One of the most common questions that I Received is how long can you store water I've done several videos on Channel About water storage various containers And preservation methods and there's Plenty of information on the internet About this subject now most information You can find online does it really Address this question specifically of an Expiration date on water because there's Too many variables so the honest answer To this question is how long can you Store water is it depends as quickly as I can let me explain how long you can Safely store water we're going to talk About the methods to ensure that you can Safely store it for a long time I think That's a real takeaway here let's start By defining what I would consider three Ways that we can view water which we're Going to cover in this video now for our Discussion let's categorize them as wild Stored and treated Wild Water is Anything in nature or falling from the Sky stored water has often already been Treated at a municipal site now Additional additives like chlorine or Hydrogen peroxide are added to the Container to prevent algae or Microorganism growth and then there's Tree water be it chemically treated Again filtered through a charcoal or Sand filter or ceramic filter boiled or Pasteurized or even evaporated distilled
Through a solar or boiling process so Having formed a framework of how we can Categorize water let's get back to Answering our main question about Water's longevity water does it really Have an expiration date it's really easy To rephrase the question to explore why Water goes bad and what you can do about It now your stored water can go bad for Three primary reasons first is the Growth of microorganisms that can render The water undrinkable or even toxic so To prevent this we can take several Precautions when we store the water one Is to keep it in a silk container not Exposed to direct sunlight or air so let Me give an example that I've got here This is a typical water storage Container I I've got a lid that I can Screw on to keep it airtight it's fully Opaque in other words you can't see Through it and it's free of harmful Chemicals like bpas which we know can Cause harm now storing water long term In a clear container it gives Microorganisms what they need Microorganisms like bacteria viruses and Mold and photosynthetic organisms like Algae they typically need light and Oxygen to proliferate now keeping the Water stored away from light in the Exchange of air by keeping the lid Sealed significantly reduces the water Susceptibility to these Invaders many
Municipal Water Systems they put plenty Of chlorine and other substances in the Water to kill these microorganisms so When storing water you might want to Consider adding chlorine and while I Don't think it's entirely necessary Because of the levels of chlorine Already in some Municipal Water Supplies Adding your own it gets the water to a Guaranteed level of safety and if you Know how much chlorine is in your water You will also know know if you need to Add any more now many water districts Release an annual report and have this Information on their website you can Typically look it up by your local Municipality so it does it hurt to add Chlorine though as I said it may be a Bit Overkill now the recommended amount Of chlorine to add to water for Long-term storage is eight drops of six Percent sodium hypochlorite bleach per Gallon of water and the recommended Amount of hydrogen peroxide to add to Water for long-term storage is eight Drops of three percent hydrogen peroxide Per gallon of water now these chemicals At that level are enough to hold at Bay Microorganisms and algae but they're not Harmful for human consumption now in the Past I recommended water preservatives On videos that I've done when I've Talked about water storage and you can Buy these on Amazon or any other website
But they're nothing more than really Overpriced bleach so stick with the Recommended amounts of chlorine or Bleach instead if you're going to add Preservatives or you know these Chemicals to your water to make sure That they preserve the microorganisms Again can be kept at Bay now plus when You aerate the water before you use it By pouring it between containers after You take it out of the water storage Container you want to let it stand for About 30 minutes and these chemicals Will typically vent off and the last Time I filled up my water storage Barrels in my garage I didn't add any Chlorine to them I'm I just I've stopped Doing that here recently because there's Really enough chlorine in the water that I get from my local municipality I've Done in the past and after opening them Up two years later where I didn't add Any chemicals to them and I've opened up My Barrels in my garage there wasn't any Growth I didn't smell anything and I Couldn't see anything it just there was No growth inside now let's talk about The second reason that stored water can Go bad it's due to chemical Contamination from using a container That previously stored non-water Substances or from using a container Made for storing non-drinking water have You ever reused a plastic bottle like an
