TIPS storing water LONG TERM! (Don't make THIS MISTAKE!) 

I found a way to easily clean and sanitize the IBC totes! The top bars can be taken off. Then the cage can be tipped over and the “bottle”, as you called it, can be pulled out. Then you put some water in with bleach and put the lid on it. Roll the tote around so that the bleach water sits on each of the walls, ceiling and floor of the unit. I let it soak for a time on each side. If there is algae or anything that needs scrubbing, I used a long handled, long headed, dust mop on a swivel, so that I could pretty much reach all of the inside. Then I opened the valve and rinsed it out, sloshing the container back and forth until most of the water was out. If you want the water completely out, you can put a towel down in it to soak up the rest of the water and then fish the towel out. After this process, the tote will be clean as a whistle, sanitized and fresh smelling! Then you can put it back in the cage. I left the top bars off and covered it with some really well made black covers I ordered off Amazon.

Tip: to empty a large volume of water easily... take your garden hose and hook it to your outdoor spigot, put the open end all the way to the bottom of the container that is holding the water, turn the water spigot on for a moment or two ( yes that puts more water into the container) then turn the spigot off (as soon as water is flowing in without air bubbles) Undo the hose from the spigot and drop it down. The water in the container will start back flowing out the hose. It will empty the entire container as long as the hose stays under the water of container.

Kaye, you have had so many obstacles thrown at you, yet you overcome. You are such a warrior. We have all benefitted from what you have gone through!! Thank you for sharing with all of us. Many would have just given up and thrown in the towel!! So glad you are so strong. With God's help, we will all get through what is coming. God bless. Much love.hi to mom when you visit. 🥰❤🙏

I use white vinegar in my laundry then reuse those bottles for water storage because they are so durable. Smaller juice bottles too for easier carrying.

Kaye, check the bottom of the plastic container or bottle or jug. U.S. law requires there be a mark stamped on the bottom which indicates if it is disposable, not to be refilled, or for long term use. The gallon containers containing drinking water are designed to disintegrate in landfills; are for one use only. I also had bottles spring leaks. Vinegar jugs usually are stamped for a better grade of plastic, are suitable for long term use and are good containers for storing water. I have learned so much from you, thank you.

In Australia, loads of people have been living off stored water in outside tanks for YEARS, including me. I find that most American video's I see don't get serious about water storage. My current tank is 5,500 Gal, or 21,000 litres. You may not need something that big, but with the weather the way it is, you would be better off with large storage than little containers. These tanks are food grade and built for water storage, you have a pump that feeds it into the house, if the power goes out, you can gravity feed it to the house.

Bless your heart doing this all by yourself......but us women can do "hard things". I commend you for starting your preparedness late in your life. It is never to late to start preparing for the tribulations that are coming. I am with you sista!

I bought a 1500 gallon through tractor supply and hooked it up to my water main. Every time a sink turns on or the sprinklers, the water goes through my Cistern. I put an intake and and outtake valves on it and it works great. The water is always in use and being cycled. If the water ever stops I just close the valves and use the manual valve on it. That way i don't have to worry about long term storage or chemicals. Its always fresh water. As fresh as the tap can put out lol.

In addition to the reflective tarp tarp, that Grace mentions, Danny at Deep South recommends painting clear containers black for outside storage. You can purchase paint that is made for plastics. I need to change the water in my plastic 55 gal. barrels, as it is near 6 yr's old. If your faucet is lower than your container, as mine is, you can run water to fill your house and then disconnect it at the faucet. The water will siphon out of the container. It's a big time saver over removing it in 5 gallon buckets. Thanks for sharing the information. I've been interested in purchasing an IBC tote. The information on purchasing cleaned used ones will be a big money saver.

I was a Lowes a few months ago. I noticed those Brute plastic containers, the huge ones. I flipped upside down, I was just examining it. Low and behold their food grade! Right on the bottom is a stamp of a fork and wine glass! I bought it, washed out with bleach and dawn soap, sun dried and put in my basement and filled with tap water using a bucket. Snapped on the lid and now I have 55 gallons of water to filter and drink if grid goes down. I bought two. It’s a relief to know I’ll have something to drink. I bought two brown ones from the dollar store that are food grade too and filled them. I have a Alexapro and love it

You make me feel good. I have disasters daily. I can't keep up with all the disasters. Oh and yes not enough room. Being unorganized does use up a person's energy.

You are providing such a wonderful service to so many in these times of uncertainty. Thank you!!! ♥️

You go girl! Being an old DIY'r, I learned a lot watching you wrestle with logistics. Obviously, water is priority one.

