A six-month water store that will not taste like plastic

People stack barrels, pat themselves on the back, and then open one two years later to a taste that makes the dog walk away. Storage is the easy part. Rotation and treatment are the work.

How much is enough

Two gallons per person per day covers drinking, cooking, and a little washing. For a household of three that is 90 gallons a month, 540 for six months. I keep three 55-gallon food-grade barrels plus a dozen one-gallon jugs I actually rotate through the kitchen. The jugs teach the habit. The barrels are the reserve.

The barrels

HDPE, food-grade, never held soap or fuel. I rinse with unscented household bleach (eight drops per gallon of rinse water), drain, then fill from the tap. Municipal water already has residual chlorine. I add a quarter teaspoon of unscented 6% bleach per 55 gallons if I am filling from a well or a rain tank, mix, and wait 30 minutes.

Taste

Plastic off-gasses more in heat. Keep barrels off concrete with 2x4s, out of the sun, and under 70 degrees if you can. I crack each barrel once a year, dump it on the trees, and refill. A cheap carbon pitcher filter at the tap takes the last of the plastic note.

Getting it out

A siphon is a toy. I use a food-grade hand pump and a dedicated hose that never touches the floor. Label the fill date with painter's tape. Mystery water is how you get sick.

If the grid is down and you are on well water, your stored reserve is the only water you have until you can treat new sources. Do not wait until then to find out the pump gasket is dry-rotted.