*The Best Water Storage?*

[theCryptofishist]

I hate how stale water tastes after it's been frozen and thawed.

Hence, there is no one "best" solution.

[oneeyeddick]

Dasani doesn't change flavor after being frozen.

Don't know if it's the salt in it or what ?

[Rusted Iron]

Utility water goes in basic 5 gallon containers, from the camping section of any big box store. Filtered drinking water goes in the clear blue BPH-free alhambra-type containers. We take along a couple of empty utility bottles, to haul the gray water out.

Every year, we take less and less water. Every year, we have water left over.

[theCryptofishist]

Every year, we take less and less water. Every year, we have water left over.

Some year you'll achieve the perfection of bringing no water, and having some left over.

[Optic]

If you're not sure what kind of container to use, you can always mix and match. That way you can try all of them out. So next year, if water container *blank* didn't work for you, you can not use that kind, and get more of whatever you liked.

I've got a couple of those big aquatainer cubes, some of the 5 gallon drums, and some 2.5 gallon suitcases. We're planning on using the big cubes first and using them to haul out gray water. Once those're empty, using the suitcases (cus they've got spigots), and using the drums to refill them throughout the week.

[Trishntek]

We are using 5 gallon buckets with lids for utility water and 5 gallon water cooler jugs for purified drinking water. A dozen of each is a half-ton of water. But these are for the camp shower and various activities. We figure whatever grey water we have will go back into the buckets. The buckets will also be used for tie-downs, counter weights and bench seating supports.

We have the stand with spigot for the bottles. That will be exclusively for drinking and cooking. But we'll also have the 40 gallons in the RV for personal use.

I would much rather have too much water than any other alternative!

[MistressSybs]

Eric, when you say "2.5 gal suitcase" do you mean the "2.5 gal rectangular jugs with handles" that you get at the local grocery store, like these?



Or are you referring to some aftermarket 2.5 gal water container that you buy separately and fill yourself?

Two of these fit in a milk crate. In a pinch, the empties cut in half make a good foot bath.

Anti M! You're a gem! I didn't think about this and was considering trying to find some kind of tub for a foot bath! Pure Genius! Snark is always appreciated but this is the real reason I live on this forum!!!! AWESOME tips like this one!

[burner von braun]

Hi,

I have several 7gallon Reliance blue gerry cans ready to go, and hadn't given water source much thought until now. I plan on staying at a Reno motel Sunday..and figured I would fill them there. Is regular sink tap water ok for drinking, or does it need filtering, or do all of you veterans buy "drinking water" instead?

[bluesbob]

I'm not sure if this is only good in California, but...

At Costco they have Arrowhead water in two 2.5 gallon plastic containers, and those containers are in a box. Each container has a handle on the top and a spigot. The cost is around $4.29.

I'm bringing two boxes, maybe more, for cooking and drinking, and two 7 gallon containers filled from the garden hose for cleaning and bathing.

[theCryptofishist]

Many people bring water from taps and hoses. I wouldn't mess with the 7 galloners because they are heavy. I can manage a suitcase, but that's about my limit. And I don't want to deal with anything too awkward.
I actually think the whole bottled water thing is a huge scam, and they are selling tap water at outrageous prices. I carry my own stainless steel water bottle so there's little danger or my getting thirsty away from home and buying water. But at the burn I find it has it's place. It's also in the earthquake supply.

[illy dilly]

We're gonna run with the 7 gallon aquatainers this year,



In price shopping them, we found that the evil empire of Wal Mart is selling them in the $8 range vs $16 to $20 everywhere else for them.

I built out the bed deck in the bus with these specifically in mind and we can ride up to 21 of them in their own little hidden space centered over the rear axle to carry the weight.

We used these last year. The square shape maximized volume of water per packing space. The square shape also makes them stack in the car very well.
We figure one Cube per person for drinking (about a gallon a day), plus 2 extra for washing and cleaning.
Though I've never thought about the idea of one getting contaminated. So I'll probably grab some of the suite cases, too. Even if we don't use the suite cases they can sit for a long time in the basement.
Its also good to hear that they are cheaper at wack-mart.

[FIGJAM]

Civil defence used to recomend unrinsed gallon clorox bottles for long term drinking water storage. If I was concerned about contamination Id add a little bleach to my containers.

[burner von braun]

I think a combo of the 7gallon storage containers along with the more versatile 2.5 suitcases might work well for me.

Hmmm, bleach...yummy! I know they make those purification tablets, anyone use those? I just hope to avoid ending up with a belly ache on playa from consuming "amoebas gone wild" in my water! I gather that doesn't occur often then.

