bottled water) then it will be all the much easier to filter it using traditional methods.

There are several different methods to getting clean water.

You can take sheets and make a 3 layered filtration system, each sheet hold different filtering materials (sand, charcoal, etc.). The more passes through the filters, the more contaminates will come out.

You can boil water and use a plastic (a big leaf will work too) 'tent' to catch the steam and collect the condensation in a container.

Iodine tablets are a plus if they are available.

As Spoodily just said, iodine tablets or specialized water purification tablets are very handy. They are much more effective at sanitising water than pretty much any other sort of filtration method, plus they are cheap, can be carried around, don't need heat or anything like that, and will safely store water for many years.

Just make sure you wait 1 hour after putting the tablet in before drinking, or else you will die a horrible death.

Glass is about the only way to store water "long term." As noted, plastics seep into water. So does metal.

You probably ought to rotate water every month or so. Algae blooms about that fast. Bleach can be used to sterilize water, as can sodium hypochloride. I remember 16 drops of bleach per gallon for sterility---but make sure the bleach contains no metal solvents.

Don't forget all the water in your home, though.

You have water in your hot water heater that could be drunk by draining the heater after it is turned off and cool. probably 30 gallons or so.

You also have water in the upper closet portions of toilets. Not that I would drink it, but you could use it for gray water uses.

I have plastic 5 gallon bottles that I rotate out every 2 weeks, and water the garden with what isn't drunk by humans and pets.

.

I thought it would be a good idea to reuse old 2 liter pop bottle and refill them with water but like you 2 said plastic contamination wouldn't make it the safest thing to do. Those containers that hold water for household water dispensers look pretty good? Can you also explain why iodine tablets are good to is it that they purify the bacteria? I never want to end up making a device like Costner was using at the start of Waterworld when he peed into a funnel and drank the filtered fluid but I guess homemade purifiers would be good if it was made well. Water is probably the most important thing besides protection during sit x to imo, you can go weeks without food but water you need every 3 days at least or you die so I know even if nothing happens its worth it to be prepared.

I use a water filter purifier from our local canadian tire store
by Katadyn on water from the st.lawerance river.
that way I can hike for days.

www.ccoutdoorstore.com...

[edit on 5-5-2007 by junglelord]

It can only be a good idea to keep some water stored so it's easily reached in case of emergancy. If you have access to some bottled water it makes thing alot easier in the first few days/weeks while you try to make sense of it all. Sure have a backup plan, because no matter how many bottles of water you have its not going to be enough, but it cant hurt to have a few gallons of water stored somewhere.

I can go to the supermarket and pick up 6 x 2 liter bottles of water for under £2, and its not asthough they take up much space. Just keep them for a few monts and if you haven't used them yet, drink em and buy some more!

Just think of it this way do you wait untill your down to your last sheet of toilet paper before you run down to get more? Doesnt hurt to have a few sheets in reserve does it

Yea I will just store a whack of water and over time change the bottles around and hopefully nothing happens and it was all for nothing lol. One of those water purifier things looks like a good investment as well, that and a decent supply of food primarily beef jerky and canned stuff and seeds to grow some crops so I think I would do well. I also know quite a bit about construction and building stuff so I would be able to do something if everything went to chaos.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
Glass is about the only way to store water "long term." As noted, plastics seep into water. So does metal..

The only problem with glass is its breakability. This is relevant for us here in earthquake company. I use several 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels that I change out the water in every so often.

Its much more cost effective than trying to rotate small bottles in and out. Plus more firendly to the environment. Each way has its own disadvantages. Glass would be totaly inert, but fragile.

If you are going to have a large container water storage, make sure you have the means to make some of it portable in case you have to bug out.

Wood barrels, may have some advantages except: they are heavy, they do suffer evaporative losses (called angels share in the alcohol industry), and can be pourus

The water heater idea is a good one, that is a source that alot of people would overlook. Whenever we have a thunderstorm moving in, i fill up both tubs in our house with water. Although if the shtf and you didnt know it was coming that would be useless, in situations when you know something is coming and it could turn into a situation it works pretty good. I also keep a store of water that is rotated every so often, and several water purifiers in my wife and I's BOB's. In the best worst case scenario you will be able to remain at your residence, but it is always better to be prepared for the worst and be ready to go mobile.

A Couple of Things That You Need To Understand First... Portable Water Purification.

This is a system similar to the one I use... General Ecology.

There are a myriad of ways to purify water... Non-metallic Bleach added at 16 drops per gallon. Iodine pills. Reverse Osmosis. Ultra-Violet. Stage Filtration etc...

