Water rotation plan
Posted by TotesInnerhalb@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 44 comments
I’ve been working on my water rotation plan — I’ve been doing 6-month rotations on 55-gallon water drums. What’s everyone else doing? I found that sediment builds up faster in rural systems. I am talking about a naturally filtered well cisterns that a well pump draws from. For clarification I have lived an off the grid lifestyle for most of my adult life. Being self sufficient.
FEAEAMEN@reddit
Lucky I have well water and a generator
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
Yeah I run a well pump too and I keep 55 gallon drums for water just in case as backup.
zach978@reddit
I do a 5 year rotation with water preserver https://a.co/d/baa9Mio
magichelmt@reddit
I’m not an expert nor have I stayed at a holiday inn lately. I store my water in cleaned food grade 55 gallon barrels. The tap water was treated with chlorine. I stored for 3 years then took a sample. I have a friend that does water testing for an agency in town. My sample was still within acceptable limits for human consumption with no bacteria. I have lost the report he gave me. I tasted it and it was ok, but I’d say stale tasting. I have a berkey filter to run my drinking water through. Be as thorough as you can when you prep your storage containers.
chuckisduck@reddit
I did mine on 4 year rotation and added a tsp of shock and drank a gallon to see if anything was bad and measured the concentration of Cl with a strip. I am thinking of cutting down to 2 year rotation and doing them all at the same time.
We have very good water in the PNW.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
I clean them every rotation with bleach. And I rotate every 6 months. I know it's probably overkill to do it every 6 months but it's clear enough for my system. Also never had any issues doing it this way.
chuckisduck@reddit
Have 4 55 gal drums and 2 5 gal containers. and rotate half every 2 years. I add a teaspoon of pool shock and clean them thoroughly after the 4 year mark. I drank a gallon last batch to see if any adverse affects. None but the stale water taste is weird.
Thinking of changing rotation to every 2 years or doing half every year.
CyclingDutchie@reddit
I buy mineral water in Glass bottles.
This way i wont have to worry about rotation. Nor do i have to worry about microplastics in my water.
it might be a bit more expensive. But i think the 'buy once cry once' counts fot his.
flannelheart@reddit
I would love to do this but I'm in earthquake country and glass is too risky.
CyclingDutchie@reddit
Fair point. Glass is fragile.
flannelheart@reddit
Yeah, it's unfortunate. Adds a whole other level to prep storage (securing shelves, padding fragiles, etc.).
CyclingDutchie@reddit
I can imagine its a lot of work.
jericho@reddit
Uhhh…. Glass bottles of water from your local store is not really prepping. How do you bath, flush toilets, water the garden?
I live off grid, with a 5000 litre cistern. It lasts about two months without inflow, and that’s with care and attention.
CyclingDutchie@reddit
If I had that option, i would love that.
But i dont have that kind of room. I live in an apartment. So I prep what i can.
I have a few hundred litres of drinking/ cooking water, in stackable crates. Im working towards 1000 litres.
I also have 1000 litres of water in a plastic container. For washing and flushing.
3rdgenerX@reddit
Powdered bleach, every 5 years in the 55gallon blue barrels
smsff2@reddit
I store 5-gallon jugs of distilled water from Walmart. No rotation is necessary. Spring water might be healthier; however, it tends to develop a white residue after about a year in storage.
Dapper-Hamster69@reddit
Are the jugs you get thin plastic, or do you mean the blue 5 gallon water cooler type?
smsff2@reddit
Clear polycarbonate water bottle like this:
JRHLowdown3@reddit
Never seen DISTILLED in the larger sizes, neat. Would buy. Course not as convenient for drinking in the car...
BigL90@reddit
Won't distilled water leech from the containers, and don't the containers degrade? I mean, I'm talking on the scale of years, but still
OtherwiseAlbatross14@reddit
Yes. Distilled water is a terrible idea for long term storage.
Eredani@reddit
I did my first rotation on my two 55-gallon drums a few months ago. Pumping/siphoning the water out was a chore... not one I will do again, at least not for a long time.
Fill you drums with filtered water. I used an inline water filter with a food grade RV garden hose. (Same kind used in boats and RVs.) I then treat the water with Aquamira. These drums are stored indoors, off the ground in a cool, dark place. (I would suggest putting an extra large black plastic bag over them to keep any residual light out.)
Under these conditions the water will be fine for years. No need to rotate every six months.
RottenRott69@reddit
I made a pump setup for my drums using Sea-flow pump and a small pressure tank. I also have a Harbor Freight transfer pump for quick draining/moving.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
Oh okay it might pick up the flavor of the container though and airration of the water by putting it into a new container of equivalent size is what I do.
Lower-Psychology8914@reddit
I personally have spring water piped to my house, and also access to a local spring fill up. I use the aquatainer 7g jugs, and cycle through those.
