water storage, for folks in the burbs

I hope this stuff does what it says it does regarding longevity. When I last rotated my basement water supplies, I added this ResQ to the 55 gal drums as well as the 7 gal totes that @fieldgrade linked above. I loathe rotating water. I originally purchased it on Amazon but it doesn't seem to be there any longer.

www.waterpuretechnologies.com

H20 ResQ - 2 Part Water Storage Conditioner Kit

H2O ResQ is a Scientific breakthrough for controlling biofilm-related bacteria & virus . It is a highly effective long-term solution for maintaining, clean, pure, fresh-tasting water. H2O ResQ is endorsed for treating and storing water by the former Commander of Public Health Service (retired)...
www.waterpuretechnologies.com www.waterpuretechnologies.com
 
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we have found that 2 liter softdrink bottles
are the best/cheapest option for storing
water just about anywhere. they are
strong and last long. rotation is no
problem since we rinse out a new
one to replace the old one.
we also keep one in our
cars because they
handle freezing
well, too.
 
turkeydance said:
we have found that 2 liter softdrink bottles
are the best/cheapest option for storing
water just about anywhere. they are
strong and last long. rotation is no
problem since we rinse out a new
one to replace the old one.
we also keep one in our
cars because they
handle freezing
well, too.
Click to expand...
21st century Haiku, that.
 
The Berkey filter arrived today with two filters. I do want to get two more filters if they ever become available again. I was also able to confirm my product was not counterfeit. Apparently there are a ton of vendors selling fakes out there.
IMG_3647.jpeg
 
fieldgrade said:
The Berkey filter arrived today with two filters. I do want to get two more filters if they ever become available again. I was also able to confirm my product was not counterfeit. Apparently there are a ton of vendors selling fakes out there.
View attachment 724643
Click to expand...


Filters are getting tough to find right now. Make sure you wash and prime the filters before you use it.


 
fieldgrade said:
The Berkey filter arrived today with two filters. I do want to get two more filters if they ever become available again. I was also able to confirm my product was not counterfeit. Apparently there are a ton of vendors selling fakes out there.
Click to expand...

I’m curious to see it when you open it what the stamping looks like on the side of the berkey. Unless they’ve changed it, the stamping in the photo on the box looks suspicious. The real ones are manufactured by New Millennium Concepts and that is stamped below the Berkey insignia on the berkey itself.

Here is a picture of mine

IMG_7105.jpeg
 
ssilver07 said:
I’m curious to see it when you open it what the stamping looks like on the side of the berkey. Unless they’ve changed it, the stamping in the photo on the box looks suspicious. The real ones are manufactured by New Millennium Concepts and that is stamped below the Berkey insignia on the berkey itself.

Here is a picture of mine

View attachment 724908
Click to expand...
The stamping is not as elaborate on my container, and it matches the box. What I would refer to as a “tell” is the printing and holographic stamp on the box of filters and how the filters are packaged. Which came inside the box pictured. They have a picture at their site of what the counterfeit filters, labels and holo stamps look like versus the real McCoy. Mine appears to be genuine. I also researched the vendor.

They have three generations of the holographic stamps along with pictures of fakes. Mine is the latest generation of stamp on the box of filters, which is what I am most interested in being genuine.
image.jpg
 
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One thing I need to decide is do I want to wash and prime the filters for immediate use so it’s in service should the need arise. Wife will not want to give up counter space I’m sure. She’s content with our municipal water, and I bought this as more of an emergency measure. Only concern there is washing and priming in the absence of clean water pressure. I haven’t fully studied the instructions yet. And it looks like once primed, if they don’t stay in fairly regular use they need to be reprimed.
 
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We have had a Big Berkey for years and love it. I'd tell you to prime it and use it for a week or two. The improved purity and taste are worth sacrificing a little counter space.
 
fieldgrade said:
One thing I need to decide is do I want to wash and prime the filters for immediate use so it’s in service should the need arise. Wife will not want to give up counter space I’m sure. She’s content with our municipal water, and I bought this as more of an emergency measure. Only concern there is washing and priming in the absence of clean water pressure. I haven’t fully studied the instructions yet. And it looks like once primed, if they don’t stay in fairly regular use they need to be reprimed.
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I use one of these to prime. Squeeze bulb siphoning provides the pressure.

