Water barrels

Variable

Variable

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Anyone know of a place in the Piedmont where you can get food grade barrels for storing water? And how about any ideas for storing water or getting into preppers type set ups where you store food and water? I have a fairly large unused basement i could store water in. The question is easiest way to get it out? My thinking was some type of set up in the attic that stored water that could be used to flush toilets and possibly to take showers with. Not sure about how the weight would work in the attic. If there are any preppers who would be interested in showing me how they do it we could arrange a tour or something that would be great. You can PM me. If you have any groups that are local that might be interesting. No harm in setting back some stuff just in case it all goes tits up.

V
 
Just be careful about what was in those 250 gal totes. They work well though. I've got one as a rain barrel. If I were using it for potable water I would stick to totes that had some type of food ingredient in them.
 
You need to store it but before that you need a method to collect if from rain water. If you are on a well and the pump goes out you loose the water, if you are on city water and it goes down the same thing. I would not suggest attic storage unless you have the ability to add additional supports, a 55 gallon drum weighs ~440 pounds. My suggest is to construct an outdoor rain collection system and transfer that water to your basement storage containers as needed. I'll put up a pic of mine this afternoon. Depending on where you live even a 55 gallon drum will freeze solid, I've had it happen to 6 drums a couple years ago. They make drum heaters but they are expensive. A dual system of collection and storage might be your best bet.

The amount you need to store is based on your family size. If I had it to do over again I would use three 350 gallon totes with drum heaters. You can pump the water with a drill pump or elevate the totes and use the spigots/valve to fill buckets.

How to clean totes videos:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...-avg-fh_lsonsw&hspart=avg&hsimp=yhs-fh_lsonsw
 
Last edited:
Variable said:
Anyone know of a place in the Piedmont where you can get food grade barrels for storing water? And how about any ideas for storing water or getting into preppers type set ups where you store food and water? I have a fairly large unused basement i could store water in. The question is easiest way to get it out? My thinking was some type of set up in the attic that stored water that could be used to flush toilets and possibly to take showers with. Not sure about how the weight would work in the attic. If there are any preppers who would be interested in showing me how they do it we could arrange a tour or something that would be great. You can PM me. If you have any groups that are local that might be interesting. No harm in setting back some stuff just in case it all goes tits up.

V
Click to expand...
There's a flea market in morganton that sells the 250 gallon totes that contained molasses. iirc they were $25 or $35
 
REELDOC said:
You need to store it but before that you need a method to collect if from rain water. If you are on a well and the pump goes out you loose the water, if you are on city water and it goes down the same thing. I would not suggest attic storage unless you have the ability to add additional supports, a 55 gallon drum weighs ~440 pounds. My suggest is to construct an outdoor rain collection system and transfer that water to your basement storage containers as needed. I'll put up a pic of mine this afternoon. Depending on where you live even a 55 gallon drum will freeze solid, I've had it happen to 6 drums a couple years ago. They make drum heaters but they are expensive. A dual system of collection and storage might be your best bet.

The amount you need to store is based on your family size. If I had it to do over again I would use three 350 gallon totes with drum heaters. You can pump the water with a drill pump or elevate the totes and use the spigots/valve to fill buckets.

How to clean totes videos:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...-avg-fh_lsonsw&hspart=avg&hsimp=yhs-fh_lsonsw
Click to expand...

Interesting. My basement is all below ground except for the back. It stays pretty warm in there during the winter so this is a good idea and i don't think i would need warmers. I was thinking some kind of gravity system that i could, at the very least have for flushing toilets and maybe showers would benefit from being in the attic. I have an internal chimney that we tore down when i re did the shingles. So i imagine i could easily place a 50 gallon drum on it, we broke the bricks down and the top now sites inside the attic so that's a thought. It should support the weight.

rain water collection is something i have looked at before. It makes sense. How do you hide it all from sight? I have medium sized shop i could also collect water from.

Speaking of which i have been looking around and i think these are what i will get.

https://www.berkeyfilters.com/collections/berkey-water-filter-systems
 
Ther eis a guyin Jonesville that has 55 gal honey barrels and he was just posting on FB marketplace some of those plastic brown sealable 33 gal<?> water barrels.
 
Just a thought: food grade barrels that previously contained pickles (like the two I used as rain barrels) might not be ideal for drinking water, at least not without a lot of cleaning first.
 
I vaguely recall looking years ago and there was something that connected to your downspouts and when it rained they opened up and filled your collection system. I am very pro spending money rather than working myself :)
 
LeeMajors said:
There's a flea market in morganton that sells the 250 gallon totes that contained molasses. iirc they were $25 or $35
Click to expand...

Usually those things are $100-ish, so that seems like an awesome deal. Can you provide any details on the where/when of this flea market?
 
Clear food safe barrels work fine inside but will grow green stuff outside in sunlight. Add some bleach to your lot too or just run it through the distiller before using.
R
 
I have 2 plastic totes connected to my shed roof to collect rainwater. The totes hold 275 gallons each. They are food grade that had hog feed supplement in them. These supply my chickens with water so I don’t have to carry water anymore. It’s also a back up water supply in case of emergency.
 
I have a couple of the 250gal containers that I use to store water in on some land with no well or county water access.

I have a third at the house that I use to transport water to those used for storage.

Anyhow, they are kept in an open faced shed.....and if not used often, the water grows algae or slim, something.

Not for drinking anyhow, but it clogs sprayers and such.

How best to eliminate that? Especially once it has happened?
 
Ammoholic said:
I have a couple of the 250gal containers that I use to store water in on some land with no well or county water access.

I have a third at the house that I use to transport water to those used for storage.

Anyhow, they are kept in an open faced shed.....and if not used often, the water grows algae or slim, something.

Not for drinking anyhow, but it clogs sprayers and such.

How best to eliminate that? Especially once it has happened?
Click to expand...

You need to paint the barrel a dark color to keep the sun out of it. You need to scrub it with bleach and start over.
 
Ammoholic said:
I have a couple of the 250gal containers that I use to store water in on some land with no well or county water access.

I have a third at the house that I use to transport water to those used for storage.

Anyhow, they are kept in an open faced shed.....and if not used often, the water grows algae or slim, something.

Not for drinking anyhow, but it clogs sprayers and such.

How best to eliminate that? Especially once it has happened?
Click to expand...
Bleach

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