Tips for Storing Water Long-Term Using 55-Gallon Drums

Water is crucial to your survival in disaster. You want water for the long-term and it is nearly impossible to achieve that with cases of bottled water.  Storing water in 55-gallon drums is a successful strategy.

Who sells e 55-gallon drum?  You can purchase 55-gallon drums online. Get new ones to ensure their cleanliness.  Emergency Essentials often has them, or even grocery stores offer them at various times. 

What you need to accomplish this project:  Before you start this project, gather the following materials:  Black permanent marker, black plastic sheets (at least 3.5 mils thick), bleach, bung wrench, reinforced duct tape (e.g., Gorilla tape), water safe hose (not a garden hose), scissors, siphon hose, dish washing soap, and a teaspoon.

Step by Step instructions to clean and disinfect the drums: 
1) Start by washing the inside of each drum with dish-washing soap and water. Put enough soap in some water to get the inside of the drums soapy, but make sure you don’t put in too much that it becomes a hassle to rinse.
2) Roll the drum around so every inch of the container is coated in soapy water, and flip the drum so the top gets cleaned as well.
3) Rinse each drum properly. Once you empty out each drum, fill them all again with plain water, roll them around and empty the water. 
4) Repeat to thoroughly rinse them to remove all the soap.
5) Sanitize the drums using a mixture of a teaspoon of unscented chlorine bleach in a quart of water. Roll the drum around again to sanitize every inch of the container. Wait 30 seconds, then pour the solution out of the drum.
6) Air-dry each drum before filling them up, and/or rinse them again with treated city water.

Instructions to fill the drums:  Use a drinking-safe water hose to fill the drums with water. Tap water treated by the city needs NO extra treatment.  All other water must be treated.  When storing water that hasn’t been treated (chlorinated) by your city water provider, use water treatment drops per this instruction:  put in two tablespoons of fragrant-free liquid chlorine bleach to each 55-gallon drum of water. If you don’t have liquid bleach, add four to six percent sodium hypochlorite (pool shock) to the water. 

How to store the 55-gallon drums:  Don’t store the drums directly on concrete, Why? If it heats up, it releases chemicals that can be absorbed into the drums and therefore contaminate the water. Prevent this by putting the drums on top of some 2×4s or a wood palette set on the concrete. Important: 

Get the drums in position before you fill them up because they’ll be far too heavy to re-position or to move once filled. (Water weighs about 8.33 lbs/gallon.) Screw the bung nuts into the fill holes making sure each tightens smoothly without crossing the threads. Use the bung nut wrench to tighten the nuts to seal the water and protect it from contamination. 

Take a black marker and make some notes down the side of the water drums: date the water was stored; does the drum contain additives; and, very important -- is the water inside the drum potable.  Stabilize the drums on the wood.  It’s a good idea to cover drums with a thick black plastic liner to prevent direct sunlight from hitting the drums. Secure the plastic with duct tape or rope. 

How to siphon water from the drums:  Place your water container near the drum so the siphon hose slopes downward. Insert the siphon end with the copper valve into the barrel and the bare, plastic end into your bucket. Keep the siphon end fully submerged in the water. Next, shake the hose in a vertical, up-and-down motion until the water flows on its own; then stop shaking the siphon hose.

The information herein was organized and published by Mike Adams.  I have truncated it and made a few edits for space.