Quoted:
The best way to store water is to put a tank in your house that is in line with the water you use every day.  As you use water new water in put into storage.

Quoted:
The amount of chlorine in city water is only effective for a short amount of time.  Chlorine is not a very stable and very weak over time.  Chlorine is added to water until the chlorine demand is reach (killing of all the bad stuff in water) and chlorine residual level is reach according to local and federal laws. My advice give it a good dose of bleach and check it every 3 monthes.  Many people make the mistake of making preps but not checking them.  Things go bad and enviromental change happen.  If you can taste a little bleach in 3 months then you are good but still exchange it for new.  The best way to store water is to put a tank in your house that is in line with the water you use every day.  As you use water new water in put into storage.

Quoted:
Remember just because it is tap water doesn't mean it has been filtered.  You need to filter or run ozone to kill all pathogens. Chlorine is not enough.

Quoted:
Ok, I'm seeing a lot of responses about chlorine. Are we talking about chlorine bleach, or some type of pure chlorine? I'd hate to put a little chlorox bleach in there and get sick later.

Quoted:
Ok, I'm seeing a lot of responses about chlorine. Are we talking about chlorine bleach, or some type of pure chlorine? I'd hate to put a little chlorox bleach in there and get sick later.

Quoted:


Also, you can disinfect your water with Chlorox. Just make sure it is the unscented type with no additives. The simple rule of thumb is 8 drops per gallon but the using a test kit is the better option.

Water Treatment

In addition to having a bad odor, and taste, water from questionable sources may be contaminated by a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria and parasites that cause diseases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis. All water of uncertain purity should be treated before use.

To treat water, follow these steps:

   Filter the water using a piece of cloth or coffee filter to remove solid particles.
   Bring it to a rolling boil for about one full minute.
   Let it cool at least 30 minutes. Water must be cool or the chlorine treatment described below will be useless.
   Add 16 drops of liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of water, or 8 drops per 2-liter bottle of water. Stir to mix. Sodium hypochlorite of the concentration of 5.25% to 6% should be the only active ingredient in the bleach. There should not be any added soap or fragrances. A major bleach manufacturer has also added Sodium Hydroxide as an active ingredient, which they state does not pose a health risk for water treatment.
   Let stand 30 minutes.
   If it smells of chlorine. You can use it. If it does not smell of chlorine, add 16 more drops of chlorine bleach per gallon of water (or 8 drops per 2-liter bottle of water), let stand 30 minutes, and smell it again. If it smells of chlorine, you can use it. If it does not smell of chlorine, discard it and find another source of water.

If local public health department information differs from this advice, the local information should prevail.

Quoted:


That is an awesome idea!

Quoted:
I rotate water once a year, but I plan to filter or treat stored water before drinking.

Quoted:


That is an awesome idea!

Quoted:


I like it!!

Quoted:


A possible downside to that idea, if the city water becomes tainted your water supply is automatically tainted.  

On second thought, if you were to put a reverse osmosis system in before the tank would that address any issues with city water problems?

Quoted:







I don't know if you would want a reverse osmosis system for everyday water.  It would be costly and I don't know what volume (gallon/minute) of water you can produce. If you are worried about bad water from the city when shtf then plan on running your water through the reverse osmosis then.  Then add chlorine and check in 30-45 minutes for chlorine residual.  If your water is clean/no chlorine demand the levels should be about the same.   The water treament industry is changing as more pathogens become chlorine resistant.  This causes more chlorine demand or the amount of chlorine to be used during treament or the inability to kill the pathogen. Many water treatment plant are using ozone to kill pathogens.  Adding chlorine to water might not be enough in the future to make clean water.

Quoted:


I happen to own a company that manufactures ozone equipment. And yes, you are correct. Many industries are now using ozone to kill bacteria. Ozone is an oxidizer, like chlorine. But it kills at a much faster rate, about 3100 times faster, and is about 150% stronger. When the ozone has done its work, it reverts to oxygen.

