How To Store As Much Water As Possible
Today it’s all about how to store as much water as possible for any disaster or unforeseen emergency. I’m going to show you how I store water in several different ways. I love getting emails asking how I store water, food storage and just about everything else. So, I decided to invite you into my home and show you how I store my emergency preparedness items. There are so many ways to store water, some are expensive, and some are fairly cheap.
Keep in mind, I didn’t buy all of these items in a day. Please note when filling any water container be sure to use a lead-free hose like this one: Lead-Safe Hose
I live in a fairly small home that’s 1900 square feet. I have mentioned before, I have a three-car garage. Here’s the deal, there is no way you could get two normal-size cars in the double garage. In the third stall, we store our emergency prep items. I live in Southern Utah where the temperatures get up to 120 degrees sometimes in the summer. All my food storage is stored in my house.
Let’s get started with how to store as much water as possible! This is a queen size bed in my guest room. The room is very small. I have 16 WaterBricks (the 3.5-gallon ones) under the bed-filled water and Water Preserver. 55 Gallon Water Preserver Concentrate 5 Year Emergency Disaster Preparedness, Survival Kits, Emergency Water Storage, Earthquake, Hurricane, Safety
The reason I use Water Preserver for water preservation is that I only have to rotate the water every five years. If you decide to use bleach in your water containers, you will need to rotate the water every six months.
- Dimensions of the WaterBricks (3.5-gallons) 9″ X 18″ X 6″ WaterBrick 1833-0001 Stackable Water and Food Storage Container, 3.5 gal of Liquid, 27 lb of Dry Food Products, Blue
- Each container holds 3.5-gallons
- These are stackable and 16 will fit under a queen-sized bed (56 gallons total) Make sure your bed has the correct height for the WaterBricks to fit underneath it.
- They stack/interlock for easy storage as well, yet you can easily grab one and go.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of Water Preserver to store for five years, change the water every five years (for the 3.5-gallon size)
Now, this picture is in my master bedroom where I have a dresser showing facing kitty corner. It’s not flat against the wall and looks awesome in the bedroom without anyone knowing I have 12 cases of Blue Cans stacked neatly behind the dresser. Please brace yourself for the cost of these. This stack of water is one of the things I have been saving money to buy. These cans last 50 years and taste better than any water I have tasted.
I have reverse osmosis in my kitchen, so I’m pretty fussy as to the taste of water. These can be stored up to 145 degrees, awesome, huh? If you look at the website they are cheaper, if you can pick them up. I ordered mine from Amazon. Blue Can – Premium Emergency Drinking Water 
But, you can NOW find them cheaper at Brownell’s, sign up for their newsletter to hear about sales.
Please check this website if they have a distributor near you: Blue Can Water I bought these Blue Cans to store and not have to worry about rotating due to age or fret due to the temperature in my home. I can sleep at night, yes I would call it a luxury, that’s how I roll with water.
This tank below holds 160 gallons and has two spigots. You can find these at most emergency preparedness stores. I like the fact that I can fill it on the top and fill a bucket with one of the spigots, or drain the entire tank from the lower spigot. I used three containers of the Water Preserver when I filled this tank. We put it on 2 by 4’s on the garage floor to keep it off the concrete.
Now, this picture I had a hard time taking because it’s HUGE, it holds 250 gallons and has two spigots as well. When Mark and I saw it at the store we didn’t realize how big the tank was. The store delivered it to our home and we started to laugh, how in the world are we going to get this in our garage?
After laughing, we rinsed it out (that was a little challenging) then we put it on 2 by 4’s on the garage floor to keep it off the concrete. Then we filled it. We did strap it to the wall, but if we have an earthquake I’m not sure how well it would hold it in place. I do feel more secure having it strapped.
You can buy large tanks like this at most emergency preparedness stores. This tank is about 84 inches tall and 32 inches in diameter. In this tank, I actually used a 16-ounce bottle of Nano Silver (63 ppm) that came with the purchase to purify this water. I will trade out the water in five years and refill it with fresh water and a new bottle of Nano Silver.