A storage tank that size in NYS costs close to $500. But when you're thinking this might be your only water supply if things get bad, it might be $$ well spent.

My water storage is city water. With an appropriate amount of bleach added. I will run it through my Berkey filter system before use for drinking or cooking. I also change out my stored water once per year. I always label tanks with a date. You mentioned not to place tanks on concrete. Reason for that is chemicals in the concrete can leach through the plastic into your water. If storing water barrels or bins on concrete just make sure you put them on wood or some other barrier between the concrete and plastic container. I just laid down some 2x4's and have my 55 gallon barrels sitting on those. The opaque gallon jugs of water from the grocery store are made to be biodegradable. If you store them long term they all will eventually leak. Also, plastic storage containers like the little water bottles or gallon jugs from the grocery store will eventually leach chemicals into the water. Even BPA free ones. So not good to store more than a year. I am certainly no expert, but have learned a thing or two on water storage over the years. Just throwing my "two cents" out there! Great video. On an important topic. Thanks for sharing. A good reminder to pay attention to your water storage. And if you are mot storing water, start!! Just remember. You can only live 3 minutes without air. 3 days without water. 3 weeks without food. After that, bad things can happen. :) Jim Gillespie

I bought an Ibc tote that had vegetable oil residue in it so I cut out a big enough hole for me to get down into it with dishwashing liquid and a water hose to clean it. Mine flipped over almost trapping me in it. Thank goodness the hole I cut was located to were I could get out. It was so scary I won’t ever do that again.

Get yourself a Gorilla cart if you don't have one. They are great for hauling and are easy to pull. I have water storage and we will refill from the nearby springs if the grid goes down. That way you are not carrying heavy buckets. I have the 4 and 5 gallon bottles. I opted for the smaller one because of the weight. I am not a spring chicken (62), so I needed something I could manage.

Use a utility drop light under it to keep it warm. They have a cage around the light bulb and work well . We used them in our garage to keep our pressure tank for our well from freezing. We also used them in a 3x4 foot cat house to keep them warm in winter . They loved it !

Kaye, oh my, seeing you tip that huge tank!!! That was incredible, stay safe. 🙂

The collapsed water jugs happened to me too so I bought a 50 gallon blue water tank. I've heard to keep things from freezing in the winter you can wrap them in christmas tree lights. I'm going to try it. Not sure if the new ones put off any heat but I have plenty so I'll give it a go. The water storage situation concerns me more than about anything. Will I have enough, how often do I need to change it, etc. It's overwhelming. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and thank you for caring enough to put in the time and labor!

Don’t drink the rain water without treating it in some way first! I’ve seen live little things swimming in the rain water collected off the roof!

My trick for cleaning barrels and totes is a (dedicated for this purpose alone) hose end sprayer loaded with my chosen cleaning/disinfecting product coupled with a long watering wand (remove the rosette on the end) to fit inside the bungs. This seems to work pretty well at jetting a stream of cleansing fluids and rinse water. Just please wear EYE PROTECTION and old clothing, just in case you get splashed. You WILL get splashed. Once you've got everything rinsed to your satisfaction, reposition everything and rinse again, especially if you are using any kind of soap (not recommended) or caustic agent. You might find that you've been missing a spot and the repositioning gets it. Barrels can be rolled along the ground to agitate and get at more surfaces. I'm often left alone to do this type of work. Being a lady in her 60s can make it a challenge. I've learned to keep materials for lifting and propping things up safely. Pulley systems need not be expensive and are often in box lots at farm or commercial auctions. Rope and bungee cords, various chains and clasps/carabiners, chock blocks are all must-haves. To provide some heat and avoid your water freezing, please consider alternatives to anything combustible or that might be a source for combustion of gasses or other materials. I have found that the brooder heating plates for chicks are quite handy in situations unrelated to brooding chicks. Much safer than candles or space heaters. They do require electricity, but many draw less power than you'd think, so a power station or "solar generator" might be an option? Remember than many combustible gasses are heavier than air, and so they tend to stay along the floor where they are more easily set off by anything at that level. Great job! You inspire me!

I know the water leaking was annoying.. but I see a blessing. You're aware of all the issues and can fix them and clean up the shelving. Glass half full.

