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Only a fool living in NH would store water, but I store distilled water the de-humidifier makes, as habit. I can use that in automotive batterys and Irons, and what ever else that mineral free water can be used for. What I have on hand now is at least 1 years old and it's fine. I have 7 gallon water containers from walley world and they live in the cellar. I might exchange the water before Fall, but there seems to be no need.
I have seen stored well water get stale, but by taking a 2 liter bottle and filling it to 1/2 or so and shaking it gets air mixed back in, and then it seems almost fine, still stale to the taste a little.
More or less any treated city water sealed tight should stay fine, just keep it cool and in a dim place. You could add a little bleach I guess. Note the gallons the container hold and add bleach in the correct amounts. I have a 18 gallon maple sugar sap container, that I rinsed out after the season, and this type has two ports. I filled it will water from the well and added bleach to that amount. In a few days I dumped out half, and in a few more days I dumped all buy maybe 2 gallons which is still in it. Not a thing is growing in there. That container gets limited sun light in the barn. The barn has big doors on both ends and they are open almost all the time in summer. Above the door are lights , lights are windows in this case, nothing powered.
Flower, if you decide to be friends with me just call me Mac... it's who I am, that muz is for flintlock guns, or muzzeloaders.
Only a fool living in NH would store water, but I store distilled water the de-humidifier makes, as habit. I can use that in automotive batterys and Irons, and what ever else that mineral free water can be used for. What I have on hand now is at least 1 years old and it's fine. I have 7 gallon water containers from walley world and they live in the cellar. I might exchange the water before Fall, but there seems to be no need.
I have seen stored well water get stale, but by taking a 2 liter bottle and filling it to 1/2 or so and shaking it gets air mixed back in, and then it seems almost fine, still stale to the taste a little.
More or less any treated city water sealed tight should stay fine, just keep it cool and in a dim place. You could add a little bleach I guess. Note the gallons the container hold and add bleach in the correct amounts. I have a 18 gallon maple sugar sap container, that I rinsed out after the season, and this type has two ports. I filled it will water from the well and added bleach to that amount. In a few days I dumped out half, and in a few more days I dumped all buy maybe 2 gallons which is still in it. Not a thing is growing in there. That container gets limited sun light in the barn. The barn has big doors on both ends and they are open almost all the time in summer. Above the door are lights , lights are windows in this case, nothing powered.
Flower, if you decide to be friends with me just call me Mac... it's who I am, that muz is for flintlock guns, or muzzeloaders.
My space bar is broken too
I'm sure you know, but DO NOT drink water from the dehumidifier.
It is not 'Pure' of pollutants, and "Germs"
-And it's a good idea to store water. I didn't think I needed to store 'much' b/c of filters, pills, ways to make fire, and purifiers. (A Aqua rain sits on my kitchen counter)
Katrian...
Water can be contaminated and unusable.
As to storage: When you store in plastic, over time the plastic 'leaches' into the water.
Flower, I'm a lil bit crazy, too, like Mac...
We use bleach around here like crazy. I love it, I love the smell (not the scented kind), I love how it cleans, I love how it purifies and sterilizes. I am a bleach freak. I've used it in hospitals and in ambulances; it kills everything contagious in 10 minutes or less, even in a 1-to-10 water solution.
Everytime I empty a gallon bleach bottle, I do not rinse it out. I fill it immediately with cold water, close it, and stash it (currently under my basement stairs). The bottle will never leak or explode like those thin cheesy water bottles; bleach doesn't have an expiration date and it can sit for years in those bottles. I learned to do this when I lived in SC in a hurricane zone. Everyone we knew did it. I lived in my last house for 20 years. Almost 1/2 of my garage floor was covered in the bottles when we moved. I tasted one of the ones in the back, that was covered in dust. Still pure and nothin' growing - a VERY slight bleachy taste, but otherwise pure and cold and clear.
You can buy food-grade containers that are made specifically for water storage; some even come with 'way kewl pumps and filters. The big ones hold 60 gallons. You can stack them an keep them in a basement or root cellar as long as it doesn't freeze, or anywhere that can handle that much weight in that small of an area (like a cement floor). But you'd be surprised how quickly you can accumulate bleach bottles, if you use it regularly!
