Monday, February 1, 2010

Water Barrels...CHECK!

Okay, so we've got the water barrels...now what?! I was cracking up when I got this email from Jen:

"Natalie, We got the water barrels. Thank you over and over! I really appreciate it so much.

One question: are you going to fill yours up with hose water? Do I add bleach to it? Or are these just for washing dishes/body kind of water? As you can tell, I am quite inexperienced with this whole thing. Jen"

This was funny to me because I was thinking the same thing. I was looking at those huge barrels thinking, "Hmm, what am I supposed to do with these?"

Now we all know I'm not claiming to be an expert. We're learning alongside and helping each other along, remember? BUT here's what I've found from people that are experienced and what I'm planning to do.

According to the Red Cross/FEMA information available online, it is a good idea to wash out any containers to store water in with 1 tsp. of bleach to 1 qt. of water solution. Swish the solution around so that it touches all parts of the container and rinse with clean water.

Even though our containers have been washed out, it might not be a bad idea to rinse them out again. I think I will...just in case.

Our tap water is treated with chlorine, so we can just fill it on up without having to add anything else to the water. If your water is not chlorine treated, you do need to add bleach (1 tsp. bleach to 8 gallons).

I think I will get a new (and clean) hose, so that I'm not filling my barrel up with nastiness from the hose that sits outside all the time. We can all share the clean hose. Let me know if you want to borrow it!

My personal plan is to use bottled water for my drinking storage and use the barrels of water for cooking/washing water. The inventory link (thank you, Prepared LDS Family) on my blog breaks down how much of each kind of water (washing, cooking & drinking) you should store based on how many people are in your family.

We also need some attachment things (can't think of what they're called, syphons?) to pump water out of the barrels. I'll look into where to order those and where the best price is. Anyone know of a good source for this?

I'm excited to be getting my water storage in order!

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