[Fire_Moose]

Eric, when you say "2.5 gal suitcase" do you mean the "2.5 gal rectangular jugs with handles" that you get at the local grocery store, like these?



Or are you referring to some aftermarket 2.5 gal water container that you buy separately and fill yourself?

Two of these fit in a milk crate. In a pinch, the empties cut in half make a good foot bath.

Anti M! You're a gem! I didn't think about this and was considering trying to find some kind of tub for a foot bath! Pure Genius! Snark is always appreciated but this is the real reason I live on this forum!!!! AWESOME tips like this one!

I think 3 of those should fit into a milk crate...2 parallel and one perpendicular...tests coming soon.

[Simon of the Playa]

My Friend, Liz Estrada, went off on a rant last year about water bottles, and individual containers, and whatnot.

to re-iterate:


50,000 burners x an estimated 3 water bottles per diem times 7 equals over a million pieces of empty plastic.

screw the mathuraccuracy, its an approximate, but you see what i mean.

if you STORE your water in large containers and then carry ONE special bottle or Bota or Bolo or canteen or whatever rocks your hydration world around and keep Re-Filling and RE-Using it it would like be, so cool, man....


i told you, i went native.



now drink the the totally groovy koolaid and please, shut the fuck up.


peace.

[Snow]

I don't bring water and just lap some from the neighbor's evap pond when I get thirsty.

[ygmir]

so that's what a lap pool is for..........thanks.

[zachass]

My Friend, Liz Estrada, went off on a rant last year about water bottles, and individual containers, and whatnot.

to re-iterate:


50,000 burners x an estimated 3 water bottles per diem times 7 equals over a million pieces of empty plastic.

screw the mathuraccuracy, its an approximate, but you see what i mean.

if you STORE your water in large containers and then carry ONE special bottle or Bota or Bolo or canteen or whatever rocks your hydration world around and keep Re-Filling and RE-Using it it would like be, so cool, man....


i told you, i went native.



now drink the the totally groovy koolaid and please, shut the fuck up.


peace.

abso-fucking-lutely this.

please use less plastic when you can folks.

[Bling]

My Friend, Liz Estrada, went off on a rant last year about water bottles, and individual containers, and whatnot.
to re-iterate:
50,000 burners x an estimated 3 water bottles per diem times 7 equals over a million pieces of empty plastic.

screw the mathuraccuracy, its an approximate, but you see what i mean.

Good point in general--water bottles SUCK, but did anyone in this thread talk about individual ones? I thought the smallest we were talking about was 1 gallon containers, and those are recyclable.

[kman]

My Friend, Liz Estrada, went off on a rant last year about water bottles, and individual containers, and whatnot.

to re-iterate:


50,000 burners x an estimated 3 water bottles per diem times 7 equals over a million pieces of empty plastic.

screw the mathuraccuracy, its an approximate, but you see what i mean.

if you STORE your water in large containers and then carry ONE special bottle or Bota or Bolo or canteen or whatever rocks your hydration world around and keep Re-Filling and RE-Using it it would like be, so cool, man....


i told you, i went native.



now drink the the totally groovy koolaid and please, shut the fuck up.


peace.

abso-fucking-lutely this.

please use less plastic when you can folks.

Or if you must, buy Comet Water instead of other brands. The bottle is 100% recycled plastic!

http://www.cometwatercompany.com/

I met the CEO the other day at Costco, he said there's a decent chance Costco is going to start carrying them. That would rock.

[teardropper]

That's what I use, but mostly because I have them. I only need them for drinking water and use a pump I got at Northern for about $4. If I had to haul out greywater I would think about it, as I am not sure about getting them clean enough for drinking again. I would probably use bathing only jugs and put greywater back in them to haul out, cleaning very thoroughly, not necessarily sterilizing. That's what I am recommending for my tent camping virgins.

[Joshatdot]

We're gonna run with the 7 gallon aquatainers this year,



In price shopping them, we found that the evil empire of Wal Mart is selling them in the $8 range vs $16 to $20 everywhere else for them.

I built out the bed deck in the bus with these specifically in mind and we can ride up to 21 of them in their own little hidden space centered over the rear axle to carry the weight.

I have 2 of these, for drinking & utility, and I have (2) 1L & (2) 500mL Camel Back drinking bottles/containers.

