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  1. #51
    Grand Master Know It All Hummer's Avatar
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    I store some water, about 90 gallons in the garage now in 30 gal. barrels, and 6 gal. and 1 gal. water jugs. I have capacity to fill and store ~820 gallons inside, all in food grade containers that I otherwise use for making beer and wine. I'm not too worried about a water shut down in a SHTF event because our regional water system is all gravity fed. But, if some event were to occur, I'd start filling our 35 & 65 gal. water tanks, the 55, 32, 12, and 10 gal. Brute barrels, the 40 glass carboys, and a couple dozen other jugs. All the bigger barrels and carboys have roller bases so they're easy to move around.

    We have an irrigation canal that meanders through the property so if they can keep it flowing from the Colorado River, most folks in the area will have water. Just have to filter and sterilize. I have a whole house UV sterilizer but it requires electricity.

    We store enough food to keep us going for 1-2 years. Some is dry storage like rice and beans I've bought in bulk at Sam's, and then vacuum packaged in meal sized servings. Two cups of pinto beans done in the crock pot is good for three meals for the two of us, along with elk steaks and veggies from the garden. In harvest season our 1200 orchard trees would provide food for sale and trade.

    We keep two refrigerators and two chest freezers full. If the electricity goes out long term we'll have to work fast converting frozen foods by cooking, canning and dehydrating. Our house is on natural gas, which might be fairly secure in a SHTF, but maybe not. I keep several 100 and 20 Lb. propane bottles, but that's not enough. I have a spare 120 gal. propane tank that I've been thinking of setting up here. That would keep us cooking for a while.

    Be Prepared is a good motto, (and Hummer is an Eagle Scout).

  2. #52
    Machine Gunner
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    I've been thinking about adding a second water heater as a water storage device. Just hook the water in before the real heater and don't hook up the gas. The water gets cycled everytime you run hot water. Easy 50 to 75 gallons.

  3. #53
    QUITTER Irving's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Erni View Post
    I've been thinking about adding a second water heater as a water storage device. Just hook the water in before the real heater and don't hook up the gas. The water gets cycled everytime you run hot water. Easy 50 to 75 gallons.
    I recently saw a dual set-up like that. One of the tanks rusted out and burst, dumping all the water onto the sub-floor in the basement. Both water heaters and the furnace were all located in a line above a single floor joist. The weight of the full water heater, above a soaking wet floor caused the floor joist to warp and the water heaters to start to lean like they were going to fall through the sub-floor. Just something to keep in mind when you look at how to mount them, as water weighs approximately 8 lbs per gallon.
    "There are no finger prints under water."

  4. #54
    The "Godfather" of COAR Great-Kazoo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Erni View Post
    I've been thinking about adding a second water heater as a water storage device. Just hook the water in before the real heater and don't hook up the gas. The water gets cycled everytime you run hot water. Easy 50 to 75 gallons.
    For the cost of a heater, buy a few 55 gal or smaller containers.
    The Great Kazoo's Feedback

    "when you're happy you enjoy the melody but, when you're broken you understand the lyrics".

  5. #55
    The "Godfather" of COAR Great-Kazoo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by clodhopper View Post
    So technically, you DO have big containers of water. The difference is you can't keep someone from peeing in them.
    Considering how the redhead down the block looks, pee away. Outside of standard water purification setups. We also have a few bags of natural hardwood charcoal for back up. Not to mention utilizing the Sodis system.
    The Great Kazoo's Feedback

    "when you're happy you enjoy the melody but, when you're broken you understand the lyrics".

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