These are the usual 55-gallon water barrels with a UV/sun protection cover that will reflect the sun and help keep them from getting as much damage. I didn’t want to buy tarps because we have critters here that would have loved making a nest under the tarps. Remember, I live where the heat can get up to 120 degrees in the summer.
Because I stored these outside, the likelihood that they may freeze is always a possibility, so I filled them using one bottle of Water Preserver and left a four-inch space for the water to expand. The Barrel Bag WB-381 ”The Barrel Bag” 55-Gallon Drum Cover Grey
Here’s the deal on these bags, I never used them when I lived where it was colder. These bags do keep the barrels from discoloring and cracking in the heat where I live, but they are expensive. I only bought them for their UV/sun protection.
I have seen these barrels at Walmart, Costco, and some grocery stores. Remember to get a pump to pump the water out when needed. They usually have the pumps sitting next to the barrels at most stores. I used one bottle of Water Preserver in each barrel. I will rotate these after five years with fresh water and a preserver. You also need a bung with these to tighten the cap on top. BUNG: Duda Energy dwrench Aluminum Drum Wrench for Opening 10 gal, 15 gal, 20 gal, 30 gal and 55 gal Barrels Standard, 2″ Bung Racing Fuel Methanol, 2″
PUMP: Blue Drum Water Pump
Please store as much water as possible, you don’t want to be the family standing in line at the grocery store waiting to see if there is any bottled water left on the shelves after a disaster. Trust me on that one! May God bless you for being prepared for the unexpected. You may have some other ideas for effective water storage. I’d love to hear what you’ve done so I can share it with my other readers. Thanks so much for your loyalty and for staying on top of issues relating to emergency preparedness. You are the best!
Copyright Images: Water Bottle AdobeStock_80002608 by Winston
i HAVE PURCHASED 20 CASES OF BOTTLED WATER, IS IT GOING TO BE GOOD I N A FEW YEARS OR DOES IT GO BAD.
Hi Lois, let’s define go bad. Any water is good but the bottled water you have stored typically has a shelf-life of 6-12 months. It is still good water but the plastic containers may degrade the water, please rotate them and store in a dark cool place. If you can rotate them you will have no worries. The expiration date on those water bottles is a voluntary request by the FDA. The water may have a different taste or odor. You can always boil it. I highly recommend rotating the cases of water. Good job, Linda
you water bottle have expiration dates
Hi Libby, so true. Linda
Linda, I’m always glad to see one of your previous pieces re-circulated. Ive become very slack about storing water. I have my own well but it does need electricity to pump. We used to have winter outages for a few hours or a day or two, so I stored a 40 gal drum in the house for washing up, toilet, etc. A few cases of drinking water, about 10 gal jugs of drinking water. Lol, then my electric co-op ran all elec lines underground, yay, haven’t had a power outage at all no matter how bad weather gets. This has made me lazy about storing water, but other things can happen to make the grid go down, as we all know. I do have a hand pump, sand point drill end, and the pipes to install it very quickly. Up in my area of MN, a person can literally pound a sand point well down about 25 feet and get good water. Like, my drilled well is only down 52 feet. So, I guess I’d have this as a backup, but I need to re-stock. Your article is a good reminder! Do you have any articles about ‘saving’ used water? That might be helpful for many. One example: re-using dish water to water plants/garden? How about bath water? Even the water from canned veggies, or water from boiling pasta? In an emergency scenario, people shouldn’t forget about these things? When we had a severe drought a few yrs back, I put an elbow from my sink drain that went into a 5 gal bucket, so used my dish water to water garden plants. Lol, I had fewer bugs that yr on my plants! I still make compost tea from time to time. You have a good place to share some tips on this type of water salvage. Thanks, from this old-timer gardener.
