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Water Storage on Cement |
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ps36
V.I.P. Member Joined: January 14 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 123 |
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Posted: February 19 2006 at 9:57am |
A few days ago, somebody indicated that we should not store water bottles on cement (sorry I cannot locate the original posting). What damage can cement do water? Does it shorten its expiry period? |
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TNbebo408
Adviser Group Joined: December 10 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 295 |
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I am not sure about concrete hurting the water. But it will affect the storage containers.
And never out lead acid batteries on concrete, it will kill them, draws the fire out of them. Just slip a board under the jugs or batteries, it will prevent this problem. |
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AuntBones
Adviser Group Joined: December 09 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 274 |
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It has to to with a chemical reaction between concrete and plastic. Chemicals from cement weaken plastic over time, sunlight will do the same over time. Ps36 I think it maybe be the limestone in concrete.
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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I've read elsewhere, someplace online, to never store water containers of any type on concrete floors because, over time, the concrete floor imports a HORRID taste to the water.
When I read about this, the author also advised to make certain, if you have food & water stored in the basement, to make absolutely certain that none of the containers ever touch the concrete WALLS of the basement, either. |
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Guests
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http://www.emprep.com/water_storage.html
Emergency Water Storage and Treatment How Much Water is enough ? Store at least one gallon of water per person, per day. That is the minimum storage just for drinking. How to Store Water 1.Store water in clean plastic containers, such as 2-liter soda bottles, with tight fitting screw-cap If using commercially prepared "spring", distilled, or " drinking" water store as follows: 1.Keep the water in its original sealed container. Once the container is opened, use the water Other sources of emergency drinking water:* Water in your hot-water heater Water in your plumbing Melted ice cubes Water from your toilet tank (not the bowl) Ways to Purify Water In addition to having a bad odor and taste, contaminated water can contain micro-organisms that There are many ways to purify water. None is perfect in a stress situation with limited resources. Often the best solution is a combination of methods. Two easy purification methods are outlined below. These measures will kill most microbes but will not remove other contaminants such as heavy metals, salts and most other chemicals. Before Boiling. Boiling is the safest method of purifying water. Bring water to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drinking. Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth Disinfection. You can use household liquid bleach to kill microorganisms. Use only regular Add 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let stand for 30 minutes. If the water does not have a slight bleach odor, repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. NOTES: Distillation. While the two methods described above will kill most microbes in water, distillation will remove microbes that resist these methods, and heavy metals, salts and most other chemicals.Distillation involves boiling water and then collecting the vapor |
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I have all of my stored on the concrete floor and I have never had any problems with my water..I dumped mine they had been in there for 2 years..and I use some to make sure i was storing properly and all was ok...but I will put drywall under them just in case..mine are in a closet under the stairs..i just hate the thoughts of moving all 300 plus of them...they have drywall between them so it is the bottom layer..oh rats...well I came across the folling artical as i was looking through this...
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slcmom
V.I.P. Member Joined: February 21 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 169 |
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Sticking a couple of 2x4s underneath the containers just to keep them off the concrete works well.
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Guests
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did you know; bleach average 16 month shelf life
This something I did not realize
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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SIXTEEN months?
Yikes, I thought I'd read that the bleach you buy at the grocery store has an expiration of about six months, that's '6' and not, "16." |
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Guests
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Does anyone know which is correct, 6 or 16 ? |
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Daydreamer
Valued Member Joined: February 24 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 439 |
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Here's what I found out from this website: http://www.clorox.com/solutions_reg_bleach_faq.php
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Don't put off tomorrow what you can PREP today
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I can guarentee you..when you do about 40-50; 2 litre pop bottles up you can smell the bleach....lol.....
and in there own site they say 8 drops and the other site says 16 drops..I use a measuring cup and dribble dribble....
