Ok to store bottled water in unfinished basement?

DangerRuss

DangerRuss

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Hey! I get tired of trying to stash a couple cases of 16-20oz bottled water in the house - they take up too much room (or we have too much other junk!). I like to keep a couple around, just for grabbing quick when the kids have a fieldtrip or we’re going somewhere that we’d lose a reusable bottle. Or as an optional water source in case of emergency.
Is there any issue storing them in our concrete floor, cinder block wall basement? It’s partially below ground, so the temperature down there is great (always cool). It has more humidity than I like, so I plan to get a dehumidifier if finances allow after tax season. It’s a freaking mess down there, but I need to get it organized so I can work on stuff more easily and have more organized storage. Anyway...
I saw comments online that bottled water can have stuff migrate thru the plastic and pick up tastes/smells/chemicals. Is that truly a possibility? I have automotive chemicals/oil/gas down there, but it’s not like it would physically contact the bottles in liquid form - I wouldn’t be spraying brake cleaner where it could splash on the bottles.
I don’t want to send potentially bad stuff in the kids lunch, or even just something that tastes “off”.
Any experience with this?
I’ll probably go ahead and try it - write the date on the bottles and pull one each month to see if there’s any time period where I notice an effect.
What do you think?
 
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We have always kept a couple cases in our garage which would be similar to your basement. Never really noticed anything taste or smell wise in it. I do keep it store on some wire shelves racks.
 
I don’t have any scientific data other than hands on “field data” of me using them...

I’d go with the thicker bottles like Dasani. They’re probably a little more expensive because they haven’t gone to thin plastic that’s only two microns thicker tha tissue paper. I have to think the thinner bottles are more susceptible to leaching and/or damage.

Look at the 5 gal military grade water tanks. They’re some of the thickest plastic around.

I believe most of the toxic leaching from BPA has been taken care of through public concern and companies changing their formulas.

I’d be more concerned with the water freezing and breaking the bottles in the unfinished basement.
 
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9outof10mms said:
I don’t have any scientific data other than hands on “field data” of me using them...

I’d go with the thicker bottles like Dasani. They’re probably a little more expensive because they haven’t gone to thin plastic that’s only two microns thicker tha tissue paper. I have to think the thinner bottles are more susceptible to leaching and/or damage.

Look at the 5 gal military grade water tanks. They’re some of the thickest plastic around.

I believe most of the toxic leaching from BPA has been taken care of through public concern and companies changing their formulas.

I’d be more concerned with the water freezing and breaking the bottles in the unfinished basement.
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Thanks!
No worries about freezing down there. The heat from the house above and the insulation from the ground, plus the fact that our water heater and downstairs HVAC air handler are down there Keep it from getting too cold. I don’t think it ever gets below 45° At the very coldest.
I like The idea of storing stuff down there because it’s a fairly constant temperature, and it doesn’t get hot in the summer. I can work on stuff down there and be comfortable pretty much any time of year. Maybe throw on a long sleeve shirt in the winter
 
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I store a lot of bottled water in my basement. The temp stays between 62-70 degrees year round. I have a few cases that are two years old and have no issues with it. General rule of thumb I use is the smell test. If it smells bad its nonpotable, but could still be used after boiling or to flush commodes if neseccary. With long term storage naturally anything should be periodically checked IMHO. Hope this helps.
 
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I always have quite a few cases of bottled water stored in my garage. I try to rotate some out time to time and buy fresh. But I've never noticed any taste, etc.
 
You’ll be fine I think, but if you want to create conditioned storage it would be easy.

Basically build a box, maybe 10’x 10’. Caulk all the corners and between all sheet goods, you want it to be as air tight as possible. Insulate very well and install exterior grade door. Route air return from house to one side of the box, and to the air handler from the other side. Maybe put two light switches by the door, one to turn on an interior light and one to manually turn off the furnace fan so you don’t suck all the basement air into the system every time you open the door.

I was planning to do this in my attic, but ended up building a 20x23 room to code instead.
 
Carolinatlc said:
We have always kept a couple cases in our garage which would be similar to your basement. Never really noticed anything taste or smell wise in it. I do keep it store on some wire shelves racks.
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I concur, my binary loadlifters are very similar to your vaporators in most respects.
 
I've only noticed a change from intense heat (water bottles left in car in the summer). I think you'll be good as long as you rotated every few years. I've had bottles in bug out bags sit in the closet for a few years at a time before I rotated with no issues.
 
Store mine in the basement. No official testing, but no noticeable effects.

@Sevenshot I can tell you five years is well past the palatable limit for vehicle water storage. Awful.
 
Think you should be fine. Extreme heat and sunlight would be bigger issues and you should not have those problems in a basement.
 
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