Hi Wendy, I always love your comments! I like to recirculate my posts from time to time to help all remember to stay up on prepping. I just purchased some Blue Water Cans for three of my daughters for Christmas. I’m old-timer gardener too! I sure wish I had a well and a greenhouse. I am looking at rain barrels right now. I am very concerned about our water supply. Great comment about saving our “water” for other needs. I love it! Linda
Wendy J Kaubisch
We also use a well and electric pump and have a whole house generator with plenty of propane; but, prior to that recent investment, we kept a generator and fuel on hand for those outages. Keeping some water in 5 gallon buskets with loose fitting lids can provide flush water, and any container can keep potable water short term, so you only have to run the generator a short time to charge batteries, fill containers, and allow refridgeration to keep up.
For tips on reusing water, just search for “Grey water use” and you’ll find a ton of information.
The liquid we drain from canned vegetables is collected and used as the base for soup stock. Dump a mix of that liquid with some water in a pot along with some beef or other bones and allow to simmer. It’s bone broth with an edge that makes a great start for soups and other casseroles.
I have a 550 gal. tank of water in my garage. Where do you purchase the 16-ounce bottle of Nano Silver (63 ppm that came with your tank. I have purchased H20 ResQ Emergency water storage treatment kit. It is for 300 gal. tank so it takes two for my tank. It is for a 5+ yr. storage life. I purchased on Amazon. I also have a distiller in case the water in the tank was stored past it’s date. The water would still be usable once distilled. I enjoy your articles, they are so informative. I will purchase some blue cans for grab and go. Thank you.
Hi Pam, I need to educate myself on a distiller. Here is the link to the Nano Silver: https://yfsmstore.com/10-packs/384-nano-silver-ag-particle-solution-16oz.html Wow, I would LOVE a 500-gallon tank!! You rock!! I have never tried that H2O ResQ Emergency Water Storage Treatment, but the five years is what I have to have. I use Water Preserver never bleach. Good job, Pam!! Linda
This is where you can learn about the water distiller. https://socrateswater.com/
Pam, thank you, I’m going to get this skill under my belt! Thanks for the link, Linda
Hello I am a manufacturer of Water Filtration (Nanofiber fast flow water filters co-developed by NASA) and Water Treatment products. FYI…
Water Preserver IS bleach, please read the ingredients on their label, and compare the ingredients 5.25% or 6% Sodium Hypochlorite to that of household bleach, unscented. It’s the EXACT same product, same ingredients and it only stays active under ideal situations for up to 48 hours in water, then it gases off! Pretty expensive bleach!
Fyi… H2O ResQ is a copper silver, ion solution developed and patented by Dr. TA Ring former chairman of chemical and fuels Engineering at Univ of Utah, the product was independently field tested and endorsed by M. Gyllenskogg the former Commander of the Public Health Dept and former head of Water Quality Utah State Health Dept. (Northern Division).
H2O ResQ can stay active for many years protecting stored water- it comes with a test kit to test the water so you can see the ions are still active in your stored water before you ever drink the water being stored. Unlike bleach with its 6 mos shelf life- H2O ResQ has an indefinite shelf life.
Manufacturers Website: waterpuretechnologies.com
Hi Tom, thanks for your information, I had to remove http from the URL. I can only have secure websites in my blog with https to keep my website secure. Thank you again, Linda
FYI… You can store water treated with H2O ResQ for more than 5 years, the 2 part kit has a test reagent that is used to test the copper/silver ions in the stored water. I have water treated with H2O ResQ that’s past 10 years and the ions are still active. The 5 year statement on the H2O ResQ is due to government regulations. It can stay active for decades protecting your water
Hi Tom, thank you for your comment. I have stored mine for longer than five years as well. I’m sure it’s a government regulation, they must protect their statements. Thank you, Linda
Well I guess I am in trouble when SHTF I have NOWHERE to store any more drinking water. I have a few gallons to flush. NO ROOM. I AM IN TROUBLE.
Hi Lois, can you put a few cases of the Blue Cans under your bed? Or the WaterBricks? We need to talk, let’s figure this out. Linda
l live in a small apartment with little storage. the water is sitting in the dining room. Never thought about underbed.