Thanks for sharing that . We are putting you on our prayer list for God’s mercy and blessings to you from us both in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I will add that storage containers can be stored without any water. I have a combination of filled and empties, 1/2 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 gallon, and 4 gallon. I wanted to be able to lift each if necessary and hubby was not around or able. We also have a bathtub. Don't forget that your water heater does have many gallons you can use in an absolute emergency. Good to have water in your car, too (other than in Winter freezes). We also have a Berkey water filter unit in the house and RV. There are RU-vid videos on how to make a pseudo Berkey type filter of buckets and yes, Berkey or similar filters added (saves some money and likely works fine in an emergency). My containers are milk, water, Walmart 2's, and Reliance Beverage Cube blue 4's. All from Walmart or the grocery supermarket. Because we do go camping, we also have a "Steri-pen" that uses UV light to sterilize small amounts of water. May do rain barrels for the garden but only seems to rain August here with a tiny bit in the Winter. Mohave Desert location in AZ.

We also covered ours with a thick layer of contractor bags and covered every inch.

Catching rain water the other day. Water was very brown and dirty. I'm got wood framed greenhouses covered in poly and it leaks, so buckets and tubs everywhere Wen it rains. I'm got an amazing water catchment area for catching rains. Ur bang on target with this show Kaye cuz I'd say water is number one issue right now. Without water we can't garden. Real serious issue is water storage Whole world needs to be storing water.

Hi Kaye I am also trying to keep everything going on my homestead and you give my so much motivation when I feel overwhelmed being alone trying to get all done and ready. Thank You and much Love and Light to all ❤️🌺🙏

Kaye you're a beautiful warrior and thank you for your time sharing with us all!😘

We put ours in the back of our truck and took it to the car wash for the initial soap down cleaning. Our had held avacado oil in a couple of them and I forgot what the others had. I believe some sort of syrup. We brought them home and put them in a shaded area, dropped in water treatment tablets, filled and tarped. We will run the water through our Berkey if we ever need it to pull the chlorine treatment out but for now should keep it reasonably clean.

Please do more on water. It's everybody's main concern. Ty

A tip for city water and chlorine, if you fill large vessels with city water the chlorine should off gas in a day or so

Gonna look into this! I may store in my basement which I've been actively cleaning out. So much junk we never use or touch in there. Wasted space! I'm gonna fill it with important stuff like water and canned goods! It will be my pepper pantry eventually! I love cantaloupe! We just harvested our watermelon! It finally had a brown like vine!!! Thanks for everything you do Kaye!!!!😘

I think the Berkey filter would be perfect. Since it's city water, I'd probably go with the PF2 filters for the arsenic and fluoride as well. Good job Kaye.

Ancient people store drinking water in copper vase. That is expensive or impossible to get now. So the trick is to buy some thin copper sheets or strip a lot of house hold solid copper wires, and just dump it into the tank. I said copper sheets and wires because of their high surface area, copper (and silver) have natural germicide properties if given enough time to work, which for a small vase, means overnight. Then you can cut down the use of bleach and other chemicals. The amount of pure copper you put in depends on desired surface area and how fast you want it to work.

I keep empty vinegar and ice tea gallon jugs ( like the Arizona) for plant water because they are much thicker and can be refilled many more times than a typical milk jug.

I know that feeling when you thought someone was coming to help you but there you are doing the hard stuff all alone

In South Africa we use massive water tanks made from polyethylene with pigment antioxidants and UV stabilizers in sizes ranging from 1,000 to 20,000 litres - such a tank is a critical investment on your property. This is typically for harvesting rain water or storing water from boreholes. The important thing is that the water has to have a sustaining bacterial culture in order to remain healthy though not fit for human use without filtering, boiling or further purifying.

Experience is the best teacher.. It seems more like you are looking for solutions to your questions, but the responses in the comments are helping us all.

Have a good day Kay!!☺️

This was really helpful! Thanks for taking time to share your experience!

You can make distilled water using a pressure cooker, with 1/4 inch brass fitting and at least 30 feet of 1/4 inch of copper tubing to make a condenser coil! I use 4 gallon glass carboys that were made for brewing wine!

Thanks for sharing.All these activities that you do will keep you fit and healthy.Respect due.

I love your videos! I just found you, I did not expect to learn anything new, but I was happily surprised!

A friend of mine kept 4 55 gallon blue drums in a dark spot in his garage. He checked the water twice a year and never had a problem. He used to live in Long Beach, kalifornia.

A Black IBC tank blocks sunlight, yes, but it also accumulates heat

Our lid on the top is exposed to full sun, and it cracked after a year. If you're using this outside a building to collect rai water, consider building a "house" for it. We are not finished but almost done. Also keep extra lids and spigots and piping on hand in case something breaks!

