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Water storage - how long


geek

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Put two copper coins in it. They keep the water cleaner longer.

 

Trick I learnt from the Tuaregs, in the North of Mali. I use it now every time I go to the J too.

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As the title, if tap water is stored in a container say within an integral garage, how long will it remain drinkable?

Geek, you raise a good question. I have 100 litres of water in my garage in 5 plastic army jerrycans, and every 12 months or so, I rotate it. But I should probably do a taste test before too long! I think I work on the assumption that should I need it, I'll be desperate anyway. It can't taste worse than the stuff the Royal Engineers produce (he says confidently). I also have a massive stash of Screech (the electrolyte powder) which would dilute it a bit. Tell you what, I'll have a sip at the weekend, it's been in there for about a year anyway so is due a change over.

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Put two copper coins in it. They keep the water cleaner longer.

Trick I learnt from the Tuaregs, in the North of Mali. I use it now every time I go to the J too.

Hmmm perhaps..copper compounds might act as fungicides, by changing pH acidity and inhibiting bacteria. But....

 

Does copper actually dissolve in water? My chemistry seems ...... err,rusty on this point..Penny for your thoughts on this too:-

 

There seems to be a fair bit of copper piping around in my central heating system. Just as well (no pun intended,Tuaregs) I have a few years supply of logs for the cast iron Hunter stove,(and it's spare back up,of course,which is just a tad rusty in places).

 

gbal

probably my cultural intel too-but was not the alasho thought to ward off evil spirits (as well as sand),not that I'd suggest pld wives tales,even in a strong matrilineal society.

The Tuareg are rightly more concerned about their water than we need be of our chlorinated supplies.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I seem to remember some research on chemicals and BPA in plastics that leech into whatever is stored in them, I wouldn't use cheap plastic water bags you get for a fiver from the caravan shop, probably not the best thing for long term storage of water.

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I seem to remember some research on chemicals and BPA in plastics that leech into whatever is stored in them, I wouldn't use cheap plastic water bags you get for a fiver from the caravan shop, probably not the best thing for long term storage of water.

 

Mark, I think you're right, but I do actually have a load of those caravan fold out water bags (unfilled). You can pick them up for nothing in the autumn sales and I think that they would be very useful for (very short-term) water carriage. Particularly if you were having to walk a long way to a water source for example. When I started to think about where my nearest water source was in the event that the H2O stopped coming out of the taps, I realised that I would need the means to carry it efficiently. A few of those and a wheel barrow and I think I'm sorted.

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  • 6 months later...

Water butt at back of garage , filled from guttering on the garage . Tee'd into a don pipe to drain, not the cleanest but doesn't take long to fill with weather we get .

 

I'm guessing the biggest hassle would be boiling it as needed for drinking / cooking .

 

Paul

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Legionella's could be an issue if the temperatures rose i.e. warm garage in summer.

Clear containers are useless as well if there is any exposure to sunlight i.e. sun rays through a window.

 

For me the only suitable container for the long term storage would be 316 stainless steel.

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..... and an open topped water butt :o have you seen what grows in there?

Try draining yours off and you'll be surprised at the amount of crud and rubbish in the bottom!

This wouldn't be any better than a puddle on a track.

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..... and an open topped water butt :o have you seen what grows in there?

Try draining yours off and you'll be surprised at the amount of crud and rubbish in the bottom!

This wouldn't be any better than a puddle on a track.

and the frogs can't get out...

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the water butt is fully closed , it sits at back of the garage and comes with a kit to tie it into the downside od the drain / guttering , there is also a basic filter .... But it is enclosed and not see thought to Suns Ray's , so the frogs are safe.... Or toads as is what hangs around the garden....

 

Yup agreed not the most appetising but if needed .... Water supply is interrupted .....and of course would be boiled the hell out of before using maybe throw n some purification tablets too? I have no experience with such tablets....if you buy them what ones to get what kind of shelf life do they have ?

 

Paul

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..... and an open topped water butt :o have you seen what grows in there?

Try draining yours off and you'll be surprised at the amount of crud and rubbish in the bottom!

This wouldn't be any better than a puddle on a track.