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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CLOROX STATES: ....We recommend storing our bleach at room temperatures. It can be stored for about 6 months at temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. After this time, bleach will be begin to degrade at a rate of 20% each year until totally degraded to salt and water. Storing at temperatures much higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit could cause the bleach to lose its effectiveness and degrade more rapidly. However, if you require 6% sodium hypochlorite, you should change your supply every 3 months.... http://www.med.cornell.edu/ehs/faq/biological_safety.htm FOOD EXPIRATION DATES STATES: CloroxXxYDDD 12 (MONTHS) Keep at 70 degrees; 20% degratation each year after 1st year http://www.a1usa.net/gary/expire.html |
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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I have read that IF you carefully rotate the pop bottles of water, then you only have to rinse the bottle out with bleach water, and then you simply fill with tap water. It's sposed to be fine for at least three months, but I think I change mine more frequently -- I use a couple bottles worth when I do laundry, then refill the bottles, and put at the back of the line. I've stored this water simply for sanitation, not for drinking water, which is good, as I'd not known to never store any water or food on the cement floor. The dirty clothes don't mind, I just toss a couple bottles' worth of storage water into the washing machine while it's filling up. |
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bruss01
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If you store calcium hypochlorite (dry swimming pool shock) instead of bleach (sodium hypochlorite, dissolved in water) it does not degrade... or at least it degrades so slowly that it is good for upwards of 10 years. We found this readily available from our local swimming pool supply store in 1 lb bags for about $5-6 each. It should be plain calcium hypochlorite without any stabilizers or algaecides or anything.
The formula is to put 1 heaping teaspoon into 2 gallons of water to make disinfecting solution, then add 2.5 tablespoons of the disinfecting solution per gallon to drinking water to sanitize it, let stand 30 minutes, then aerate to taste.
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Bruss01, how much shock would I need for about 3,800 gallons? TIA
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Karianne
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I've had a problem with buying bottled water in jugs. Maybe it was just me but I stored them in a closet on the carpet and some more in the garage on a wooden shelf. Several in both places leaked over time. Maybe I just left them there too long. I don't know HOW they leaked. A big mystery. Anyway now I buy the cases of individual bottles as my husband takes them to work anyway and if there is no emergency we still use them. Also I save bottles from fruit juice which are stronger.
Kari
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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Those bottles were probably made with plastic which is specially formulated to be biodegradable, and it is SUPPOSED to start degrading within a couple years, so it's not a surprise that such bottles spring leaks.
You have ROTATE your water supply constantly. I also keep tap water in old plastic pop bottles which have been rinsed out with bleach water. I also rotate those - I use a couple each time I load the washing machine, then re-fill them and send them to the back of the line. That way, I don't have to keep dating and re-dating the water bottles, and also, I absolutely never HAVE to actually dispose of any of the water due to it going "bad." |
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Karianne
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Ahhh, I never thought about it being biodegradable. I know it was in there a long time because half of one bottle was empty and the floor wasn't even damp. So all that had leaked out and dried up before I even knew it. I guess I was a newbie at it huh? haha
Live and learn.
Kari
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Elizabeth
V.I.P. Member Joined: February 18 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 113 |
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I've been buying cases of bottled water for drinking, but I need to store water for washing us and the laundry too. We don't buy soda pop, so I don't have those bottles to use. I had started to save plastic milk jugs, but now read in here that is not advisable. But if it's just water to wash with, and I put some bleach in it, it should be ok for that, right? And what about bleach jugs? Since you are supposed to put bleach in it anyway, could you use bleach jugs? We don't use that much bleach, but since I just found out I have to rotate my bleach now, I'll have to empty out my bleach jugs. I did buy some for BF to disinfect with and treat creek water if I have to. It seems to me those would be ok to store water to wash with...
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omega
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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I've read in many places that people have stored their washing water in empty laundry detergent bottles, plastic dish soap bottles, etc. Some of them even leave some soap inside.
I don't know about the bleach bottles, maybe you should email Clorox and ask them. |
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