Water is important. It can be a little daunting to begin storing water, but you need to start somewhere. Here are two more suggestions for water storage that I have not used, but they may work for your family and situation. As always, if you have questions or need help with any aspect of food storage, please contact Rebecca Wilcox, or a member of the Canning Committee.
1) Refill sturdy, plastic containers that once held a drinkable liquid with water . It is very important that the containers are both a) sturdy (don't reuse milk jugs or wimpy juice containers) with a good lid and b) held a liquid that was meant to be drunk. The containers I have seen used most often are two-liter soda pop bottles. Make sure to rotate these frequently. For more information, visit providentliving.org.
2) Freeze water. If your freezer is not very full (a category I definitely don't fit into!), then filling containers with water and placing them in your freezer will not only help your freezer run more efficiently, but that water can be part of your water storage. Again, make sure to rotate.
As always, if you have questions or need help with any aspect of food storage, please contact Rebecca Wilcox, or a member of the Canning Committee.
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Water - Parts 3 & 4
You can read the other pieces of this Water Storage Series here and here.
We rotate our longer-term supply of water about every six months. There are two components to it, comprising the third and fourth aspects of our water storage plan. First, we store water in 5-gallon, heavy-duty, square, very thick, blue containers. They are composed of the same material that the big blue 55-gallon drums are. At the same time that I bought the containers, I bought a spigot that fits into the cap so that if necessary, we could use the containers as-is instead of needing to transfer the water to something else in order to be able to fill up a cup. For simply rotating, I don't use the spigot because once you put it into the cap, you will need to get a new cap when you refill the container.
As part of our longer-term water supply, we also have a big, blue, 55-gallon drum. We store it up on a pallet on our back porch. In order to get water out of it, it is necessary to have a siphon. I hope to never have to drink the water in it, but we could if we had to. I store it to use for other water needs such as doing dishes, laundry, and flushing toilets.
It is important to remember to rotate your longer-term supply of water regularly. We rotate ours on General Conference weekends because it is easy to remember. You can also rotate in January and July, or any six-month interval that works for you.
Up next week: other ideas for storing water.
We rotate our longer-term supply of water about every six months. There are two components to it, comprising the third and fourth aspects of our water storage plan. First, we store water in 5-gallon, heavy-duty, square, very thick, blue containers. They are composed of the same material that the big blue 55-gallon drums are. At the same time that I bought the containers, I bought a spigot that fits into the cap so that if necessary, we could use the containers as-is instead of needing to transfer the water to something else in order to be able to fill up a cup. For simply rotating, I don't use the spigot because once you put it into the cap, you will need to get a new cap when you refill the container.
As part of our longer-term water supply, we also have a big, blue, 55-gallon drum. We store it up on a pallet on our back porch. In order to get water out of it, it is necessary to have a siphon. I hope to never have to drink the water in it, but we could if we had to. I store it to use for other water needs such as doing dishes, laundry, and flushing toilets.
It is important to remember to rotate your longer-term supply of water regularly. We rotate ours on General Conference weekends because it is easy to remember. You can also rotate in January and July, or any six-month interval that works for you.
Up next week: other ideas for storing water.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Water - Part 2
Today is the second in a series about water. You can find the first part here.
As I mentioned last week, the first part of my water storage is cases of bottled water. Because these bottles are typically made of thinner plastic, we rotate them frequently.
The second part of my master water plan is 3-gallon heavy duty bottles. These are the types of bottles that you would expect to use in a water cooler (however, we don't). They are thick, sturdy plastic with a white cap. I have purchased them from both a Water & Ice type store, and I have found them at Basha's. I originally chose 3-gallon bottles as opposed to 5-gallon bottles because I can heft and handle one of these bottles. The 5-gallon bottles, however, are too unwieldy for me to handle comfortably.
We currently have 12 of these bottles that we rotate through. Whenever we get down to only having about half of them fully, Johnny will go to a water place and fill the empty ones up. You could easily use tap water to fill them up, too. To facilitate rotation, we keep a container in our refrigerator that has a spigot, and fill it up as needed using these 3-gallon bottles. Right now, because it is so hot outside, we are filling up the container nearly each evening, which equates to rotating our entire supply approximately every two weeks.