However, in a survival situation many of these methods are less than preferable. RO (Reverse Osmosis) systems are often cumbersome and take a long time to yield a significant amount of water, although it may be some of the purest. Ultra-Violet uses UV light to kill virus and bacterium in the water but these systems require batteries and what to do if there are none available? Stage Filtration - typically sand, carbon and sponge can also be cumbersome and slow and also requires that the media be cleaned or changed fairly regularly - usually every 25 to 40 gallons, depending on the source - but can yield some incredible drinking water.

What is nice about stage filtration is that you can readily create your own filter almost anywhere. All you need is a sponge or a very dense cloth, access to sand and a match. You can make your own charcoal on the fly. Do some research on google and you will see thousands of do-it-yourself- plans.

Obvioulsy bleach and Iodine are the least favorable but also maybe the most applicable. Follow VERY CAREFULLY instructions that come with water purification (Iodine) tablets or you will seriously poison yourself - the same with using bleach. However, in crisis, you can certainly get by using these two methods FOR THE SHORT TERM.

Educate yourself on water purification techniques and learn how to build your own stage filter and you will be all set.

This is the exact unit I use to treat water.
www.actiongear.com... 29307&M5%2Ectx=29307&M2%5FDESC%2Ectx=Emergency%20Preparedness%2C%20Survival%20%26%20Lifesaving%20Supplies&level3%2Ectx=level3%2Etam

I recieved it as a gift from a co-worker, and bought 4 more replacement bulbs for it.

---but make sure the bleach contains no metal solvents.


Doktah Strange can you please elaborate on that??
What metal solvents? How would I know?
Jules

It sounds like you probably need to drink bottled water in your home anyway if the water is that polluted, so you could always just keep a spare couple of cases of water on hand at any given time, and replenish them as you drink them. I don't think you would need more than 3 cases at any given time... besides, water is heavy. Purification is your best bet. I have a Brita filter jug in my fridge but as mentioned there are portable water purifiers that you could put right into the lake if you had to.

There's also a lot of water in your pipes. Turn off the main if there is a concern for contamination. Open a top floor faucet to vent and a basement one to drain into suitable containers.

I keep a cpl camping drums sterilized and rotated every 3mos or so. A lot more practical than rotating bottles unless you're already in the habit of drinking bottled water everyday.

Can't add to what has already been said about filtering methods.

Gasoline I wouldn't worry too much about. Where are you gonna go? I don't think you'll need to worry about running grocery store very often. Just keep your tank full so you can get as far away as possible if you have to bug. Some tubing in the trunk to siphon gas if you need it.

I vaguely remember a company donating tiny packets of a chlorine based substance that could purify swamp water after the tsunami in 2004. Chlorine can be easily dissipated by repeatedly pouring water from one vessel to another, gases off pretty readily.

So lets have a complete run down of this storing water business then.

If I buy a few cases or bottles of water from the local supermarket.
I keep the water in it original plastic packing which to my knowledge should be food grade. ( Am I wrong ????? )
I keep this water in a cool dark place away from any rodents etc.

How long can I expect this water to last and be drinkable ???

I take it, even food grade plastic will start to breakdown at some point ?

I am looking into purchasing some demijohns as a back up storage solution too.

All help here is always welcome.

colec

One thing to consider is, your location in the world. What I mean by this, is basically where in the world you live and what is its normal climate.

For myself, I live in the UK. For any Briton, getting water is not really a problem as it rains at least once a week in any given area of the UK. Stocking of large amounts of water is not really neccessary in the UK, as long as you have some method of collecting water and a couple of methods of purifying/filtering the water.

If of course, you live in a desert region, then water storage becomes more obvious.

Added to the above, is of course YOUR reason as to why you want to store water and to what you perceive is your most likely Sit X scenarios.

For me, a water shortage in the UK is a long way down the list of Sit X's.

reply to post by Wotan


Very true Wotan, it does seem to rain all the time here in the UK.

I am looking to put some water by in my shed, just say 36 - 48 bottles of bottled water.
I think a local £1 store has 6 bottles per case at the moment, so the cost if very little and from there I can rotate stock.

Originally posted by colec156

I am looking to put some water by in my shed, just say 36 - 48 bottles of bottled water.
I think a local £1 store has 6 bottles per case at the moment, so the cost if very little and from there I can rotate stock.

If you go to Tesco, they have big 5 litre square shaped bottles of still water for 98p. I think the use by date is something like a year away.

CX.