The kind of plastic that leaked, are Poros and the liquid will leak through the plastic. Soda Pop in aluminum cans if kept long enough will leak through the aluminum because it is poros. I had a case of Soda Pop that sat for a couple years and almost every one of them leaked out. Some of them were completely empty and the tabs were still intact. Be safe.

Such a great tips for the preparedness community! I’m in the midst of switching most of my gallon jugs over to glass as I find them thrifting around! Thanks for sharing! Blessings! ☺️🙏

thanks for the tips on water storage. I have city water,, so I've been thinking about different options to have water stored for emergencies. After seeing what you went through dealing with the used water tank, I will only buy new one.

I am blessed to have found you today. You are delightful! Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is much appreciated!

Very interesting! We're on the same wavelength, I have been saving my gallon crystalline plastic water bottles, which take up a lot of space! I've never noticed them leaking, but I've never had them for more than a few months. So, what I'm doing this morning is putting in water from the hose going through a Boogie blue Plus hose filter, which is supposed to take out chlorine and maybe even chloramine. Not sure about fluoride. Then I'm putting in two drops of chlorine dioxide, which is similar to what campers used to purify water from streams and such. I've done this before about 4 weeks ago, had almost 30 gallons, and I've used it primarily to make coffee and ice. Strange thing is this, my ice from the tap always cracks and shatters, it never makes beautiful clear ice cubes. When I filter the water and add the chlorine dioxide, the ice cubes are perfectly formed, and don't shatter when I take them out of the tray. Not sure what's going on, but I like it! Today I did 24 gallons, and I'm keeping them on a heavy duty baker's rack in my bedroom. Going to keep an eye out for leaks, thanks for the heads up!

Water Storage Tanks: worldwaterreserve.com/best-water-storage-containers/ SO MANY GREAT TIPS! PLEASE SCROLL THROUGH COMMENTS!! THANKS, EVERYONE! YOU ARE HELPING THE COMMUNITY!

Respect love and gratitude. Unconditional

get a RV water filter for the end of your hose when you fill from city water. also get a hex wrench, take the top 2 bars off flip it on the side, pull the plastic tank out. is easy to roll around with cleaner in it.

Great video Kaye - so many things to consider when storing water for long term and appreciate your experience on what not to do. I would not have expected the plastic water containers to leak when stacked on a shelf and how to clean the IBC tote. Keep the harvests coming!

This is extremely informative Miss Kaye. Thank you so much for sharing this. God bless you. 🤠😇

Hi Kaye. Just an FYI. Most water treatment now is using Chloramines (chemical) instead of Chlorine gas, which dissapates. Check with your water district to find out what they're using for treatment.

I live in Northern California now, power outages all the time, you just pull a cord which unlocks the electric garage door, and pull it open.

Kaye, you're amazing!!

Once it is clean, remember to use a HOSE for potable water to fill it. Don't use a garden hose if you want to drink it. The 2 hoses are made of different plastics. Ya, I know, we all drank water out of a garden hose as kids and it tasted like rubber.

I sure would not use anything but the rainwater to wash dishes and to flush with. You can get tablets to purify water with and you can also get the water filters you carry hiking to re-clean even clean water. The chlorine in city water makes me want to croak, I have a well and several huge tanks I got for Ag water holding. I also have a wind mill and the means to pump it with electric or hand or wind. I had water all during hurricanes without electric. I have 700 gal tanks connected to it. Critters do not need filtered water. All my tanks are lifted and set for gravity feed and have spigots to control flow.

We had a cabin on a lake with no water. I bought two totes of over 300 gals each. I put them on a trailer along with a 12 volt water pump out of a camper. The pair held 0ver 700 gals of water and gave us running water for weeks. We brought drinking water from home.

I personally would never drink water stored in these. First, a used one is never completely clean. Second, over a period of time the chemicals from the plastic leach into the water. For long term storage you will be drinking chemical soup after a few years. Heat (summer in the garage) accelerates the leaching. We have one of these and it will be used for cleaning, bathing, watering the garden, any non-consumable uses. I will use it to water animals if I absolutely have to but I wouldn't even want my dogs or livestock drinking it after 6 months

I don't trust buying used tanks because of possible chemicals so I just bit the bullet and purchased food grade at Tractor Supply for $500 each. I took out of metal cage and spray painted dark with plastic compatible adhering spray and put back in cage when dry to help keep algae growth down. It is screwed onto a treated wood base with fasteners and plumbed as a rain catchment system from my gutters complete with a spigot to attach a hose when needed. I use this to water animals and garden. In case of emergency I will filter through coffee filters, boil, and then run through my Berkey water filter to make it safe to drink.