The two biggest challenges I have encountered with this part of our water storage is first, where to store the bottles, and second, keeping track of when they were filled. Both were easily solved. We store our bottles in the laundry room. When Johnny built me a wonderful set of shelves last year, I specifically designed them to be tall enough that two cases of bottle water will stack on top of each other underneath the bottom shelf. This is also the perfect height for the bottles. That solved our "where to put them" problem. As far as dating them, you can use a crayon to write the date on the white plastic cap. When you use that bottle, wipe the date off using a Magic Eraser sponge.
Next week, I'll write about the two parts of my water storage that deal with storing water for 6-months at a time. If you have any ideas or suggestions on what has worked for your families, please share them!
As I mentioned last week, the first part of my water storage is cases of bottled water. Because these bottles are typically made of thinner plastic, we rotate them frequently.
The second part of my master water plan is 3-gallon heavy duty bottles. These are the types of bottles that you would expect to use in a water cooler (however, we don't). They are thick, sturdy plastic with a white cap. I have purchased them from both a Water & Ice type store, and I have found them at Basha's. I originally chose 3-gallon bottles as opposed to 5-gallon bottles because I can heft and handle one of these bottles. The 5-gallon bottles, however, are too unwieldy for me to handle comfortably.
We currently have 12 of these bottles that we rotate through. Whenever we get down to only having about half of them fully, Johnny will go to a water place and fill the empty ones up. You could easily use tap water to fill them up, too. To facilitate rotation, we keep a container in our refrigerator that has a spigot, and fill it up as needed using these 3-gallon bottles. Right now, because it is so hot outside, we are filling up the container nearly each evening, which equates to rotating our entire supply approximately every two weeks.
The two biggest challenges I have encountered with this part of our water storage is first, where to store the bottles, and second, keeping track of when they were filled. Both were easily solved. We store our bottles in the laundry room. When Johnny built me a wonderful set of shelves last year, I specifically designed them to be tall enough that two cases of bottle water will stack on top of each other underneath the bottom shelf. This is also the perfect height for the bottles. That solved our "where to put them" problem. As far as dating them, you can use a crayon to write the date on the white plastic cap. When you use that bottle, wipe the date off using a Magic Eraser sponge.
Next week, I'll write about the two parts of my water storage that deal with storing water for 6-months at a time. If you have any ideas or suggestions on what has worked for your families, please share them!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Water - Introduction & Part 1
Just a reminder: The Food Storage 101 class is THIS SATURDAY!!!
There are so many important components to Food Storage. One that is often neglected is water. Speaking from my own experience, I put off having water as a part of my Food Storage for a while. I'm not sure why it was so hard for me, but it was. Maybe it was because I don't buy soda pop in 2-liter bottles, except at Christmas time, and then the bottles are already earmarked for our annual Day-After-Christmas Bottle Rocket contest. Maybe it was that the thought of actually having to drink the six-month-old water that has been sitting in the 55-gallon drum on my back porch suddenly made me feel not very thirsty. Maybe it was because the first time I tried storing water, one of the containers sprung a link, and I didn't know it until it had made a big mess. Whatever the reasons, water was my food storage hang-up. I just didn't understand how important water truly is. In the All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet that is published by the Church, water is listed as the second thing you need to focus on, right after your Three-Month Supply, and two steps ahead of building a Longer-Term Supply! Water is so important!
Now, my water storage system has four parts. I rotate each part on a regular basis. This accomplishes two things. First, it keeps the water tasting as good as possible. Second, if there is a problem, such as a leak, it is detected before a lot of damage can be done. A few years ago when I discovered my leaky water container, I called my mom to warn her, knowing that she had purchased the exact same product I had. Sure enough, hers had leaked, too. I was more fortunate than she was. Only one of my containers leaked, and though it made a mess, there was no damage to anything, as I caught it early. Evidently, two of her containers had been leaking, and for a longer time, causing damage to the drywall. This experience reiterated the importance of regularly rotating your water so that minor problems don't turn into larger ones.
