How to store water for emergency preparedness. Emergency water storage for beginners. How long will bottled water last in your stockpile?

The human body needs water to function properly, and a person may only survive for a few days without water. Clean water is also important for sanitation and hygiene. This is why having an emergency supply of clean, safe water is essential when SHTF.

But there’s more to water storage than filling drums and buckets with potable water. You have to stock up on it based on your needs and those of the people in your household. You should also take the quality of your storage containers into account, as well as where and how you are storing those containers.

Read on to learn about creating and storing an emergency water supply. (h/t to ThePreppingGuide.com)

Different kinds of water containers

If you’re thinking of creating an emergency water supply, you need to consider the different kinds of containers available. The best kind to use will depend on how much water you need and how much space you have for storing water containers.

Here are some of the most common water storage containers preppers use:

• Large water storage tanks and drums – The best large water tanks and drums are made from a durable material called polyethylene and are free from bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical found in various reusable plastic products and food and water storage containers.
• Underground water cisterns – These storage containers are made from heavy-duty plastic. They also store a minimum of 250 gallons of water, which can be accessed through a pump. Because these are big, they are set up underground so that you won’t have to worry about space. They are ideal for regions that get very cold winters, where water will freeze if stored above-ground.
• Horizontal and low-profile tanks and drums – These containers are often used to transport large quantities of water to a disaster area. They have sturdy legs and ribs to prevent tipping and sloshing.
• Large vertical tanks and rain-harvesting barrels – These storage containers are ideal for catching rainwater. They are also perfect for long-term water storage in small communities in rural areas.
• Stackable and portable water storage containers – Stackable and portable storage containers can only store up to 10 gallons of water. You can stack several of these containers for more stored water.
• Collapsible water containers – Collapsible containers are ideal for bugout bags (BOB). You can easily pack many of these in your BOB without worrying about space issues.
• Specialized water containers – Specialized containers, like the collapsible onion and pumpkin tanks, can be handy in a pinch. They look like inflatable swimming pools. You may also want to consider storing water in pillow tanks, which are typically used by soldiers. Pillow tanks are so named because they look like large, inflatable pillows.

Water purification methods

In a pinch, you can collect water from various bodies of water, including lakes, streams and rivers. You can also collect rainwater. But before using water from those sources, it’s important to purify it to make sure it’s safe for consumption and for washing.

When purifying water, you need to first filter out any sediments through a clean cloth or a coffee filter. You can then use one or a combination of these water purification methods to make sure your water is clean:

• Boiling – Boiling is the safest way to kill harmful bacteria, fungi and parasites in the water.
• Chlorination – In case you don’t have access to a fire, you can purify your water by chlorinating it. Add regular liquid bleach to a bucket of water and stir. Do this out in the open air. Only use this water for washing and cleaning.
• Distillation – Distillation involves boiling water and collecting the condensed vapor from it. Distillation kills germs and ensures your water doesn’t contain chemicals, heavy metals, salts and other impurities or contaminants.

Other water storage tips to keep in mind

• Estimate water needs.
• Use food-grade containers.
• Avoid metallic containers unless you are sure the metal is stainless steel.
• Thoroughly clean your water containers before use. Wash it first with dishwashing soap and chlorinate it with a bleach and water solution. Let dry outdoors.
• Don’t reuse containers used to store liquid chemicals. Even if you thoroughly clean the container, there’s no telling whether you’ve completely removed all traces of the container’s previous contents.
• Store containers in a cool, dark place. Don’t store containers in places where chemical products are kept, such as the garage or under the sink.

If you’re a beginner prepper and are still building a stockpile of your own, you can get started by buying an extra case of bottled water or two. In time, you will have a lot of bottled water in your stockpile, but you need to make sure that even if water doesn’t expire, it’s still safe to drink when you need it. (h/t to SurvivalSullivan.com)

Does water have an expiration date?

Water that is bottled and sealed commercially doesn’t expire, but upon checking you will see that it comes with an expiration or “best by” date. While bottled water doesn’t go bad like canned food, over time it will taste strange as it leeches chemicals from its container.

If you store water bottles for a long time and the seal breaks, you may also see algae and other unpalatable but otherwise harmless microbes bloom in the bottles.

But if bottled water doesn’t go bad, why does it have an expiration date? Some states, such as New Jersey, have mandated that all food and drink packaged and sold commercially come with expiration dates.

At the same time, manufacturers making products on an enormous scale and servicing a regional or national market will standardize their packaging whenever possible to cut costs and streamline production logistics.

Can you tell if bottled water has gone “bad?”

There’s no exact way to tell if bottled water has gone bad, especially since water that is sealed and factory bottled will last for a very long time, but not without exhibiting some changes after it’s past the “best by” date. If you have bottled water that’s been in your stockpile for a while, you will notice a strange, plastic “taste.”

However, this unusual plastic taste doesn’t mean the water is no longer safe to drink. Water is a universal solvent, and this means that, in time, it will dissolve or weaken almost everything, even a plastic water bottle.

When you open a water bottle that’s been in your stockpile for a long time, the water may taste unusual after chemicals leach from the packaging into the water. These chemicals are also present in greater or lesser amounts in new bottles of water.

According to researchers, these chemicals aren’t harmful when consumed in small amounts.

Do open water bottles or unsealed containers of water expire?

The same can’t be said for water that is no longer sealed or was never sealed in the first place. When left unsealed, water in a container may be contaminated by different things like algae or bacteria.

If you’re stocking up on water stored in large containers, try to consume or dispense “opened” water within two weeks. Any longer and your water supply might be contaminated by various microorganisms.

If you’re using a rainwater harvesting system on your property, store water in 55-gallon jugs. For something smaller, get seven-gallon drinking water containers.

Another option is to use 50-gallon rain barrels. Bigger containers will hold more water, but smaller jugs are easier to carry and refill.

Bacteria will multiply in water under the right conditions. The wrong bacteria can make you very sick or even kill you.

Stock up on high-quality water filters or bleach so you can make sure that the water is clean enough to drink when SHTF. If you’re outdoors, you can also boil water before using it for cooking or drinking to get rid of bacteria.

Like bacteria, algae will multiply in water containers. Thankfully, most algae species are harmless. However, algae will form an occasionally foul-smelling green sludge on the walls of your container and create a film atop the water’s surface.

If you don’t want to use water with algae in it, you can filter it and use it for other tasks like cleaning, flushing toilets, or watering your garden.

Extending the shelf life of water in large containers

If you store water in large containers such as 55-gallon water drums, you need to be diligent so you don’t have to keep replacing your water supply. Make sure you keep the container as sterile as possible and only use water that is free of contaminants. (Related: Prepping 101: Emergency water storage for beginners.)

You will periodically need to treat the water during storage to keep it germ-and algae-free. Like the plastic used for water bottles, large containers used for storing water will also leech similar chemicals.

If you’re building your stockpile before SHTF, keep in mind that while sealed, bottled water doesn’t expire, but the slow degradation of its container will affect its taste.

In time, bottled water with cracked seals will become contaminated by bacteria or algae so purify its contents if you plan to still use it. If you directly drink from a water bottle, finish the rest of it to prevent contamination by algae or bacteria.

Water bottles that are factory bottled and sealed will last longer than the best-by date and you can still drink it if you’re not picky about consuming water with a weird aftertaste.