Personally, I have an ozone system in my house that does two things for my house. When hooked into my HVAC system, I kill airborne pathogens throughout my whole house. When hooked into my water supply via a venturi system, I kill ALL bacteria.

What's the downside? It's not cheap, and it takes 120v to run. Very few amps though.

My company has been trying to design a system that will be small enough, and cheap enough for people like ourselves to use everyday. I'm working on it, that's about all I can share about it right now, without my competition trying to copy me.

For those thinking about experimenting with ozone, stay away from the chinese equipment. It IS cheap, but it doesn't work effectively for very long. And yes, I bought many different systems from all over the world, to play with. Over half the systems in the US come from abroad. And most don't work for long.

 

Quoted:







As someone in the HVAC field, I would recommend in the strongest terms you stop using ozone in your airstream.  It is NOT healthy for you to be breathing, and most companies that manufacture those are starting to take them off the market.

Quoted:

I should have taken the time to explain what it is we do with ozone/HVAC. There are two ways of using ozone within your HVAC. Using a smaller unit (UV) or using a larger unit CD (corona discharge).

UV might put out 3-5 ppm at a very low % by volume (.1%). The CD system will put out as high as 100,000 ppm at a MUCH higher % by volume (3-5%).

When using the UV system, it will effect an area 2-4 feet either side of the bulbs. So, 10 feet away from the bulbs inside of your duct work, you will NOT smell a thing. Some companies will produce units with higher ozone levels, those are the units I don't like. Too much ozone.

Now, when you're talking about a corona discharge unit that can put out as much as 50,000 times as much ozone as the UV systems, this type of ozone application is NOT meant for normal day to day bacteria killing inside the duct. This type of ozone application is for: fire remediation, flood water (smell) remediation, pet odors, smoke related smells, etc.. In some cases it can be used for bedbug eradication (small houses). In some cases I will put TWO 100,000 ppm units in a house, or even three if the house is big enough.

I run one large unit in my house about once a month for about 24-36 hours (on a timer), then the scrubber comes on for 8-12 hours to kill the ozone and remove any dead airborne bacteria. Mine are because my wife loves her three cats. In my house you can NOT smell any pet odor, nor is there any bacteria associated with pets.


THE ONLY TIME YOU CAN RUN THIS SIZE EQUIPMENT IS WHEN THE HOUSE IS EMPTY OF ALL LIVING PEOPLE/PETS, ETC.


You can NOT be inside of a building that has a level of .1 ppm or ozone (commercial OSHA law anyway). All doors are locked, and labeled as going through a chemical process that is harmful for humans or pets.

I've learned all I know about ozone from working with three of the worlds most renown PhD's scientist over the last 10 years. I appreciate your warning, and feel bad that I didn't give you all the facts as to how/what/where and why we use ozone. My apology.

Sorry for highjacking the thread.



 

Quoted:







OK, just wanted folks to be aware that ozone can be a dangerous thing to have floating through your house.



FTR, the company I work for has stopped sales of any of the UV lights designed to produce ozone.  There are other products on the market that do the same thing without the potential downsides.

Quoted:




Chlorine is added by your municipal water supply to disinfect the water. They try to have 1ppm residual chlorine when the water leaves the facility. If you store your water in a clean opaque container with a tight lid it should last a quite a while. But you would be better off if you use a test kit and check cl2 residuals once in a while.

Quoted:


Chlorine is stable once it is in a sealed container. as long as the container is clean(disinfected) before the city water is added there is no reason to mess with it. even after a year there should still be a slight chlorine smell or taste to the water.

Quoted:
The amount of chlorine in city water is only effective for a short amount of time.  Chlorine is not a very stable and very weak over time.  Chlorine is added to water until the chlorine demand is reach (killing of all the bad stuff in water) and chlorine residual level is reach according to local and federal laws. My advice give it a good dose of bleach and check it every 3 monthes.  Many people make the mistake of making preps but not checking them.  Things go bad and enviromental change happen.  If you can taste a little bleach in 3 months then you are good but still exchange it for new.  The best way to store water is to put a tank in your house that is in line with the water you use every day.  As you use water new water in put into storage.