The first part of my personal water storage system is very, very easy. It's simply plastic water bottles. Whenever the 24-pack cases of water go on sale (ideally for $1.99, but $2.50 is a decent price if I am running low), I buy them. I have a spot in my laundry room that is easily accessible, and that allows not only for easy rotation, but also lets me keep an eye on things so that I can spot a leak soon after it occurs. Because these bottles are thin, they are the most susceptible of the four methods I use for storing water to leaking. However, I have never had a single one leak, probably because I am careful about where and how I store them, and rotate them regularly. The individual bottles prove to be especially convenient in the summer for grabbing quickly on our way out the door. This helps a lot with rotation, too. My sister also uses this idea as a part of her water storage strategy, and has had a lot of success with it as well.
To make rotation easier, I use a permanent marker to mark each case of water with the expiration date that is stamped on the individual bottles. I write the month and year fairly largely on the outside plastic, and then I stack them so that the case with the nearest date gets used first. Whenever I buy new cases of water, I put them behind or underneath the older ones. This is the same method I use for all of my food storage. Taking the few extra seconds to do this as you putting things way really helps to make rotation easier.
In the coming weeks, I will be sharing the other parts of my water storage system. If you have any ideas or suggestions on what has worked for your family, please share them!
Additional information from the Church on storing water: Water
There are so many important components to Food Storage. One that is often neglected is water. Speaking from my own experience, I put off having water as a part of my Food Storage for a while. I'm not sure why it was so hard for me, but it was. Maybe it was because I don't buy soda pop in 2-liter bottles, except at Christmas time, and then the bottles are already earmarked for our annual Day-After-Christmas Bottle Rocket contest. Maybe it was that the thought of actually having to drink the six-month-old water that has been sitting in the 55-gallon drum on my back porch suddenly made me feel not very thirsty. Maybe it was because the first time I tried storing water, one of the containers sprung a link, and I didn't know it until it had made a big mess. Whatever the reasons, water was my food storage hang-up. I just didn't understand how important water truly is. In the All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet that is published by the Church, water is listed as the second thing you need to focus on, right after your Three-Month Supply, and two steps ahead of building a Longer-Term Supply! Water is so important!
Now, my water storage system has four parts. I rotate each part on a regular basis. This accomplishes two things. First, it keeps the water tasting as good as possible. Second, if there is a problem, such as a leak, it is detected before a lot of damage can be done. A few years ago when I discovered my leaky water container, I called my mom to warn her, knowing that she had purchased the exact same product I had. Sure enough, hers had leaked, too. I was more fortunate than she was. Only one of my containers leaked, and though it made a mess, there was no damage to anything, as I caught it early. Evidently, two of her containers had been leaking, and for a longer time, causing damage to the drywall. This experience reiterated the importance of regularly rotating your water so that minor problems don't turn into larger ones.
The first part of my personal water storage system is very, very easy. It's simply plastic water bottles. Whenever the 24-pack cases of water go on sale (ideally for $1.99, but $2.50 is a decent price if I am running low), I buy them. I have a spot in my laundry room that is easily accessible, and that allows not only for easy rotation, but also lets me keep an eye on things so that I can spot a leak soon after it occurs. Because these bottles are thin, they are the most susceptible of the four methods I use for storing water to leaking. However, I have never had a single one leak, probably because I am careful about where and how I store them, and rotate them regularly. The individual bottles prove to be especially convenient in the summer for grabbing quickly on our way out the door. This helps a lot with rotation, too. My sister also uses this idea as a part of her water storage strategy, and has had a lot of success with it as well.
To make rotation easier, I use a permanent marker to mark each case of water with the expiration date that is stamped on the individual bottles. I write the month and year fairly largely on the outside plastic, and then I stack them so that the case with the nearest date gets used first. Whenever I buy new cases of water, I put them behind or underneath the older ones. This is the same method I use for all of my food storage. Taking the few extra seconds to do this as you putting things way really helps to make rotation easier.
In the coming weeks, I will be sharing the other parts of my water storage system. If you have any ideas or suggestions on what has worked for your family, please share them!
Additional information from the Church on storing water: Water
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