In my third years of Disaster Preparedness experience and with all the advice on the internet, I have seen a lot of mistakes made when it comes to long-term water storage. These questionable methods will lead to question emergency drinking water So today, we're going to set the record straight Hi, Captain Wayne Bennett here with some tips on how to safely store your long-term water. For clean safe on containment of drinking water, you will need a few items to start off right. First a new 55 gallon High-Density, Polyethylene water barrel. This blue opaque plastic will block sunlight and reduce the growth of bacteria and algae and it's made from a safe plastic. So look for the letters HDPE With the number two stamped on the side of the barrel. This means your barrel is safe for long-term water storage Don't get suckered into a used barrel because they're cheap, these barrels were used for fruit juice, coke syrup, and even shampoo. And bylaw can only be used once because the contents gets into the plastic and cannot be removed So bacteria will grow when you try to store your water in it No amount of bleach or washing is going to clean them, I've tried. Next on the list is a bung wrench, to remove and tighten barrel caps so you can get an airtight seal without damaging the caps I like this particular bun wrench because it pulls double duty as a gas shutoff tool with a little slot on the backside Next, you'll need a food-grade water hose to fill your container, this blue or white water hose is intended for drinking water It's the same hose you'd buy for your RV to fill with potable water and you can be purchased easily at Walmart. Regular Garden Hoses contain lead and the garden hose in your yard is full of bacteria from sitting in the sun all day and should never be used to fill your barrel. Now for long-term storage of at least five years, I would suggest using a product called water preserver concentrate Water preserver is the only product on the market that is EPA approved and tested the guarantee for a five year shelf life I wouldn't use bleach because bleach contains mercury and arsenic and other impurities, and it's not stable enough to achieve long-term storage And it's certainly not intended for human consumption all the items were using could potentially be sources of contamination but I don't believe this is where we should cut corners So I've chosen the best of the best. Now that we have all the items necessary to do the job right. The job of filling the barrel is pretty simple and straightforward But because this barrel could wait 450 pounds once full we should consider filling it where you plan on storing it? But first we need to just rinse a barrel out clean, then add five gallons of water and then all the preserver concentrate Screw the caps back on loosely slosh around your mixture to sanitize the entire inside of the barrel and the bung caps Now once you've done that you're going to continue to fill the barrel within two to three inches at the top and simply tighten down the caps with your bung wrench for an airtight seal and you're set for five years Just be sure to remember to mark the date that you filled it and don't forget to visit our blog for more detailed long-term water storage tips Thanks, and I'll see you on the next visit Alright Captain wayne Bennett here with another quick first-aid tip for my one-and-done series teaching you how to save lives in one minute Today's First-Aid skill is how to treat shock
