emergency water storage.

ron_m80

ron_m80

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I was at Toys'r'us this past weekend, and i thought about all of you when i saw this. i have looked in friefighting magazines for gear, and noted that their gear catalogs have thousand gallon cisterns that they can set up in the field for firefighting water storage. Well the cisterns are heavy, large and extremely expensive, so pretty inpactical all around.

Well, aparently the little plastic pool that we all got as kids, the one that cost less than $20 and had 30 gallons of water in it? This thing has had a major upgrade.

It is pliable and movable. holds 961 gallons of water, wieghs 24 pounds, and only costs a little more than $50.

it doesn't look to be the toughest thing in the world but its self supported and movable. when a major emergency starts, inflate your portable field expedient cistern, and manage, aquire, and store your water. :D

The "10 foot x 30 inch Fast Set Pool"
 
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man if only they sold those littler kid pools like this small enough to put into a large survival kit and collect rain water
 
That wouldn't be a bad idea. I wouldn't count on it as my main source of water but for a very large secondary source for a few days it would work pretty good. Just throw a tarp over the top to cover it. At that price you could buy a couple of them.
 
MarineAir said:
Ron, the best price I've seen on the waterbob was on cheaper than dirt.
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It won't work for me, no bathtub. I have a tiled shower pan rather than a tub.

But I still like what its intended for.
 
svstunter said:
man if only they sold those littler kid pools like this small enough to put into a large survival kit and collect rain water
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Try a sporting goods / outdoors store and look for packable dog water bowls. I've seen some that look like they will hold about a half gallon and they fold down to almost nothing. Way smaller than a wading pool, but much more packable.
 
I got a waterbob on CTD for about $20 and keep it in the cabinet in the bathroom that has the tub (the others have showers) - best part about it is that the water is contained - pump out what you want (even comes with a pump) and never touches the tub itself (dust/soap scum/etc.). It's all quite compact in the box, too.

I'm not against using a kiddie pool or rain barrel or anything, but you would need to treat that water to make it potable. With the waterbob, it's in food-grade polyvinyl - drink right out of it if you need to.
 
ron_m80 said:
It won't work for me, no bathtub. I have a tiled shower pan rather than a tub.

But I still like what its intended for.
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Get a few collapsable 5gal jugs - can find them in many stores like china-mart, sporting goods/camping stores, etc.

A waterbob might actually work in a shower - maybe just not maximum capacity - at least wall-to-wall-to-curb.
 
tarditi said:
I got a waterbob on CTD for about $20 and keep it in the cabinet in the bathroom that has the tub (the others have showers) - best part about it is that the water is contained - pump out what you want (even comes with a pump) and never touches the tub itself (dust/soap scum/etc.). It's all quite compact in the box, too.

I'm not against using a kiddie pool or rain barrel or anything, but you would need to treat that water to make it potable. With the waterbob, it's in food-grade polyvinyl - drink right out of it if you need to.
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Water quality is always an issue in an emergency. The idea, or at least my take on it, is to have a place or device that is capable of large volume water storage if the need arises. There are a several ways to keep this water relatively stable in quantity, and aerated so that it doesn't go stagnant. A stored and sealed reservoir of water is optimal, though not quite as long term a solution as large volume storage IMO.

If i ever needed this device, I would cover it with a tarp, and try to create a collector for dew to contribute to the volume. And i would likely use a water hose to create a siphon, pulling water from the bottom of the basin, up through the hose possibly over the roof of the house and draining back down onto the surface of the water. That would keep it fresh. And it would provide relatively safe large volume to work with and clean as needed as dictated by the purpose. You don't need to boil it if you are only putting a few gallons down the toilet to flush the poop out.
 
55gal drum and 5gal MWCs in the garage.

if i had water in the tub the cats and dog would drink out of it and play in it if they got to it. yes, my cats are freaks and would love to play with the water in the tun. i'm always having to run the water in the shower so they can lick it off the floor. :rolleyes:

the waterbob os better than trying to just fill the tub, but not any good if the water goes out suddenly. you probably need 15 minutes to stick it in the tub, hook it up and fill it.. i'd rather just have water on hand already stored in closed containers.
 
This is a pretty sweet idea, though if your water service is out.....youre still screwed, but as long as you had running water at some point during an emergency....
 
MarineAir said:
For those of us in apartments, theres the waterbob. I've been meaning to pick a couple up... but hurricane season is almost over. Theres always next year.

http://www.waterbob.com
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All these years in FL and I have NEVER seen that. For only $20 it seems like you cant go wrong.

I probably buy one and test it out...

Thanks for the link!
 
Are there any ways to keep the water "good" for long periods of time? I read somewhere about using a bit of chlorine but I don't remember where and have never verified it.
 
vchacon said:
Are there any ways to keep the water "good" for long periods of time? I read somewhere about using a bit of chlorine but I don't remember where and have never verified it.
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What is your definition of "a long time" and with which method are you referring to?

The waterbob is food-grade polyvinyl. it basically seals up as a bladder until you need to open it and draw water from it. It's quite heavy when filled (water weights about 8# per gallon) so you can't really move it.

A kiddie pool would serve as a reservoir just fine, but I would still boil/filter the water before using it.
 
Some emergencies, like an earthquake, you can't predict and there's no warning. There'd be no time to fill if the power/water had already quit.
I keep 4 fifty-five gallon drums (food grade) filled and have jugs of chlorine ready, just in case. Smaller 5 gal. jugs are used to shuttle where I need it. Luckily there are a number of smaller lakes within 3 - 5 miles of my house that could be used to get more also. I have a number of filters to take care of sanitation.
 
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