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Here's the issue I see... filling your own bottles with tap water, there will be bacteria in the water. Chances are, by refrigerating the water, you will inhibit the growth of any of those bacteria, but not prevent it altogether. And the longer you keep it, the higher the risk of something contaminating that water. Unless you are storing sterilized water in sealed, sterilized containers, I'd want to change out that stock every few months.
An easy way to do that would be to rotate the water in your refrigerator by using it. Use the oldest water in there, and replace it with fresh. That should eliminate any concern.
Whatever you do, don't use well water for this storage!! It does not store for any length of time, either refrigerated or not refrigerated - ours became rancid in just a few days due to the minerals in our well water.
Use 1/2 tsp of bleach for each gallon of water. Do not use old milk bottles. Some heavier bottles may not have the contaminants that milk bottles do but the best containers are special containers. Do buy a siphon. The best size is probably the 55 gallon; they don't take umuch more floor space than the 15 gallon so you can store enough of them. Well water does not become rancid because of minerals. There could, however, be bacteria, hence the bleach.
I've appended a link but shop around for the best price before you buy. I keep a few months' supply of bottled water as well because I don't care much for the taste of my well water.
Whatever you do, don't use well water for this storage!! It does not store for any length of time, either refrigerated or not refrigerated - ours became rancid in just a few days due to the minerals in our well water.
rancid in a few days??
i have well water and as far as i know it is quite pure... i know the plants thrive on it.. and the dog hasnt died of radon.
thats pure enough for me..
Here's the issue I see... filling your own bottles with tap water, there will be bacteria in the water. Chances are, by refrigerating the water, you will inhibit the growth of any of those bacteria, but not prevent it altogether. And the longer you keep it, the higher the risk of something contaminating that water. Unless you are storing sterilized water in sealed, sterilized containers, I'd want to change out that stock every few months.
An easy way to do that would be to rotate the water in your refrigerator by using it. Use the oldest water in there, and replace it with fresh. That should eliminate any concern.
^^^ This, or just buy few gallons from a store. They are factory sealed, are good for 2 years, and cost usually less than a buck.
Here's the issue I see... filling your own bottles with tap water, there will be bacteria in the water. Chances are, by refrigerating the water, you will inhibit the growth of any of those bacteria, but not prevent it altogether. And the longer you keep it, the higher the risk of something contaminating that water. Unless you are storing sterilized water in sealed, sterilized containers, I'd want to change out that stock every few months.
An easy way to do that would be to rotate the water in your refrigerator by using it. Use the oldest water in there, and replace it with fresh. That should eliminate any concern.
That's the answer I was looking for.
I keep about 6 bottles in the fridge and do rotate them. But was just wondering how long they would keep.
Thank you all for helping me out here.
Not only do I store water, I prepare for hurricane season by freezing containers of water. I buy milk from a local dairy at the farmer's market. The containers are heavy plastic. After emptying them, I run them thru my dishwasher, then rinse out with the bleach mixture mentioned above. When dry, I store them until hurricane season. By June, I will have eaten the contents of my freezer to within 1 or 2 weeks of food. I fill the containers 2/3s full of water and freeze them until the freezer is full. If we lose power, the ice keeps the food fresh. I move some of the ice to the frigerators to keep it cool. As the ice melts, we have ice water.
I also store 10 gallons of water. I use the water for cooking, then refill the containers. The water never goes stale. By the way, I also test my well water every 90 days. As more people move into my area, the water table is dropping!
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