You can buy food-grade containers that are made specifically for water storage; some even come with 'way kewl pumps and filters. The big ones hold 60 gallons.
We have a few of these large storage barrels plus Berkfeld filters. Put silver (925 or better) in the bottom of your tank if you don't want to use bleach. Silver has antimicrobial properties.
I'm sure you know, but DO NOT drink water from the dehumidifier.
It is not 'Pure' of pollutants, and "Germs"
-And it's a good idea to store water. I didn't think I needed to store 'much' b/c of filters, pills, ways to make fire, and purifiers. (A Aqua rain sits on my kitchen counter)
Katrian...
Water can be contaminated and unusable.
As to storage: When you store in plastic, over time the plastic 'leaches' into the water.
The best way is to use it and rotate....
Yes you are correct. This distiled water is likey to contain traces of aluminum and copper, plus lead in the solder. There are still a few mt brooks here one can go face down in. There can be risk, but of the ones I know I spent 1 full year drinking it and another for 3.5, and nuthin bad happened to me or my wife and that wasn't even boiled first.
Here there are road side springs with state tested water free all you want for the taking. These run year round and you can drive in a truck. The closest one isn't but a few miles away. I know many up high and these too run all winter, and you bottle up right at the source, which can be above 5,000 ft.
Other larger water I wouldn't drink, but would wash dishes and me with just fine. I can just about throw a rock and hit 2 different mountain ranges, and thar's no industry in the National Forest, or cattle/horses nuthin. A dead deer or moose in that water might be a problem. So far for me that hasn't been a problem yet.
Sometimes I wonder why I don't get giargia, but I never have, not once.
Wine is certainly one good source of moisture. So is beer. That is why people used to make it. If you live in arid regions, grow cacti . Trees are very good water storage especially in spring. Water storage is great but it has the draw backs of an immobile homesteader and it runs out. Know how never runs out. A shovel near sand and a stream... Stop spraying weed killer on succulents like purslane. I'd say water melon in the late summer will get you until the fall solution etc. In winter there is snow.
I really don't see anything wrong with this kind of bulk buying, especially if one routinely uses their food and rotates the stock. They are purportedly adept at "couponing" so they are saving money above and beyond the savings one can often get just from bulk buying. It's a good way to hedge against rising food costs.
It's only a shame that it is more difficult to this with gasoline, given that it doesn't lend well to long term storage.
Peroxide is also a good water treatment option for those who don't want to mess with chlorine and can't afford silver.
That is one great food storage pantry. If you have a larger family, or expect to need food storaes for longer periods before you can grow or forage more, it's a great idea to put up a whole bunch like this. If you eat what you store so your stock stays rotated and you don't buy something you don't eat or use just because you have a coupon for it, then this sort of bulk buying with coupons and stocking is practical.
If I lived somewhere that I might need to keep my head down for awhile or didn't have the space to grow/raise my own food, having this much food tucked away would be an excellent plan. I know it looks like a lot, but that's probably only about 12-18 months for a family of 4 without any outside supplements or being able to rely on a fridge/freezer.
We routinely stock at least 6 mos of food for us and our critters since we can get snowbound in the winter and trapped behind the line of forest fires in the summer. We buy in bulk and in cases, and have been known to get full pallets (sometimes splitting with neighbors). If you know you're going to use it before it expires, then it's certainly less expensive to purchase non-perishable items this way... and good insurance against supermarket sell-outs and emergencies. In more than one instance, I'm glad that I stocked up on several cases of something, because now it's not available (either locally or simply discontinued) or they've changed the recipe/formula and I don't like the new one.
The only thing that scares me is rotation.Seriously, if you have 3 cases of canned soup or pickles, are you going to rotate those effectively? I've seen canned goods literally explode in my mother's pantry; and a swollen can is poison. I have taken to using half a paycheck every few months and buying the freeze-dried foods and/or grain, beans, honey, etc in the 5 gallon buckets. We have very few canned-in-liquid products on our storage shelves, except for what we've canned ourselves.
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or my wife and that wasn't even boiled first.