[danibel]

Last year I bought a combo of containers, one gallon, suitcases, and two-five gallon water bottles. We also filled our 5 gallon solar shower with tap water at home (it didn't leak but we had lots of fun figuring out how to hang it in the cargo van so it wouldn't). The one gallons were great for carting back grey water (make sure you get SCREW top lids, not the easy off lifter ones!). The 2.5 gallons were great for kitchen use and refilling the stainless steel water bottles. The 5 gallon containers were never opened and unfortunately "lifted" on Sunday night because they were left too close to the road and too far from camp after some campmate vehicles departed before the temple burn.

My bike basket fits a one gallon container and my playa bag perfectly for treks out and about. I bought a camel back but I am not sure how much use it will get as I didn't have one last year.

And this year I am sure I will bring to much water, but that is OK. I would rather have to much, than not enough.

[Homiesinheaven]

is 1.5 gallons per day per person bullshit? i was just calculating the water for our camp and i dont think we used nearly that much water in previous years. then again i only shower twice so maybe we didnt shower as much as everyone else does?

[geekster]

"I hate how stale water tastes after it's been frozen and thawed."

Yeah, you need to shake it up after to get air back into the water. Really, you can taste the difference. It is also why distilled water sucks too, until you shake some air into it.

I use a barrel for shower water and 2.5 gal suitcases. I end up with extra that I have to dump out but I keep bringing it because we adopt strays from time to time who don't have any.

The 1.5/day gallon rule is a good one IF you are only going to drink your own water. But people drink stuff offered by other people so you don't actually consume that much of YOUR water even if you bring that much. Keep in mind that you might be consuming liquids from other sources.

One thing you should keep in mind. And this is particularly true with shower water or water kept in barrels. Legionella THRIVES in water that is above 80F and is found naturally in soils and dust. It also causes a much less severe disease called (no shit) Pontiac fever. Pontiac fever is more like a bad cold or flu. Ever have people complain about a really bad cold when they get home from the playa? You get it from breathing the mist from the shower water. It is common also in people's homes where the hot water heater is set to a temperature that is too low to kill it. 130 at the tank, 120 at the tap.

So if you have water in barrels for showering (NOT for drinking), treat it with some bromine pool tablets. It doesn't stink like chlorine but kills the bacteria just the same.

[Ugly Dougly]

That's what I use, but mostly because I have them.

Yee-ha! Don't buy it if you have it already = is less waste

[Casilias]

[quote="burner von braun"]I think a combo of the 7gallon storage containers along with the more versatile 2.5 suitcases might work well for me.

Hmmm, bleach...yummy! I know they make those purification tablets, anyone use those? I just hope to avoid ending up with a belly ache on playa from consuming "amoebas gone wild" in my water! I gather that doesn't occur often then.[/quote]

IF you are concerned with cleanliness of your water certain disinfection methods are very effective. The tablets that you can purchase (often in the camping section) are often iodine based and will discolor your water and may create flavor issues. These can easily be overcome with your favorite powdered drink beverage. I prefer some classic lemon-lime gatorade in low concentration just to mask flavor.

Using a chlorine based disinfection process is also very effective and also fiscally responsible.

Although the following may be accurate and effective, I take no responsibility the the cleanliness of anyone's water based on my calculations.

Let's say your camp has 25 gallons of water.
Provided I haven't F'ed up my quick math on this, to disinfect that at 1mg/L of available chlorine (which given a little bit a time, 30 minutes maybe, given the warm temperature of the water, should be ample to disinfect[longer and higher concentration if you want to unnecessarily sterilize])from Clorox.
A quick search for the Clorox bleach MSDS revealed it a concentration of 6.15% available Cl2.
You would need only about 0.4lbs of Clorox; a hair under one third of a gallon. (given a specific gravity of 1.1 at 70°F)
From the sounds of it, 25 gallons of water should be ample for 2 people for 7 days.
A properly labeled plastic container would make transporting the 40 or so ounces of chlorine bleach far easier than a whole gallon of bleach.
1mg/L should be below most people's taste thresholds unless you are a supertaster. Odors should be minimal and although potentially detectable should not be strong enough to adversely affect taste. Also, this concentration will not cause any bowel issues unless you are highly sensitive to Cl2.
If I remember correctly 1mg/L is one fourth the Federally mandated maximum chlorine concentration in drinking water.

[burner von braun]

Thanks geekster and Casilias, I figure it is good to be aware of such things

[Casilias]

I may have been off by a power of ten there. 4 or so ounces sounds better than 40. Ugh too much work, not enough sleep, math is not functioning for me. I think you get the picture though.

[burner von braun]

Yes sir, and rest assured I would have checked the math; I have to admit at cursory look it raised an eyebrow