Orange juice juice bottle and you really Couldn't get that orange taste out of it Try drinking water out of your favorite Stainless steel coffee cup it's probably Going to have a hint of coffee flavor to It and that's referred to as chemical Leaching far worse and potentially with Serious health consequences in the Future would be reusing something like a Laundry detergent container that may Contain harmful phosphates if you were To store water in something that's Currently had something like a detergent And you would later drink it while the Water may not kill you right away doing So could have long-term Health Consequences and it could seriously make You ill just minutes after consuming it So using any non-approved water storage Container can result in harmful Chemicals embedded in the plastic Leaching into your water So to avoid This you want to use a container labeled As food grade or specifically made for Storing water now additionally I get Asked this all the time should you buy a Used water barrel or an IBC Tote that You can find online maybe on Craigslist To store water or for your rain Harvesting the answer is no you have no Idea what was stored in it previously And unless you really trust the source And you've been told exactly what was Stored in it and it's not a chemical
Then sure maybe but again you better Know the source very well because your Life literally could depend upon it now One additional note ideally you want to Store the water in a temperature stable Location if it's stored in a very hot Area it could accelerate bacterial Growth and having said that I do store My water barrels in my garage where it Can get pretty toasty in the summertime And I have not had any issues up to this Point so as you can see here this is a Typical water storage container that I Have next to our vehicles this is no There's no water in it right now but in Case we have to leave I fill these up But I've got several filled up outside That are on standby they're small They're portable they're opaque they're Food grade and again these can be sealed Off I did an entire video on these and Other options a few years ago which I'll Recommend that you check out that really Goes into various water storage options On the market that I've used and they're Safe to use all right let's talk about The third reason water can go bad it's From chemicals contaminating it from the Surrounding area and this isn't so much Of an issue if your container to start With is approved for water storage and Is airtight now even a pinhole leak Though could result in a bacteria like Legionella pneumonia AKA Legionnaires
Disease or something far worse like Animal feces which could get into your Stored water supply so while chemicals Like Benzene might spill into your Wild Water Supply of a river or even trickle Down into your aquifer and well water It's not likely that it's going to get Into your stored water supply unless it Was part of the container that you Stored it in to begin with so even then It likely won't be at levels high enough To kill you and speaking of which I did A whole day dedicated video that goes Into a lot of detail Regarding cleaning Out a 55 gallon drum in order to store It away again I think the video was Specific about storing water in your Garage and getting those water those 55 Gallon drums cleaned up and prep so that You could actually fill it up fill them Up with water and again I'll refer to That in the description section below And the principles that I lay on that Video they apply it to any size water Storage container so let's say that You've taken the proper storage methods Of using an approved container added Chemicals for storage you know some Non-scented chlorine and you've kept it Airtight and out of the light and it's Free from any biological or chemical Contamination how long is it going to be Good in for drinking technically if You're prepared to treat or filter the
Water once you remove it from the Container the answer is pretty much Indefinitely typically you're going to Hear that water should be rotated out About every six months but that's a Practice and not a hard rule while water That has been properly stored may still Be safe to drink after six months or Longer rotating stored water every six Months it's really good practice to Ensure that the water remains fresh and Of good quality but as I mentioned I've Opened my water barrels I store in the Garage years after filling them up and There's no growth and no smell Sure I could filter it just to be sure And I've got plenty of water filter Options or if I was really worried I Could boil it or add chemical treatments But here's the one thing that you may Note after six months your water May Taste flat or have an aftertaste of Plastic and you can eliminate some of That by aerating it before you drink it By either stirring it or leaving it in An open air or pouring it between Containers if you know that you're not Going to rotate procedurally every six Months or so then you should have the Means to treat your water for Consumption when you do pull it out of a Container and again I have multiple Filter options something like a simple Life straw a mini solid water filter