Hi Lois, I would buy on cases of Blue Can Water a month. I just went and measured one of the boxes of Blue Can Water I have and the height of the boxes is just under 6-inches. I have 16 WaterBricks (they hold 3.5-gallons) under my queen bed in the guest room. Here’s the post showing how I store the WaterBricks under my queen bed. https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/can-store-water-survival-bed/ It all depends on high your box spring is off the floor. I hope this helps, Linda
Depending if you are east or west of the Mississippi, your yearly rain, how much to store might not be as important as how to treat water. We store water, but we also have two wells on our property, so we know how to treat water to make it safe for using. We have bought hand pumps to access the water, have a treatment center.
Hi, Janet, great comment. It’s so true if we have access to water, we need to be able to treat it. Linda
Hi Linda
Thanks for the water storage reminder! Two quick questions:
1) what do you think of, I thinks it’s called, the water bob. Big plastic container for water that sits in your tub? Worthwhile purchase for immediate emergencies like hurricanes, etc.?
2) Do you know or have you ever heard of MountainRoseHerbs.com for essential oils, carrier oils, dried herbs? I’d love to know what you think. I know that doTerra is your preferred essential oil company, just looking for your thoughts.
Hi Laura, I have never heard of MountainRoseHerbs. That doesn’t mean they are not a good company, I may order some. I like to see who the owners are, when they started, where they get their oils, etc. As far as the WaterBob, I have seen it at emergency prep stores and on Amazon. For the price it’s great. The downside is how to get the water out of it. Wait, I just looked, it comes with a siphon, that’s cool. It holds 100-gallons for less than $35.00. It’s a pretty cheap way to store water for up to sixteen weeks. As long as the water lines are not contaminated it’s a good choice. I say anyway we can store water, we have got to do. I refuse to stand in line for water unless my house is destroyed. Great comment for others to see as well. Thank you Laura, Linda
Hey Linda, I live near the coast in Texas, and yes, we were flooded during Harvey, but since we live near a river, we built the living area of our home on the second floor. It was a mess, but not as bad as so many others. Anyway, I purchase a couple of WaterBob’s for flushing and so on. We typically use the shower in the other bathroom, so Bob stayed in our tub for a long time. Never had a leak, but when I finally did try to drain it, the first siphon broke. I purchased a siphon and used it. I did have another siphon that came with the other Bob, but decided to try a heavy duty one. Not really complaining about the Bob, since it performed it’s job. Just wanted others to be aware.
Hi Billie, thanks for your comment, it helps all of us!! I’m glad you had another siphon, this gives people a chance to purchase another siphon in case one fails. Great comment, thanks so much for sharing your experience. I’m so sorry you were flooded during Harvey, glad you’re okay. Linda
Linda,
You can avoid the water preserver if you have filtration available. I have constructed several gravity drip and pressurized filters from food grade 5-gallon buckets that work similar to a Berkey, which in our case would be for emergency use from the creek on our property, or water catchment. Years ago we had a king size water bed that was also a good emergency water source, and of course we shouldn’t forget our water heater tank, that in our case contains 40 gallons of good water.
Also keeping several 5-gallon buckets nearly full of water with a loose fitting lid to keep out the dirt & bugs, can be used for toilet flushing. These do not have to be food grade nor the water potable.
In our case we also have a good shallow well and a whole house generator running on propane, so we can have both potable water & keep the refrigeration running for a long time. I was recently gifted some 50 gallon food grade barrels with lids; but, we’re still determining how to best utilize these.
For true emergencies, especially when you know something is coming, like a hurricane in the southeastern states, I recommend everyone to keep a water BOB (Bathtub Oblong Bladder) that can be easily setup in your tub and filled prior to the event. These also have a built in siphon pump to allow getting the water out in to a smaller container for use; however, I don’t think these are recommended for long term storage, just short term emergency storage.
