WATER STORAGE SAFETY QUESTION

[barfife]

I have been wanting to set up storage units for rainwater collection under my rear deck.

I found a location nearby that has about a hundred 275 gal containers for sale. They are the white plastic units enclosed in an aluminum cage like you see on landscaping trailers. The company selling them said that they wash them out twice before selling and they are safe to store drinking water in.

The storage units held liquid Phosphoric acid. Looking on line I found that Phosphoric acid is used for many things including putting the "tang" in coke and pepsi and rust neutralization! Only one site said not to reuse the containers (referring to units storing "solid Phosphoric acid"). Nothing is mentioned about liquid Phosphoric acid units.

On one site, I read that you could clean chemical units to remove residue and/or smell by filling unit with water and adding pool treatment and letting set for 6-8 hrs and then rinse two more times to remove clorine. You see blue barrels (for $50-60) that have been "reconditioned" for food and water storage for sale on the web all the time.

This company has a good price of $75 per 275 gal units and $6 per 55 gal blue barrels with multiple unit purchase discounts available.

New white plastic 300 gal water storage tanks with out cages cost $375 at Tractor Supply. It would surely be a boost to the budget if I could repurpose the used units.

Any feedback/advice would be appreciated.

[1Admin]

I'd avoid them for drinking water, but that's just me. Probably be fine for irrigation, fire fighting and washing water though.

[Tofu]

Barfife: I have installed 2 x 275 gallon tanks under my deck, and what a pain in the neck that was. The previous contents are always in doubt, connecting together and to a water hose was the bigger pain. If I had to do it again, I would stack six or seven 55 gallon white/blue drums on wooden racks on their sides. A great place to get these drums ($5) is a Coca-Cola bottling plant that used to contain syrup. The advantages are numerous, 1. Easy to handle, 2. Easy to connect, 3. Easy to replace one that fails, 4. Easy to expand, etc.

If you have seen my garden photos, you will see that I use raised garden beds (mainly to keep the neighborhood dogs out). I am currently planning on putting a plastic drum at the head of each of my beds and run the irrigation plumbing from there. This will give me an additional 220 gallons of capacity to the 550 gallons I already have under my deck.

[Rmplstlskn]

I have been wanting to set up storage units for rainwater collection under my rear deck.

Those are tough tanks, but as mentioned previously, they are heavy empty, let alone full... so keep that in mind.

My comments are on my experience with RAIN WATER storage... I know many countries and individula homes use CISTERNS to capture rain water, but I have had a terrible time keeping that water even "irrigation" clean, let alone useful for household uses. The rain water I had stored turns nasty and septic smelling after a few weeks, so much so I don't even want to put that stuff on my garden...

My issue (I think) was that much of the water I was capturing in barrels was coming from a SHADY side of an asphalt shingle roof and I think I was getting small bits of ALGAE and FUNGUS in that water that would then grow into a sticky, septic mess left in the dark in a shady side of the house... So I just moved it to another location that primarily gets rain water from a very hot and sunny side and the barrel is also exposed to the sun partly during the day. Maybe that rain water will be CLEANER and not go septic so quickly...

But for HOUSEHOLD use, I believe there are a few REQUIREMENTS that must be met to provide suitable quality rain water. They are:
1. A metal, tile, slate or other kind of SMOOTH surface roof... (Asphalt has too much DEBRIS & chemical runoff)
2. A DIVERTER that dumps the first batch of rain water to waste to remove the debris/bird poop/pollen/etc... before that stuff dumps into your storage tanks
3. A FILTER of some kind...

Just my thoughts so far...

Rmpl

[Tofu]

I use a cotton T-shirt to filter the water before it dumps in the tanks. The pollen alone this spring was enough to clog the filter. So far the water has stayed fairly clear, wouldn't be too excited about being forced to drink it or use it for anything more than garden water.

[Urban Survivalist]

Great water storage. If you want to use the water for drinking purposes then set up a distiller and you can make any water you have stored drinkable.