Walmart 7gal Aquatainers for water storage
Posted by Adventurous-Stress40@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 34 comments
I have been using several of these as emergency water storage I fill from a roadside spring that tastes great and after a few months, I will use each container for things like coffee and cooking and I'll notice a smell and a biofilm. The taste is not bad nor good, the sooner I drink it the better it tastes, I have tried cleaning well using bleach and soap and hydrogen peroxide but the same thing every time will happen with the smell and biofilm. Are these containers just not great for keeping water quality for any length of time? Any suggestions will be helpful, I wish I had stainless ones but that would be much heavier and I havent found those anyways...
SheistyPenguin@reddit
Don't store spring water without treating it with bleach or water treatment first.
Put a drop of natural spring water under a microscope, and you will see a parade of little organisms dancing around in it. Maybe not harmful in small quantities, but you are rolling the dice the longer you let it sit untreated.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the advice and I do agree with you that there is bacteria swarming in the spring water, but I feel like it's got to be fresher water than the city water I'm in where you can taste the chlorine... But now I have to treat the water too so I suppose that point is moot 🫤
Freya_gleamingstar@reddit
Theres a reason life expectancy used to be about 40 years less than it is today. Sanitation, water treatment, public health in general (yes, vaccines too!) have been the new wonders of the world.
Also, you DO realize the bleach contains chlorine too, right?
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Yeah I realize that jerk
Freya_gleamingstar@reddit
QQ more dumbass
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
I've learned by this post how stupid Americans and humans are in general and I'm glad to have more than half the intelligence that many of you are commenting on my post. Y'all can keep your ugly heads under the ground!Â
readyforunsteady@reddit
Treating fresh water from a spring will still be better than city water. Not only do they use more chemicals than bleach, but the second it leaves the water treatment plant it goes through miles of old, likely outdated pipes picking up iron, lead, and who knows what. Some pipes may even have overgrown tree roots piercing them, exposing the water to organic matter.
Lots of stuff can happen between the treatment plant and the kitchen faucet. :)
Once you're ready to use the treated water, if it still smells like chlorine you can aerate by moving it back and forth between clean containers a couple times, and then let it offgas uncovered for a few hours. It'll be good to go!
OtherwiseAlbatross14@reddit
You also have no idea what's in the spring water.
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
That's good, and you don't need to bleach treat, just rotate after 6 months. If you don't like the taste just get a carbon pitcher filter.
gilbert2gilbert@reddit
In that case, you can get a filter that removes the chlorine taste from the city water and save yourself the trouble of running to the spring, so long as there's water in the pipes
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
It doesn't matter what's in it, the air is not sterile. All it takes is opening the cap for a couple seconds to contaminate.
SetNo8186@reddit
Road side spring sounds like road kill water. A lot of springs aren't suitable for consumption unless tested, they can be ground water runoff just further downhill than expected. Unless its continually tested and posted safe, I'd just use tap water as it is at least treated.
I have some springs not to far behind the house - when the city was paving the City Hall parking lot one was running red with clay from the ground work. That spring is also posted as not safe to drink and I saw why - the inlet source was just 6 blocks away. With heavy rains my neighbors property has some a the bottom of the hill it's built on - and two days later they are gone. Around here a 100 foot well in monitored closely for contamination - unfortunately that did happen at factory across town when workers dumped industrial cleaners and they were found in their well water coming up from 250 feet. The entire development was eventually forced to accept hooking up to a rural water project to prevent drinking the contamination and it's now been traced 25 miles southwest of town.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
That's awful to hear but luckily I know this spring has no development nearby, if you are familiar with the remoteness of the Idaho-Montana border area them you too would understand that this spring is not in jeopardy of what you are stating.Â
kkinnison@reddit
no offense. but even a spring water that "tastes great" can be contaminated unless you test it. most often run off from farm fields with excess nitrogen and even metal contaminates. you might not taste it but you kidneys and brain might complain... eventually.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
This is not near any farms on the Idaho Montana border by Yellowstone, but I agree with you and I have not tested it but many locals enjoy it.Â
kkinnison@reddit
FYI i have tasted spring water that "Tasted great" and was so full of containments it was non potable
Just saying you are remote does not meant it is safe. But if you want to continue making excuses without testing that is you right and i can only wish you the best
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Okay
Eredani@reddit
I use Aquamira in my stored water... some of which is in Aquatainers.
Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit
I use them specifically for flushing purposes I keep my water stored in the 5 gallon carboy jugs that fit the dispenser I have. The aqua tainers are great for storage for hygiene purposes and washing I don't like them for drinking purposes it does give the water run off taste and the water I use I do rotate it twice a year.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
That's a great idea because of the spigot on there I hadn't thought of that. What container should I be using for storing drinking then?Â
Weird-Permit343@reddit
I agree with using these for flushing or whatnot. The jug like this I saw at Walmart had a Proposition 65 warning, it would make me hesitant to use it for long term storage.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Oh really? Good to know I didnt realize the warning on them when purchasing...
Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit
I have a gravity feed water dispenser that I keep 6 5 gallon containers on hand, plus one on the dispenser. It does both cool and hot water, nice for a quick cuppa tea, and the water is sealed in the plastic bottle until I need it. The water dispenser requires no electricity for dispensing just to change the temperature.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Thats not a bad idea, thanks for sharing!
Eleutherian8@reddit
You might look for glass carboys at a home brewing store. 5 gallon glass carboys will probably be way too heavy when full, but there are three gallon ones that are quite manageable. I wouldn’t store water n plastic for any longer than week or so myself. Good luck!
readyforunsteady@reddit
Are you treating the water before sealing? Even though it's fresh, it still has bacteria, minerals and organic matter. Even though it's hard plastic it's still a porous material, mix that with what's in the water and you'll get a smell/biofilm every time.
Where are you keeping these containers? Try to avoid direct sunlight and on a concrete floor, put them on a wood pallet to avoid temperature swings.
Next time you go to fill the container (after sanitizing the inside and spigot), add 8 drops of 6% unscented, non-color safe household bleach per gallon, or use ResQ H2O or another water preserver for longer-term storage.
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
It's polypropylene, it's not porous, but the lid and the vent cap are shit. Anyway you'd need a clean room to be able to fill it and keep it sterile.
readyforunsteady@reddit
You’re right that these jugs aren’t literally porous. The more accurate term is semi-permeable. Plastics like HDPE and polypropylene over time will allow very small molecules (oxygen, CO2, and even odor compounds) to diffuse through. That’s why food and water stored in them can sometimes pick up a “plastic taste” or develop biofilm faster than in glass or stainless.
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
Yes but they are not permeable to bacteria, not through the walls, but through the lid that on mine anyway does not seal very well. The plastic taste comes from chemicals that leech from the plastic into the water, there is nothing you can do about that except store it at a cooler temperature to slow the process. If you are getting a biofilm your water is not being treated properly or is not being rotated soon enough. It doesn't matter how well sealed it is, tap water or bleach treated water for storage is not sterile, there is enough chlorine to inhibit growth, but not completely sterilize, it will grow when the chlorine degrades. The only way around that is to use a process like canning, or a clean room in a factory.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
Great advice, thank you. They are on carpet in my basement not in direct light but I will try to get them off the ground and treat them with bleach. I just filled them a few hours ago, is it still okay to add the bleach now?Â
readyforunsteady@reddit
Yes, as long as it's added within 24 hours you should be fine. Just be sure to mix it well. If you wait a few days the biofilm might start to develop.
Just double check the potency of the bleach and how much to add. 6% is 8 drops per gallon, 8% is 6 drops per gallon, etc
TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit
Hmm. I used those as a fire lookout for 2 years. Bleached every week or so, and they were fine.
I currently use them for water storage and add ResQ H20 to prevent biofilm growth after filling with treated tap water. Tasted some 4 year old water and I didn't even notice a difference.
Adventurous-Stress40@reddit (OP)
That's great advice too, thank you.Â
TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit
Most welcome.