But one thing I've always heard recommended for longterm is canning water. They say dont just can water though, do it as you can other stuff. For example, if you've got 6 qts of greenbeans to can, throw in 1 qt of water to fill the void, and slowly stack em. They've been purified and sealed, and should be good for a very long time
SunLillyFairy@reddit
We rotate about every 2 years. Water stored properly doesn't "go bad." It will go flat, but you can pour it back an forth to aerate it. I would filter any water I had stored even it looked fine - even it OK to drink it would likely have treatment chemical in it and maybe microplastic or other chemicals might have leached from storage. I filter all of our tap water anyways.
222Dubs_@reddit
Rotating is a method. Another is long term storage. Firstly, the water must be filtered (opt for the filter you can connect to a hose for an RV.) The jugs must not allow light to pass through and be thoroughly cleaned prior to fill. Once jugs are full treat the water with Aquamarine chlorine dioxide part A and B. Store in a cool, temperature stable place, out of light or covered. Good for 5 years.
Rojina47788@reddit
Nice setup man, six months sounds solid. I usually do once a year with bleach-treated barrels, but rural wells definitely gunk up faster. Maybe throw in a sediment pre-filter next time.
TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit
Fill Aquatainers with treated tap water, add in ResQ H20, rotate in 5 years. Easy peasy.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
I don't have city water I run off of a well pump that draws from a large cistern that's naturally filtered through clay, rock sand and limestone. I have never used it but I might check it out the ResQ H20 if it's as good as you described it.
TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit
Ah, in that case I'd dose with Aquatabs or something to 100% kill anything inside the water, then dose with ResQ. ResQ doesn't actively kill anything, but it prevent biofilm from growing.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
I've never had any issues as I have been drinking this water for 30 years. No dysentery or anything of that sort, it has natural minerals to it as well. Ah gotcha I thought it was something that does it all. I don't really have enough knowledge on how much of that as the aqua tabs would have to be concentrated to do anything with a 55 gallon food grade barrel. I use bleach every now and then but do it sparingly. Because every 6 months is good enough for me.
infinitum3d@reddit
I think about it this way- water has been around forever.
Store it for years and just filter it and boil it when needed.
Kind_Man_0@reddit
Boiling water takes a lot of energy.
Wood isn't an option for a lot of people. Gas works, but that'll go quickly. Electricity likely won't be an option for most situations where you have to dip into emergency water.
I keep six 40/ct cases of water, when it goes down to 3, I but some more. The water sucks where I live, so my pets get those refillable 5 gallon jugs. I always have 2 of them, but have 4 when I do refills. It keeps my stock always rotating.
I keep a trash can outside where my gutter is, I water my plants from the rainwater that drains from the roof, and when I lose water here, which is too often, it flushes my toilets that one gets cleaned twice a year and I put bleach in it to reduce mosquitos every few weeks.
Any source of water is a good source, but boiling it takes more effort and energy than I'd like. Keeping it rotated is easy, efficient, and I already have to do it as we use it up.
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
People are rotating to avoid this, and because the bacteria that grows can cause it to taste bad (in that case carbon filter too). I think this is the best option. Keep a few gallons on hand and rotate those, but just plan to boil water from bigger containers if needed.
DarkMatterImplosion@reddit
I rotate through six 5-gallon spring water jugs. When one runs dry in my water cooler, I trade the jug in and pickup a new one.. adding it to the back of the line. Keeps 30ish gallons of fresh water available at all times.
This is also why I only use the gravity fed water coolers vs the electronic pump style where the jug sits beneath it. No power, no problem.. still have an easy way to dispense drinking water.
IlliniWarrior1@reddit
no matter what kind of water you store - how you treat it upon storage - how long you store it - what kind of storage container you use >>> be ready with a standard bleach treatment for safety's sake - a case of the runs or worse - is the last thing you need in a SHTF bad enough to break out the stored water .......
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
Oh I just refill the 55 gallon drums from my well pumps system every 6 months and drain the 55 gallon drums with a sump pump before refills.
Paranormal_Lemon@reddit
The containers also need to be sanitized because the majority of bacteria will grow as a biofilm on them.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
I forgot to mention that I scrubbed them with bleach concentrate before refills.
Icy-Medicine-495@reddit
On average once a year I dump out my barrels of water but I have them in places with no sunlight. I also had a bit of bleach to it since I am on well water.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
I just naturally filtered my water through rock, clay, sand and sandstone before it hit my cistern from the natural spring that flows on the property. I don't dump them I just sump pump about half way then dump it out. Then I refill them.
Dapper-Hamster69@reddit
I use 5 gallon blue water cooler jugs. Sanitized with bleach as well as the reusable lids using filtered water. Rinse with filtered, then filled with filtered. I have a nice filter setup, might be overkill lol.
We rotate them into the water cooler, about 6 months. Then repeat process.
TotesInnerhalb@reddit (OP)
About the same but I just filtered my water before it ever hits the cistern. by having rock, clay, sand, and sandstone as my filter element from the natural spring that runs on the property. I rotate my water about every six months.