Water is one of the most critical preps when you first getting serious about emergency preparedness and prepping. We can only survive 3 days without water before our body simply shuts down. In this article we’ll discuss water storage container options along with common challenges individuals will face living an urban or suburban environment when trying to store enough water to have on hand should their water supply get cut off.
Water is so critical for life and I can’t stress the need to focus on water as all life depends on it. I live in a desert area, so being sure to have enough water is always on my mind.
So, I’ve done a couple of videos in the past on water which goes much deeper detail regarding water storage, purification, and filtering.
In this article I want to go into a little more depth discussing the specific water storage container options on the market and what I’ve found works and what you need to think about before investing money in storage containers.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Different storage options on the market
- Different accessories you’ll want to pick up
- Things you need to be aware of regarding water containers
- Where to store water
- Options to filter water
So let’s jump in.
Different options on the market
Regarding the different options that will be practical in an urban or suburban environment for storing water long-term, here are some options by type.
The first option is portable that are non-stackable. These typically have thinner walls but will work fine if you’re not wanting to stack them on top of each other.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00168PI4S (5 Gallon)
The first is a Coleman Jug With Water Carrier that holds 5 Gallons. These go for $11.00 and have a spigot already built in.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QC31G6 (7 Gallon)
The next portable option is the Reliance Products Aqua-Tainer which holds 7 gallons of water. Again, when loaded with water you can’t stack these.
The next portable option is a stackable water container.
5-Gallon Stackable Water Container
These hold 5 gallons of water but are much thicker. When I first got serious about prepping, I loaded up on these. They definitely come in handy when needing stack multiple containers in a tight area.
Now as far as non-portable options, there’s the ever popular 55-gallon water storage option. I found 2 popular places to buy these online. 1 is Amazon for about $68 and the other is Wal-mart.com for about $72. The nice thing about the Walmart option is that it already ships with the Bung wrench and siphon hose. I’ve purchased a few from them.
Another non-portable option is the water bob which I keep stored in my bathrooms. If there’s an emergency like an earthquake, I’ll stick these in my bathtub and fill them up. Now obviously you don’t need these in your bathtub, but think about how dirty your bathtub may be with build-up and then putting water in you may have to use later. Since the water will probably stop working shortly an emergency in an urban environment due to water pump failures, being able to extract as much water as possible from the water lines will be important. Also, one of my subscribers, SpockMcoy Issmart, made a great point and said this: If you experience a water emergency, the most important thing you can do to isolate your home’s water supply and SHUT OFF the main valve at the water meter. This way your water stays in your house’s plumbing to drain for your use. If you don’t shut it off, contaminates from outside can enter your last water or depending on your elevation, your water can be siphoned out of your house. You can access your entire plumbing remaining water is to open the highest valve in your home, go to the lowest and drain what you need. Your hot water tank drain valve may be the lowest water valve in your home. Air will enter the high valve, and water will drain out the low valve. Regularly drain a little water out of your hot water tank. This keeps the valve in good shape and not crust over, and also drains out any contaminates in the bottom of the tank as the tank ages.
Great tip and thanks for sharing that information.
Different accessories you’ll want to pick up
So once you get the water storage containers, there are a few additional accessories you might want to pick up. For your 5-gallon stackable water containers, a water spigot will come in handy. For your 55-gallon water containers, you’ll need a bung wrench to open the top and a water pump or siphon to extract the water. Also, I use water additive to treat my water when storing the containers.
Things you need to be aware of regarding water containers
In order to store your water, there are some things you need to be aware of. First, keep the containers out of sunlight. Sunlight enables biological growth in your containers and also over time, the UV will break down the containers, especially the plastic ones. Now, your water should be stored in a UV-resistant, food-grade plastic container. You’ll notice these containers are often blue. The reason being is that it limits light exposure to your water to prevent biological growth as we just discussed and it also it’s a visual indicator that these storage containers are meant for human consumption. My 55-gallon water drums are stored in my garage. While it heats up in my garage, should I have a problem with growth, I can filter the water which we’ll talk about more in a moment.
As far as containers go, I wouldn’t recommend any clear bottle as over an extended period of time, bacteria will grow in these. That is of course unless you store these in a completely dark area, like the back of your cupboards. Also, avoid using containers that have had soda or milk stored in them as they’re virtually impossible to clean out leaving enough biological material behind that can cause growth over time and cause contamination. Also, most milk jugs are biodegradable and will break down over time.
Regarding picking up used water storage containers off sites like Craiglist, be very careful with these as you don’t know the history of what has been put in these and the last thing I want to do is poison myself or my family.
In regards to what grade of containers you should be looking for, the safest options are polyethylene plastics or the ones that have #1, #2 or #4 on stamped on the container. Many of the water storage containers you’ll find are #2 and are BPA-free. You’ll also typically see the triangle of arrows on these containers.
And before using these containers, be sure to wash them out with hot soapy water and it probably wouldn’t hurt to rinse them out with a little bleach with water to disinfect them.
Also, remember whenever you use these water containers if they’ve been sitting for a long time, you’ll probably want to pour the water in between glasses as the water will have gone flat.
Where to store water
For an urban setting, like those living in an apartment, the challenge of finding a place to store the water may be a challenge. Here are a few ideas:
Lift a couch up on cinder blocks or bricks and store water under here. Probably not going to be the prettiest option, but it’s something for you to consider. Growing up one of my closest friends was a Mormon. When hanging out at his house, I was surprised to see how much they could store under their beds, like buckets of wheat and grain. Again, you could use this approach to store water in these places by lifting your beds up a little. As I mentioned earlier, storing smaller water containers like water bottles in the back of your cupboards in between other items where it’s dark would work as well. Of course, you can use your closets. I store a lot of our 5 and 7-gallon water containers in the dark places of our closets. Plus there’s the added advantage that these areas are often cool and just plain out of sight and out of mind.
If you’re going to store your water in the garage, there’s definitely some considerations you need to think about. Don’t store plastic containers directly on the cement. I put mine on top of 2×4’s. The reason being is that plastics will absorb odors and other chemicals which will contaminate your water. I live in earthquake territory and the garage is the least stable part of the house, so I realize that the garage has the potential to collapse, so while I hope mine does not, I always have that consideration in mind.
Also, another little tip for you, don’t forget your hot water heater as this can be a source of water. I’m also working on setting up a rain catchment system in my backyard and while these may not be the best source of water in an emergency, they are one other option.
Regarding storing water in aglass, these aren’t high on my list, but if you use them, make sure you know the history of what has been stored in them. Mason jars with the trademark Pyrex on the side are a good option as they can withstand temperature changes.
Options to filter and purify water
Now regarding filtering and purifying water, I did an entire video dedicated to this subject if you’d like to watch that later as it goes into a lot of detail. But if you want the summary of the video, have a sawyer mini which only goes for about $20 or a Berkey water filter on hand. The Berkey is probably the most used piecing of prepping gear I own. Our family actually uses on a daily basis to remove contaminants and fluoride from our water.
Also, don’t assume because you have bleach or iodine on hand to purify your water, you don’t need a water filter. While bleach, iodine or calcium hypochlorite will purify your water meaning they will kill the microorganisms in the water, they will not filter out the gunk and chemicals that may be in your water. Using water purification methods and a water filter together is your best bet.
As always, I really would like your feedback in the comment section. If I missed something of you have any insight I didn’t share, please feel free to share it below as I learn so much from the community through your feedback.
One other note, while preparing to record this video, my channel crossed over the 80K subscriber count and I want to thank all my loyal subscribers and viewers. You guys keep me motivated to continue learning and sharing. Thank you so much!
As always, be safe out there.