Homemade charcoal filtration system Brita or Berkey filtering systems Boiling the water it can all these Approaches can make it drinkable just as It would be if you were to pull that Water out the wall now there's also Other options like additional chemical Treatments or UV light treatment these Can be apply apply distorted water that Appears questionable but you these Approaches may be Overkill and you and But again there's nothing wrong with Being Overkill if you're not certain I'll put it that way you could even pump It out of your container through a Filter there's options on the market for That and at the far extreme you could Always solar distill your stored water Before drinking I imagine though that Most people want to Simply pump out the Water out of their storage and just Drink it and for the safest cleanest and Best tasting drinking water plant to at Least filter and aerate the water that You're going to drink before or rather After you pull it out of storage so does Water go bad technically no but it can Become contaminated if not properly Stored and I think we covered how to Ensure that it does not my encouragement Is to have a plan to store water in an Approved food grade water container the Safest plastic containers to hold water Are polyethylene based Plastics or
Plastics with number one number two and Number four this one on the bottom has Number two HDPE written right here on the bottom And on their website they state that It's food grade Again if you look at the bottom of Different Waters containers storage Containers if you go to the store you're Going to see those indicators and They'll tell you whether it's food grade And again this one has HDPE so all food Grade Plastics are made of high density Polyethylene but be careful because Something is made out of hdp number two Might not necessarily be food grade you Always want to check the manufacturer's Website to ensure that they state that It is food grade the recommendation is a Store at least a three week supply for Every person and animal in your Household and that amount will get you Through most disasters most Regional Disasters but the general rule of thumb And this is being very conservative is One gallon of water per person per day That you store away so if you want three Weeks for one person that would be 21 Gallons but again That's on this on the low end you Probably are going to want way more as You'll probably use way more but that's Just a bare minimum so ideally you can Store more but again that's a starting
Point You want to follow good practices to Treat the water going into the Container The container itself and making sure That the water is clean properly in Advance you want to ensure the container Is not transparent in a stored airtight In a relatively temperature stable Environment you want to keep the Temperature free from Wild fluctuations And you want to plan to filter and Aerate your water when you remove it From the container and I've got a whole Video dedicated to options for filtering And treating your water to make it safe Which I'll link to below and if you can Do all these things you can confidently Drink stored water several years out After you put it away so if you can get Into a six month or annual rotation of Your water and you check it when you Rotate it every six months it gives you A few different advantages first you're Going to know if your storage technique Is working if you open the container in The water is tinged it's discolored or It tastes or smells kind of odd or Strong or you smell chemicals or Anything earthy you might have a problem With your storage method you don't want To find that out after a disaster now Secondly rotating your water keeps your Mind focused on your supply and water as A resource and by rotating you better
Understand what you should be doing on The front end fluctuations of quantity Needed and what you might need when you Extract it for consumption after a Disaster there are a lot of benefits to Getting into a rotation practice which Is why I still recommend it now Admittedly I don't personally rotate Sometimes as I should or as often as I Should and some people never do but I Store it properly and I've got multiple Methods to make sure that it's suitable For drinking should have any issues when I open it up and in the past I have Rotated my barrels and other things and I've opened them and they've been fine So that's honestly why I haven't really Rotated in a while because I've gone Through the techniques and I've never Had any issues but I have multiple Methods that should I open them up and They have problems I can deal with them So if you don't rotate your water and You know there is some issue that comes Up that you're not aware of it may not Kill you you but it could make you very Ill so you want to again just test it Especially if you're starting out I Would encourage you at the beginning if This is just the beginning you know when You're starting your water storage Approach and you get six months into it Just check to make sure that there's no Issues again I'll link to our playlist
Playlist on water so you can better Understand your full range of options When it comes to water storage treatment Quantity needed and more so I hope this Video answered your questions about how Long you can store water I know it's a Question that comes up all the time and I decided to just do a dedicated video On this if you have any questions or Feedback feel free to post it below and As always stay safe out there