 

Yup, but at least it'd be on-site water. A quick coarse filter and then pump it through one of the water treatment pumps (such as katadyn) and I'd have thought you'd be good to go (?).

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Legionella's could be an issue if the temperatures rose i.e. warm garage in summer.

It is many years since I had to deal with such stuff however from memory it is only if the water is in aerosol form, so shower heads, evaporative coolers and similar as opposed to standing water. You can deal with water to prevent it by double dosing with biocides so alternating types monthly as the bugs build an immunity over time. A glug of chlorine sorts them out regardless and the water can still be used with some care

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 month later...

As the title, if tap water is stored in a container say within an integral garage, how long will it remain drinkable?

 

I have just moved house so I got rid of my 120 litres for the move. Having been stored in military issue type water jerry cans for about 18 months the water was absolutely drinkable if tasting a tiny bit like it had been stored in a plastic container!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bacterial growth and the presence of possible viral contagion in any type of container is the issue here, not necessarily whether 316L or plastic is used. Water butts...hmmm...very high on biochemical oxygen demand due to organics within water. Safe to drink only if freshly gathered and properly filtered but even then you're best advised sterilising it. There's some pretty decent survival-type filters available and you can even buy/assemble some fairly sophisticated filters designed originally for the water industry but down scaled for domestic use. Even bags of GAC are freely available these days but filtration alone even to very fine standards may not be sufficient to protect against viral infections (although they'll effectively strip most unwanted chemical risks from the water), so sterilising is really a must for anything other than potable water unless the source is free of contaminants and you know that. Even bottled water from a shop has staggeringly high levels of bacterial growth after a few days if opened, even if only a little is used. Refrigeration slows down the bacterial risk but won't eliminated it. Once sterile, a decent stainless container which is properly sealed will keep water drinkable for a very long time unless opened. Even slight biological contamination will kick start bacterial growth. Superchlorinated tap water is usually ph corrected before going into the mains, and then re-dosed with very small levels of chlorine to keep the water potable whilst in the system (literally a few pp). If left in an open container overnight, most of the chlorine will be stripped out leaving the water vulnerable to bacterial contamination, so the trick is to keep it covered (in sealed containers) until it's needed, preferable in a cool and dark storage space.

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  • 10 months later...

What was that pump type thing called on the telly a week or so ago ?

he mixed pond water with dog dirt then put it through a hand pump (like a baloon pump ) then drank it .

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Surely the obvious solution would be to run your regular water supply through a tank ? the tank will always be full of fresh water until the mains are cut then you have a tank of fresh water in reserve ...simples....but some people like messing around with cans and pumps and other nonsense , a filter is the only other thing you may need. Please get a grip.

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I have a reasonably large cold water tank in my loft, don't most houses have a cold water tank? or are many houses mains fed now?

 

Also about 10litres in the fridge and a similar amount in the garage (also about 250m from a stream and about a mile or so from a couple of large reservoirs.

 

What amount of water do people think is reasonable to store?

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  • 2 months later...

Most houses due to modern DWI policed EU Regs and byelaws are mains fed.

 

Open water supplies are bad news period. I was in water treatment for over 10 years as a water supply and treatment engineer, and I would never ever regularly risk drinking anything that wasn't purified. You'll get away with it 9 times out of ten, and on the tenth, you'll really wish you hadn't! As previously stated, even gathering water from your roof and drinking it without at least GAC filtration following a 5 micron filter is bad news, as is storing potable for any length of time over a few days. Potable supplies which are part sterilised for the mains after super-chlorination treatment are stored in service reservoirs required by regulation to allow for 48 hours plus whatever time of flow in the mains to your tap. Once open to room temperatures and the air, bacterial growth is rapid and can be harmful after just a day or two. The greater the volume stored, the less the risk, but the difference between 1, 5 , or even 10 litres is after several days or slightly more, is negligible in terms of risk. You need some means of re-sterilisation if keeping for more than 3 or 4 days if at room temp and if opened to the atmosphere.

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Obviously dilution works as we've been happily drinking unfiltered roof water for 20yrs on our life sentence block and none of us have ever got crook from the water. Plenty of bird guano in there..

 

The new house which is near ready has a UV thingo in the line but nothing else far as I know. The town planners won't allow untreated water these days.

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