Amazon product ASIN B0C659SYJ3
1704894423383.jpeg
 
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I keep two GI 5 gallon water cans full with treated water in the garage for immediate needs. For long term needs we have a huge replenished pond behind our house. I wouldn't use it as is but filtered and boiled it can be used. We also have about an acre of woods for fuel.
 
I like the Katadyne silver impregnated ceramic with a distiller as backup. #1 item for sustainment of life and not to be taken lightly.
If you can treat lots you will be king of ur village and gorgeous women will fawn over you, as a bonus.
R
 
cjcullom said:
I like the Katadyne silver impregnated ceramic with a distiller as backup. #1 item for sustainment of life and not to be taken lightly.
If you can treat lots you will be king of ur village and gorgeous women will fawn over you, as a bonus.
R
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I’ve got a Katadyn Microfilter Pocket I bought ten years ago, still in the box.
 
mj1angier said:
There was ( maybe still is) a thing called a Water Bob. It was a bladder that was meant to be put in your bath tub and filled with drinking water. Kind of geared towards hurricane or snow prep- warning that it coming and fill it up when stuff still working. After it is over, it is meant to be tossed.

Found it https://waterbob.com/
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I have two of those.
 
FWIW. I bot about 20 lbs of poolshock, sealed it in vacuum bags, and in each bag put this set of instructions

Water, Chlorine and how to make it safe post SHTF

I researched making water safe with chlorine quite a bit a few months ago and I would like to share what I have found. People have been using the old pool shock, calcium hypochlorite, to do this for some time and it works well except for how caustic it is. It is known to eat through about any...
carolinafirearmsforum.com carolinafirearmsforum.com

I figure I can dip water from the Tar River or any stream and let it settle, then treat it.

I have some plans to make a charcoal making barrel system and then get some sand, clay and charcoal into a three barrel system, but right now it is just plans. Too many other stuff in front.
 
fieldgrade said:
The suburbs, that is.

Haven’t seen water storage discussed in a while. If it has been please point me to it, otherwise let’s discuss.

I used to have a walk-out basement in my last house and kept about 100 gallons of drinking water I rotated every six months on a rack I built for two food grade barrels, but we moved, and I don’t have that kind of storage space now.

I’m looking at options in the way of filtering water if I can’t store much of it. Looking at Berkey filters.

The CDC, yes, our friends at .gov, recommend a gallon per person, per day. So for me and the wife that would be 60 gallons for a month. To multiply that for my two kid’s households within 30 minutes of me (one in an apartment with SO, and the other in a single family home with a toddler), I’m looking at over 200 gallons to store, or filter, if I can find a source, for just a month.

CDC says to store at 50-70 degrees. My garage faces west, so aside from the 50 gallons in the water heater, that’s out for a storage space. Gets too hot in there for six-eight months a year.

Thoughts and ideas?
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Some good ideas over at Survival Blog.com today on water and storage.
 
When we moved onto our homestead in late 2020, and my (soon to be fired) builder failed to secure the 3 things I charged him to do in 2 months time prior (driveway, water well, and electricity) so we had a very real crisis on our hands. Living in a 5th wheel was enough struggle, let alone with 5 'adults' including 3 teenage smartarses. Ones who had never had to take a 5 min shower, or turn off the sink while brushing their teeth.

Yes, we have a fairly clean appearing fresh water creek but that water just couldn't be made potable without ALOT of infrastructure. SO we hauled water in those little 35 gal food grade barrels. 105 gallons at a time, lasted just over 5 days for 5 adults usage. Of course, due to the DEADLIEST DISEASE KNOWN TO HUMANKIND, I wasn't able to get anyone to do anything in the county permit office, and we had not 'officially' become a farm just yet (no NC DOR exempt status). We didn't get a well for water supply for well over 18 months. Crazy to think that we just made it a part of our routine and my diesel truck hauled 2500lbs of water around in the bed eventually like it wasn't a thing.

I became somewhat of a pro at hauling potable water bi-weekly. My mom's well and my sister-in-law's city water supply kept us afloat.
After about a month and winter setting in, we decided to get several 275 gal totes. Now, at 8.4 lbs per gal, you're looking at over 2 tons of water, so I came up with a system of filling one on a trailer, and transferring that water into another at the farm. I used a 1HP 110V water pump that I had kept for just such a system, and it worked wonderfully.