Lady, I must say you are Amazing !!!

Thank you for all the tips. I couldn't locate the site with information for the various storage containers. Have a great day!

Hi great job! You can attach the hose to your spout and run it to your house God bless you and stay safe!

You can buy an electric submersible water heater to keep the water from freezing. I’m going to try a concrete blanket just in case the electric goes out because I don’t have plumbing or running water.

Very good information. Thank you for sharing and good luck.

I've used 7gal reliance jug, slipping it' in a black large tote bag "with difficulty" and put cardboard in-around all sides. They work well for about 2-3 years. Sometimes longer

You dont want a tap water valve on your stored water. If the valve leaks you lose your water. You want a hand pump or siphon hose to get the water out. Also new water bottle are made to break down very quickly you cant long term store in them.

Thanjs for the info! Love your channel!

Very helpful information, thanks Kaye!

Good morning Kaye from Ohio. Have a good day. God Bless you.

I just ran into your you tube channel. I love it. Your name, Late Bloomer is awesome.. Can't wait to learn from you.

if you take off that black cap you could get in the tank better and hose the whole inside of the tank down, nice tips and good video stay positive Kaye

Invest in a Gorilla Garden Cart. You can haul lots of heavy things with it. It dumps and can haul up to 600 lbs. I had put furniture on top and move it by myself. Gorilla Cart. I bought the $70 one. Love it.

Thank you Kaye.

You’re awesome. 💛🙏🏻🙌🏼

You can spray paint it black, or cover it with other materials wood, cloth, ect….

Thanks for everything you do. And your great info. Stay strong 💪🏻 And u still got it. What a beautiful woman…..

Our cistern leaked also. I think they fixed it with fast setting concrete. My granny had a hand pump from the creek to her kitchen sink. I would put in a well with a hand crank and/ or windmill powered to a small pond down by garden.

Good video. One thing you might have missed. Open the big lid and spray the tub even the top inside of tote

Thank you sweet lady

We paid $150 for a cleaned food grade tote, it happened to have lime juice in it.

@kayekittrell thank you for all the great info. Love your channel. I was looking for the website you mentioned in video, about options and reviews for water storage. Didn't see below. Thanks from TX

convetional gallon bottles: they expand/contract with the weather over the seasons, thus the leakage, unless in a constant temperature (basement?) Good info, good encouragment to prep..Thanks!

Thanks!

Great effort im gonna get one..........

Wow, you are a hard worker 👍

I read somewhere that distilled water will leach chemicals out of plastic. Somehow it’s more corrosive(??) or more leaching…. We save our empty screw top 1.5 liter wine bottles to store water.

I've got a friend that got 2 330gal totes for $30 (she'll be using for rainwater catchment). Man did she ever luck out!! We've got room, I need to start checking into some of these!!

I didn't know that happened to the water bottles yikes!! Good to look out for 🤔🧐

Kaye, It is so refreshing when you say Hi I'm Kaye from Tennessee. So many homesteading channels don' do that and that is important for zones and gardening. I'm shocked you don't have a well! I hope you filter your "city water." There is fluoride and chlorine in city water. Fluoride is a neuro toxin. I think you must know that though??? That same thing happened to me with my gallons of water. The bottles leaked and I ended up dumping it all. You can't tell me that that is not by design also. If you have a metal roof and gutters then put the downspout with a screen to filter out the yukies. Then you can use your burkee water filter to be able to drink it. Obviously we can't rely on the jugs of water. Also if you have a water bill it is wise to contact your water company and tell them you are filling a pool. I wouldn't tell them you are filling totes. That way they don't charge you for.....not sure what but the cost is much much less than if you didn't call. They might think you have a leak somewhere also. GREAT VIDEO and very informative.

that's a good place to put a bar or two or three bars of silver. I keep an Eagle in my 5-gallon container. They put silver a eagle in the drinking water tanks on the buggies back in the olden days.

Bless your heart. I have been saving my empty spring and distilled water bottle. Alabama is in the South but I am worried about the cold this winter if the power goes out.

I am blessed my son works at Gatorade and he got us three. We have them full and have treated the water and have them covered in black plastic. If you get one please treat water and cover.

I had the same problems with the Great Value water bottles. Lost a lot of bottled water.

You could get a small dolly or small flatbed with a handle on it to transport your water back & forth, think safety during winter time and ice