Water Storage in Barrels - what I just learned

A customer called today asking about the 55 gallon Water Barrels through Shelf Reliance.  I had to admit that I knew very little about water storage and treatment, but I was willing to learn to meet his needs (and my future needs).  So now that I've done some research, I thought I'd share with you what I've learned (which also puts it in an easy to find place for me when I'm ready to work more on this area of preparedness).

Shelf Reliance has lots of water preparedness products and you can see them all here.  That includes the Seychelle Water Filtration Straw that I added to our 72 hr kit because it can filter up to 25 gallons of water while you are on the go.

But today's focus was on the large 55 gallon Water Barrels and how to treat the water you store in it.  Currently the 55 gallon Water Barrel is available for $69.64 through my website ($69.29 for Q Customers, or by contacting me direction).  I've always seen these barrels and wondered why they were blue so today I discovered part of the answer - it's to block light and control the growth of bacteria and algae.  Wonder if a different color would work too - my daughter's would want pink and purple, but I'm sure my husband would be happy with the blue :)

I've also noticed the 55 Gallon Water Supply Kit and wondered what the difference was between it and the Barrel.  The difference is that the Kit contains the Barrel PLUS what you need to easily access the water you store and treat it.

The 55 Gallon Water Supply Kit includes the following:

• 55 Gallon Water Container (BPA free)
• Water Siphon ("The Safety Siphon") (6’ long, 1/2” wide)
• Bung Wrench
• Water Treatment Solution

What else did I learn? - Water Treatment
The Aquamira Water Treatment in 2 oz size will treat up to 60 gallons of stored water.  It kills bacteria, controls slime buildup and improves the taste of stored water.  This is the perfect size for the 55 gallon water barrel, but you can also use it to treat multiple smaller containers (up to 60 gallons total for 2 oz of Aquamira).  From the Aquamira website, I discovered that if you use it according to the directions, kept in a sealed container, treated water needs no further treatment for 5 years!  If you're storing water in a 55 gallon barrel, you definitely want to be storing treated water!

Time to crunch some numbers.
You could buy each of the items in the 55 gallon Water Supply Kit (Retail value: $109.99) separately on the I'm THRIVing website for $100.47.  As a Q Customer, or by contacting me directly, the current price on the Kit is $88.20!  If you're not a Q Customer (which makes you able to see this price on the website), saving $12 is worth giving me a phone call or an email!

Want some more numbers?  If you were just going to buy the water barrel and the Aquamira Water Treatment you need for it, through me or as a Q Customer, it's $84.13.  So for just $4 more, you're adding in the siphon/hose and the wrench.

My Conclusion
We do have some water stored.  It needs updated and I'm not as thrilled with the options we've tried so far - reusing juice bottles, and also the boxed water.  So now I know that when I'm ready to focus on water storage again, if we decide to go with the 55 Gallon Water Barrels, I'll be buying the Water Supply Kit!  The biggest disadvantage to the 55 Gallon Water Barrel for my family is finding a place to store it AND we also need some water that's portable.  So I can see adding a water barrel or two in the future, but it won't be our ONLY water storage.  Looks like more water storage research is in my future!  And seeing it here is in your future :)

Update 7/2/2012
In researching the water barrels for another customer, I obtained the dimensions of the 55 gallon barrels and decided to share here with you (it also puts everything in one location for me as well)...
The water barrel's height is 35 inches and diameter is 23 inches.