Thank you for the compliment, John, and yes you are right that I did not share everything that could be shared. I'm trying to reign myself in so that I don't bore people to death!
One thought that I had reading what you are actually doing, is that black trash bags will not do much of anything in terms of protection from sunlight. If anything they will increase the heat on the drums because black absorbs heat. You might be better off tenting them in the $1.50 space blankets, because they are reflective, or perhaps the white sandbag tarps ($3.00). The blankets are more readily available than sandbag tarps, but even though they can be re-used multiple times, I'm not sure how they would weather long term.
I do know some of my customers are self-described "desert rats" that like to camp in the desert for long periods. They tell me that wrapping their ice chests in the emergency blankets enables them to keep ice in the chest and food cold for up to a week. That's actually something people can also keep in mind as a strategy to perhaps help protect fridge and freezer food when the power goes out in emergencies. I also make a practice to make sure there are never any voids in my freezer. If there are spaces, I fill them up with ice. This helps conserve energy, but at the time of an emergency these bags of ice can become extra water, and/or ice packs for sprains or injuries.
April Kelcy
Earthquake Solutions
626-483-0626
From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of johngermaine2002
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 7:24 AM
To: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [californiadisasters] Re: soft drink bottles used for water
--- In californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com, "Earthquake Solutions" <earthquakesolutions@...> wrote:
>
> There is a difference between "food grade" and "UN standard for drinking
> water" in terms of the drums themselves. Also, household bleach treatment
> is not recommended any more for either preserving water for future use or
> treatment of suspect water, for several reasons, one of which is that
> regular bleach is no longer adequate to kill cryptosporidium. Also all of
> the old treatment dosages are wrong now that bleach concentrations have
> changed in recent years.
For what it's worth here is my 2 cents
Methinks April knows a lot more
There are several factors when storing water and what containers to use. What April - Quakesolutions said about bleach is correct but did not go far enough. Bleach, from my studies, is fine BUT, you must consider the strength, age and, how it was stored. Clorox and WalMart Bleach is still 5.5 or 6% whereas some others like at Smart & Final is 3.5 or 4% and, some bottles don't have the strength on them at all!!! I had to ask a manager at Smart & Final who their supplier was and call them to find out what the strength was. When I mentioned emergency water storage and Disaster Response, they got back to me really fast and were quite helpfull. Then there is the question of age of the bleach and how has it been stored, for how long before the bottle was opened or after it was opened. Most bleach should be date coded as to date of manufacture. They call the degradation over time "half life". If stored below 90 degrees F an unopened bottle is good for about a year or less, after opening it's good for only about 3 months. Also, bleach degrades very quickly if exposed to light, that is why is is sold in opaque containers.
From what I have read, the best way to know is, test water for "actice bleach - active sodium hypochlorite" add bleach if needed, re test after a time period I think is about 1 hour untill the "active amount" is some percentage I forget. The test is similar to a swimming pool test kit I think. Then seal airtight immediatly and you should be good for 5 years. The reason for sealing is the bleach doesn't stay active, it degrades into salt and water. What you are doing is sterilizing water in a sterile container and preventing anything from getting in.
Then you need to know what quality the water is and where it came from. Most city municipal water is already treated to some extent but does vary and, Well or Spring water could be anything from pretty good to really bad for comtamination or micro-organisms.
Above is what I have learned, not what I do. I have for 2 people, about 90 gallons in 2 "food grade" blue barrels, a 55 and a 35 gallon that I got used and washed and bleached well before using. They are stored outside but protected from direct sunlight by black bags and, the 55 gallon is tied to a tree, the 35 gallon is tied to a shed so they will not fall and break or roll in a quake. I have to change the black bags covering them about twice a year. That is not ideal but I have no money so have to improvise. It's like putting together a first aid kit, you can buy one all done up for $30 to $100 or more or, go to the 99cent or Dollar Store and put one together for $10 or so.
John Stevens
Topanga, CA
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