Water Storage

Hayden · Post by **Hayden** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:35 pm

Victorian -

That 55 gallon drum you posted is the exact one I get from my local CocaCola distributor for FREE. Craigslist has them in EVERY city for as low as $3-5.

Do not spend $79 plus shipping for a plastic barrel, my dear.

I have about 15 30 gallon barrels and another 10 15 gallon barrels. The 15 gallon barrels are BY FAR the best. Love'em! They even have handles on top and are made of the same durable, food grade blue plastic.

And they are potentially FREE! If you don't have a local CocaCola / soda distributor - hit up craigslist. They are EVERYWHERE.

I'm mounting one 15 gallon barrel under my Zombie bus for the gray water tank and installing one inside (in the counters/cabinets under the sink) to serve as my freshwater for my showers and washing. I'll have another 15 gallon with me for cooking and drinking.

Check'em out! They have screw in tops (the 55, 30, AND 15 gallon barrels) that can easily be swapped out for a 1/2" faucet or hose. I use these for rain water collection at home and by installing a faucet or spigot (cheap $2 part at Home Depot), I don't have to move them around and the water pressure is gravity fed! :D

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:21 am

Everyone is right about 55-gallon drums being too heavy to move when full. Use only if you will leave them on the truck, and yeah, why don't you leave them on the truck?
I use 33-gallon plastic jugs, they're a bit heavy but you can deal with them. And I bring a hand-truck.

Water quantity is always a huge debate. For my own use use, usually 2 people, I bring 100 gallons and use it all. It's the shower that goes through most of it. Some call that overkill, saying you can conserve and get by with less, baby wipes, Dr. Bronners hippy-helper, etc. but if you're bringing a big truck and can just as easily bring all the water you need, why the hell not do it?

Here's my system: I bring one extra empty 33-gallon barrel. When the first full 33-gallon jug has been turned into greywater, it gets dumped into the empty extra jug. The formerly full (but now empty) first freshwater jug in turn serves as the next greywater container... and so on.

I fit my jugs with garden hose fittings, and when I want to transfer water I use an electric pump from Harbor Freight Tools, but I find that a bucket and funnel is the best way to get the greywater dumped into the empty jugs.

If you're bringing a truck big enough to carry your water in, you can just as easily carry it out, no messing around with muddy evap ponds or worries about overflowing ponds.

Edit: My water containers are on my trailer, and I never have to lift them while full. If you'll be hefting yours up into a moving truck, smaller containers might be better!

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:37 am

Captain Goddammit wrote:Edit: My water containers are on my trailer, and I never have to lift them while full. If you'll be hefting yours up into a moving truck, smaller containers might be better!

and if you are hefting them up into a moving moving truck, well, I don't think you'd really try that.

Victorian · Post by **Victorian** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:55 am

Thank you guys for writing and letting me know what you use and what works best...

I'll have to search around town for the containers.. I'm not sure how many resources I will have in this tiny area, but I have plenty of time to search and figure out what does work.

Captain, thank you for raising your hand to mention that yes, you use more water. I feel I may be with the likes of you. I'm going to be hugging and dancing with quite a lot of people, I'd rather at least not REAK of BO.

bauhaus · Post by **bauhaus** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:21 pm

This is my first post and will be my first time to burning man. After reading this thread one thing comes to mind:

"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket"

Its best to store water in multiple manageable containers. If you store all your water in one container, and it was to tip over, puncture, or get stolen. You are left with nothing.

Side note:
This is especially true for anyone who lives in active earthquake area. Buy a couple flats of bottled water - per person. This way if a roof was to fall on your supply you may still have water, instead of a crushed contaminated barrel.

Here is a collapsible water container. It will make packing out a lot easier since it'll fold back up when you leave. I'm pretty sure most people aren't into the whole make everything fit perfectly in the car on the last day as they were on the first.
http://www.rei.com/product/708992

1 gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:42 am

bauhaus wrote:1 gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs.

That all depends on where the water is at, as it changes weight with altitude, because of it's molecular structure.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:08 am

"get stolen"

?HUH?

bauhaus · Post by **bauhaus** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:20 am

[quote="oneeyeddick"]
That all depends on where the water is at, as it changes weight with altitude, because of it's molecular structure.[/quote]

exactly but I didn't think it was the place to get into fluid dynamics.

"Get stolen"

I live in a bad area, if its not handcuffed to your arm someone will walk off with it.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:36 am

Put it into the truck empty, then fill it.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:14 am

Buhrnur friends of mine had what they thought was a plumbing leak in the basement ceiling. Plumber started chasing it by tearing down sections of plaster, but after a bit of poking around he was pretty sure the pipes in the joisting were okay. Then they looked in a storage closet upstairs -- turned out a flimsy plastic two-gallon jug from a couple years previous had cracked open and was leaking onto the ceiling below. Hilarious. So, don't count on supermarket jugs for long term emergency storage.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:34 pm

I''m someone else whose never run out of water.

And I hate that plastic taste, I'd rather have my earthquake water in suitcases. Now I know to put them under something sturdy.

mudpuppy000 · Post by **mudpuppy000** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:22 pm

Bob wrote:Buhrnur friends of mine had what they thought was a plumbing leak in the basement ceiling. Plumber started chasing it by tearing down sections of plaster, but after a bit of poking around he was pretty sure the pipes in the joisting were okay. Then they looked in a storage closet upstairs -- turned out a flimsy plastic two-gallon jug from a couple years previous had cracked open and was leaking onto the ceiling below. Hilarious. So, don't count on supermarket jugs for long term emergency storage.

I had one of those 2.5 gallon bottled water suitcase thingies do the same thing. It was sitting in my closet as earthquake supplies and it suddenly burst open one day.

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:06 pm

oneeyeddick wrote:
bauhaus wrote:1 gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs.
That all depends on where the water is at, as it changes weight with altitude, because of it's molecular structure.

Huh? Guess it must depend on how high you are...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:44 pm

You are supposed to rotate out water in plastic containers every 6 months.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:09 pm

EspressoDude wrote:
oneeyeddick wrote:
bauhaus wrote:1 gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs.
That all depends on where the water is at, as it changes weight with altitude, because of it's molecular structure.
Huh? Guess it must depend on how high you are...

PV=NrT?