How to store backup water in your garage in 55 gallon barrels

hey YouTube this is city prepping in this video we'll discuss how to go about storing water in your garage as part of your long-term water storage plan in particular we'll talk about fifty-five gallon water drums and we'll discuss everything you need to know from start to finish to go about setting these up in your garage so stick around [Music] you can show your support for this channel by clicking the like button sharing on social media providing feedback in the comments section and don't forget as a subscriber to click the bell icon below to get updates enjoy the video in this video we'll discuss the following where you can get 55-gallon drums well discuss what you'll need on hand to prepare to store these barrels a long-term how to disinfect and clean them how to properly fill them with water how to store them away and how to siphon water out of them so where can you pick up 55 gallon barrels I found the best deal so far on Walmart calm the price often fluctuates between 50 to $60 USD on their website you can also pick them up on Amazon and other various websites I'll post links in the description section with the options I found online now be careful not to pick these up used on websites like Craigslist unless you personally know or trust the seller as you don't know what's been stored in the barrels in the past so let's discuss the things you'll need for this project a black plastic sheet bleach soap Gorilla Tape bung wrench siphon hose scissors tea spoon and a Sharpie pen so now let's jump into discussing how to disinfect the barrels before storing them with water first we'll need to wash the inside of the barrel with dishwashing soap and water I just put a little soap inside along with water enough to get the inside soapy without making it a hassle to get the soap out you want to roll the barrel around to make sure the entire inside gets soap on the surface be sure to flip it on the top as well to get soapy water there next rinse them out with copious amounts of water to make sure we're getting all the soap out filling them up with water after initially emptying them out and then rolling them around again and rinsing them out one more time is not a bad idea to ensure we get all the soap out the next will sanitize the barrels with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of unscented chlorine bleach in a quart of water roll the barrel around to completely the inside as we want to sanitize the entire inside of the barrel thoroughly you want to wait for about 30 seconds and then pour the solution out of the barrel you can now air dry the barrels before filling them up or rinse them out with treated city water so let's discuss how to properly fill the barrel up you should use a drinking safe water hose not your typical water hose you use a water lawn you know the kind that we all drink from as kids I just use the hose that we use in our RV tap water treated by the city does not require extra treatment but well water capture water or water from any untreated source must be treated if you are storing untreated water again that's water that has it been chlorinated by your local city water provider you want to use water treatment drops as instructed or add two tablespoons of fragrant free liquid chlorine bleach to the fifty five gallons of water you can also use a four to six percent sodium hypochlorite aka pool shock mixed in at the correct ratio if you don't have liquid bleach so in regards of storing them away void storing the barrels directly on the concrete but instead place them on something like two by fours to keep them off the concrete this is recommended in the event the concrete heats up and releases any chemicals that could be absorbed into the barrels once you've got the barrels positioned exactly where you want them start filling them up if you fill them up in a place where they're not ultimately going to be stored though weigh over 400 pounds and be extremely difficult to move so next screw the bung nuts into the fill holes being sure they tighten smoothly without crossing the threads then use the bung nut wrench to tighten the bung nuts effectively sealing your water and protecting it from the outside contaminants also it's a good idea to write on the side of the barrels information regarding when you store them if you add any additives to the barrels and if the water is potable or not I have a few barrels that I purchase at garage sales that I do not use for drinking water but rather keep water in them for other purposes like sanitation and I clearly marked them as non potable I also put rope between the two by fours to secure the barrels from tipping over living in earthquake territory I don't want these easily fall over if there big enough of them for my setup I decided to cover the barrels with a plastic liner for two reasons one I don't want direct sunlight hitting the barrels while they are blue barrels which will effectively prevent bacterial growth I wanted one extra layer of protection to keep sunlight from hitting the barrels as opening our garage door causes a flood of sunlight to pour into our garage and secondly and just as important is OPSEC OPSEC simply stands for operations security and in the context of this video I simply do not want these barrels observable from the street reason being is I don't want to be remembered as a guy with all the water store in his garage in the event of a disaster when people are looking for resources I don't want desperate neighbors lining up outside my door I simply went down to my local Home Depot and picked up black plastic liner got 3.5 milk thick which is thick enough and it doesn't have to be overly sturdy before I hung up the plastic liner I measure the height of the area I needed to cover I cut the liner for the height I need and then using some sturdy thumbtacks designed for furniture I hung this up I use gorilla tape to put a backing on the places on the plastic sheet where I drove the thumbtacks through in order to prevent tearing of the plastic I went around the entire shelf hanging this up and then circled back to secure the plastic sheet at the very bottom as well last point is how to siphon your water all you have to do is position a bucket or a similar water container near the water barrels so the siphon hose will slope downward insert the siphon in the copper valve into the barrel and the bare plastic end into the smaller container keeping the siphon in fully submerged in the water shake the hose in a vertical up-and-down motion after a few seconds water will flow on its own and then you can stop shaking the siphon hose so there you have it setting up your own water reserve system in your garage it's pretty straight for an easy process just takes a little time and just going through clean these up setting up some shelves and then stacking them in properly if you have any questions on anything that I presented a video please post in the comments section below and I'll provide feedback or any insight that I have into any questions you may have again thanks for taking the time to watch this video if you enjoy please share on social media click the like button and as always be safe out there you

Channel: City Prepping

Views: 102,494

Rating: 4.9592738 out of 5

Keywords: prepping, prepper, preppers, water storage, 55 gallon water storage, emergency water, shtf, shtf water

Id: OerWJgH-Vtk

Length: 6min 50sec (410 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2017