Everyone got used to short showers, turning off the water, and not wasting it. I eventually got a tractor with FEL forks that will move a half-full (1200lb) tote, and we use them to move water to livestock. But I still have the one we kept as a transfer tank, just in case something happens.

I highly recommend sourcing some 275-330 gal IBC totes for water storage. Everything else is a gigantic waste of effort IMO.
 
Ikarus1 said:
When we moved onto our homestead in late 2020, and my (soon to be fired) builder failed to secure the 3 things I charged him to do in 2 months time prior (driveway, water well, and electricity) so we had a very real crisis on our hands. Living in a 5th wheel was enough struggle, let alone with 5 'adults' including 3 teenage smartarses. Ones who had never had to take a 5 min shower, or turn off the sink while brushing their teeth.

Yes, we have a fairly clean appearing fresh water creek but that water just couldn't be made potable without ALOT of infrastructure. SO we hauled water in those little 35 gal food grade barrels. 105 gallons at a time, lasted just over 5 days for 5 adults usage. Of course, due to the DEADLIEST DISEASE KNOWN TO HUMANKIND, I wasn't able to get anyone to do anything in the county permit office, and we had not 'officially' become a farm just yet (no NC DOR exempt status). We didn't get a well for water supply for well over 18 months. Crazy to think that we just made it a part of our routine and my diesel truck hauled 2500lbs of water around in the bed eventually like it wasn't a thing.

I became somewhat of a pro at hauling potable water bi-weekly. My mom's well and my sister-in-law's city water supply kept us afloat.
After about a month and winter setting in, we decided to get several 275 gal totes. Now, at 8.4 lbs per gal, you're looking at over 2 tons of water, so I came up with a system of filling one on a trailer, and transferring that water into another at the farm. I used a 1HP 110V water pump that I had kept for just such a system, and it worked wonderfully.

Everyone got used to short showers, turning off the water, and not wasting it. I eventually got a tractor with FEL forks that will move a half-full (1200lb) tote, and we use them to move water to livestock. But I still have the one we kept as a transfer tank, just in case something happens.

I highly recommend sourcing some 275-330 gal IBC totes for water storage. Everything else is a gigantic waste of effort IMO.
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fieldgrade said:
Great post, @Ikarus1 . Thanks for sharing that.
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Definitely. I don't know about anyone else, but I would like to hear more about your homestead adventures. Have you shared the journey in any other threads on the forum?
 
Exile_D said:
Definitely. I don't know about anyone else, but I would like to hear more about your homestead adventures. Have you shared the journey in any other threads on the forum?
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Maybe but probably not other than the 'finally found some decent land' post back in 2018, and the new tractor post. Oh yeah and the well drilling post, and the time I set myself on fire like an idiot post. Honestly we've been too busy living, surviving, thriving to really journal it all out. I plan to write a memoir in 2029 before we all get sent to the WEF Gulag. Hell I don't even have much time to walk across the field to my range and hammer steel. I don't really have much time to get online anything. Farm chores 2x a day and working all day make for early bedtimes and early wake times. But we wouldn't trade it for our old life for anything. Jill and I spend nearly every day together, working and planning each day......like 2 kids pretending to be farmers. It's what we signed up for 25 years ago but took 20 years in the making to actually make it a reality.

However, there may be an Instagram page entitled @meadow_creek_ranch or something, and the FB page of the same name.
 
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fieldgrade said:
The suburbs, that is.

Haven’t seen water storage discussed in a while. If it has been please point me to it, otherwise let’s discuss.

I used to have a walk-out basement in my last house and kept about 100 gallons of drinking water I rotated every six months on a rack I built for two food grade barrels, but we moved, and I don’t have that kind of storage space now.

I’m looking at options in the way of filtering water if I can’t store much of it. Looking at Berkey filters.

The CDC, yes, our friends at .gov, recommend a gallon per person, per day. So for me and the wife that would be 60 gallons for a month. To multiply that for my two kid’s households within 30 minutes of me (one in an apartment with SO, and the other in a single family home with a toddler), I’m looking at over 200 gallons to store, or filter, if I can find a source, for just a month.

CDC says to store at 50-70 degrees. My garage faces west, so aside from the 50 gallons in the water heater, that’s out for a storage space. Gets too hot in there for six-eight months a year.

Thoughts and ideas?
Click to expand...
Can you install a bladder under the crawlspace?
 
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