What have done towards your prep?

[Bolt]

I’ve increased my supplies of bottled water. I keep it stacked in polystyrene boxes which are stored in a large wooden shed so it’s reasonably temperature stable. How long do you guys reckon it will keep before it needs using/replacing?

[LAC]

(14 January 2022, 03:38)Bolt Wrote: I’ve increased my supplies of bottled water. I keep it stacked in polystyrene boxes which are stored in a large wooden shed so it’s reasonably temperature stable. How long do you guys reckon it will keep before it needs using/replacing?

As long as there isn't too much of a gap near the top of the lid then a long time, at least 6 months but maybe longer. Any stored water I may use would be run through my berkey filter which should take out any pathogens, so maybe worth looking into getting one yourself, budget allowing of course, as they're not cheap. An alternative would be to use water purification tablets at the point the water will be used, but personally I can't stand the chlorine taste of them.

[bigpaul]

6 months is normally the maximum time, if kept in the plastic bottles you buy them in from the supermarket its best to discard the lot and get fresh, it is said after 6 months the plastic starts breaking down and it leeches into the water, so better be safe than sorry.

[LAC]

Yes BP is quite right, I assumed you were storing them in containers. Best to buy some good grade water containers, which come in various sizes, 10l 25l etc, the cheap plastic bottles aren't very good, especially if they're stored in warm weather in the summer months.

[Straight Shooter]

As LAC has already said .....buy a Berkey ....big boy if funds can stretch to it ...or you can make one using their filters and some. Plastic food safe bins ......I think MB posted he made one not long back .....in any event Ytube has some preppers making one this very way ......you will need a way to filter water Bolt ! It will be a must have ! Even if it’s a pop bottle , gravel , charcoal , and some sand ....for the basics .

[bigpaul]

various size water filters can be purchased online, from the personal ones to the larger ones like a "Lifesaver" brand one, not everyone can afford a Berkeley-its outside my budget, remember that even if the water is filtered it should also be boiled before use.

[Mortblanc]

Yes, I just built a big filter system using 2 food safe 20L buckets and Berky filter cartridges. It is good for a ten year supply for drinking.

it cost me about thirty pounds, your money, to build the system. I have been using it for a couple of months now. No problems to report.

Everyone should have a filter since SHTF, or just normal catastrophes, can render the utility water unsafe for consumption.

Over here the first thing that the disaster response agencies do when they enter an area is to seize the public swimming pool, dump in a load of pool shock, and use it as their water supply while restoring utilities to an area.

Consider the fact that it is a lot easier to store a filter system than to store the water!

It is not going to stop raining from what I can tell, so by using bin liners and whatever containers, wheelie bins, kiddie pools you have lying around you can capture water and purify it, which makes more sense than storing vast supplies of water that you will still need to purify.

[bigpaul]

we can never assume that water will never stop falling from the sky, never heard of the word drought?
even in a mild climate like we have here there are sometimes weeks in the summer where there is no rain.
a small store of water would be a good back up position.
like it is said "never assume a goddam thing!".

[Straight Shooter]

Well I think we can always bank on rainwater ....at least here in Wales ....come see for yourselves ...we got loads of it ! As well as underground aquifers , rivers and lakes ..full of the stuff , that’s our main reason for having the ability to filter the stuff be it a berkey or other filter means ....berkey filter Cartridges are renowned to be the best out there and are extremely efficient ! Even in a drought ....you are able to filter water from most any source be it river , stream, or lake ....even sea water . Boiling water is not the best way to protect yourself from pathogens and the other nasties ....boiling only go’s so far , and not enough for me , just buy some berkey Cartridges and some food grade buckets and build your own filtration system like MB has done it’s easy ! .....the only reason I bought a berkey system is .......I am absolutely loaded !

[bigpaul]

it rains a lot in Devon too but you cant always guarantee it every day and I wouldnt want to bet my survival on it, water should be boiled AND filtered, any source of water unless it comes bottled or out of the mains should be considered as suspicious and treated accordingly.