From our well we first process the water through a non electric water softener that is then piped to most of the house for washing; but, we also have a Reverse Osmosis system for a few reasons. First we like the taste of the nearly pure water, plus the combination of filtration including the R,O. membrane and an activated carbon filter, ensure all potential volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are removed from the water. While this has never been a real problem, we live in farm country where it could be so an ounce of prevention, etc….
We also keep several Seyschelle water filter bottles with extra filter elements on hand along with a handful of the Alexapure Survival Spring Field-Ready Water Filters similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Alexapure-Survival-Spring-Compact-Filter/dp/B0140UUXNE/ref=asc_df_B0140UUXNE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167119746601&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13172844426927382454&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1024079&hvtargid=pla-307839369590&psc=1
I purchased the Survival Spring straws for $10.00 each some time ago when some site (I don’t recall which one) had them with free shipping so it pay to search.
Your “Blue Can Premium Emergency Drinking Water” is interesting & I have something similar I received years ago. I have some 6-packs of 12 oz cans of water, produced by the local Anheuser Busch brewery a while back when some local areas were severely flooded. I also have a case of these water pouches: DATREX Emergency Water Pouch for Disaster or Survival, 125 ml Each https://www.amazon.com/Datrex-Emergency-Survival-Water-Pouch/dp/B00ANY4EXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536324792&sr=8-1&keywords=datrex+water+packets
This case was also purchased from some online site on sale.
Hi Ohio Prepper, the Blue Can Water has a shelf life of 50 years. They also store up to 145 05 150 degrees if people must store them in their garage. I like the Datril pouches for kids backpacks. I think the more we learn about the safety of our water, the better. Great comment, Linda
Has anyone looked at agricultural tanks for storage and whether that would be a viable option? They can be had for about a dollar a gallon during peak season anywhere, and a great deal less if buying left over stock off peak…I think the last I acquired was about 25¢ per gallon after taxes…10,000 gallons is a heap of h2o…wouldn’t worry much about what it did during a tremor either, that’s pushing the weight limit on a 40’semi trailer….
Hi Liam, I’m glad you mentioned these. I found some empty ones that I could have purchased for $100.00 empty. My neighbor has two of them on the side of his house. His are translucent but they would be great for washing clothes or having water we can purify. He covered them with a tarp hoping they won’t grow algae in them from the sunshine. Great comment, thank you! Linda
I use empty cranberry juice, Hawaiian Punch and ice tea containers. Wash well, rinse, dry, fill with tap water with 8 drops bleach in one gallon and 4 drops bleach in 1/2 gallon. I store these under the beds in my 4-bedroom home. The weight is disbursed this way. Once a quarter I use the water under two beds as the cool water in the bathtub. Takes several baths to use it all. This way water is never stored more than 6 months so it stays fresh. Took awhile to accumulate enough containers, but we just use these drinks all of the time. Hawaiian Punch containers also store 7 lbs of rice or dry beans with a handy handle if you want to hang them from the ceiling.
Hi Linda, this is awesome! You are rotating the water and using it to bathe! Great comment, thank you!!! Linda
H2O ResQ – Biofilm Defender is much more than a copper/silver ion product and it can stay active in your water far beyond 5 years… It has a test kit that enables you to periodically test the water to see if the ions are still active in the water… It deactivates biofilm and stops the reproductive mechanism of Bacteria and Viruses by disrupting the cellular wall of DNA and RNA… Water Preserver thats been mentioned on this thread is nothing more than Chlorine Bleach… read their label showing the ingredients… It’s Sodium Hypochlorite… I can buy a gallon of it for $2.00 … buying a 3/4 ounce Bottle
for $15.00 = $2,560 per gallon… Now thats expensive Bleach!
As to Nano Silver… if its truly acNano sized particulate, its dangerous to be ingesting. H2O ResQ is all natural with pharmaceutical and food grade ingredients… and years of development, testing, patents and behind the development are some of top scientists in the U.S.A.
Hi Tom, thank you for your insight, Linda