3-Tier 55 Gallon Barrel Water Storage System for Home

[blackstang100]

What is the width on these barrels?

[MrSlambangboom]

cdc website says 8 drops per gallon

[daveme33]

would you break down the valves and drains that you use.I went to lowes and there no help.very good eye opener vid!

[gypsyjetta]

Raising the chlorine level to 3ppm (about 6-8 drops per gallon) will kill all bacteria and render the water safe for storage and drinking. Just use a simple pool water test kit to accomplish this. The water SHOULD smell SLIGHTLY of chlorine.

May I ask where you got your barrells ? The setup looks great !!

[aufheben5]

We the people has a good idea as well. I thank him as well.

[aufheben5]

Really really really cool. I have the same barrels. I never thought of stacking them. Thanks again. *5*

[WeThePeople2020]

Idea: Tie all the barrels into each other. let the outlet of the top barrel flow directly into the bung of the middle one and the middle one flows into the bung of the bottom one. I only say this b/c yes having more water is good and that set up may only get you about 10 extra gallons, but that could mean life or death if things get bad enough. Plus when you fill the system you only need to open the to bung and fill the entire thing. Just an Idea, it works great for me. I tied 7 into each other.

[WS6Racing]

Hey good job! Keep it going and good luck!



[iwantosavemoney]

nice system

[TheStarymist]

lol are u a prepper for shtf? Just asking but great idea. Ima use it :D

[MarkJonesRanger]

I would just plumb this into my existing water system where the water flowed through them and you always had 3 fresh water barrels in reserve. I would plumb in cut off valves so if you could take it out of the system for maintainance. We lived on a well and would run water into the tub for power outages. Nice setup.

[OurTimeIsOut]

Hey bud it says 8 drops per gallon. I looked it up online.

[Slaythis1]

IncubatorWarehouse Great job and clever set up. did the bung caps come with our storage tanks? How did you modify the bung caps to accept the faucet pipes? what size pvc pipe did you use etc. Thanks for the great idea

[DJMovit]

Nice video, good job. I would install a check valve to gain that lost or wasted space. I think I would connect all three together and sample from the bottom barrel. As for the disinfecting: 1 Gallon water / 8-16 drops of regular household bleach. One teaspoon will disinfect 5 gallons. Regularly used water from large tanks may be treated once or twice a month with 1 Oz. bleach per 200 gallons. Long-standing water in tanks disinfected w/ 1 pint household bleach per 1000 gallons.

[SouthernFriedWays]

Put a check valve in the barrels and fill them all the way up.Remember,every drop helps.Good Video.

[chivone21]

I like this idea, (I hope someone answers me.) What do I do if I live in a cold climate? Upstate NY. And all I have is a detached 18x20 shed that is insulated with R-13 in walls and ceiling and sits on 5" of concrete? Will all this water freeze rendering it useless in the event of need during the winter?

[incubatorwarehouse]

@chivone21

It is certainly possible that that water may freeze. If the water does freeze, it may expand enough to damage the barrels and cause leaks. Something to consider would be to add a small heater to your shed (if you have power available out there). Just enough to keep the water from freezing. Something I use on my chicken waterer in the winter is Flex Watt heat mats. You just tape a small strip to the edge of the water container and it keeps it from freezing.

[incubatorwarehouse]

@chivone21

One other option: add a ThermoCube thermostat to the power source so it only turns the heater on when the temperature gets close to freezing. They are very inexpensive and can be used with any heat source. You can find them on ebay.

[anynameplease]

A couple of alternatives or in addition to, put a hand pump on your well cap. They sell them, and they work in conjunction with your electric 220 well pump. A small wood burning stove similar to US Stove company 2421. With these two aforementioned additions, you can have sustainable water, and it can be heated. The wood burner can be used to cook on. I think you get the idea. While the hand pumps aren't very cheap, the additional wood burner's can be found 2nd hand or 220ish new.

[man4cannabis]

i realy like your set up for me im lucky to have my water gravity feed also have a well and a nice brook across the street and if i dig in the ditch a couple feet lots of water .thanks for vid

[breezebro]

I was using 55gal drums until I found the totes. They are 175gal and come in a metal cage about 4ft. square, with a spigot on the bottom and a bung hole on top. I have 2 now and have plans to add 3 more. They're stackable. I paid $55 each. Search Craig's List for tote.

See here: /watch?v=BrqekfYFeUA&feature=r­elated

[incubatorwarehouse]

Thank you! I have heard many different statements on this and it seems there are many different suggestions on how much bleach should be added. Do you have a source for this amount? It would be nice to get a consistent authoritative agreement on the amount needed.

[prowlin4reds]

Great set up. I like that alot. You are incorrect on the amount of bleach. You need one to two parts per million. That would be 8 to 16 drops per gallon.

[DouglasLee777]

Great idea and video. Lets just hope that the reason you need your emergency water isn't an earth quake! I have my water strapped to studs because we live in California...

[incubatorwarehouse]

Good idea about securing to something solid. We are going to do the same things. We're pretty safe in terms of earthquakes, but you never know.

[darkminstrel]

For our horizontal water storage I purchased a one way valve and threaded it into the bung. Since there is little pressure it hasn't created a problem for us. Plus the quick-release on the water hose means no spills during filling. Costs a bit more but it allows you to fully top the barrel. This eliminates the air inside and prolongs the storage time of the water.

[incubatorwarehouse]

Great idea about using the one-way valve. Do you have a link to where you got the valve so we can give it a try? 

[darkminstrel]

@incubatorwarehouse It's just a standard 3/4in brass check valve you can get at any Home Despot or Lowes, etc. The quick release was also purchased at the same store.

[systemaddictshock]

this is a great idea!

[kctyphoon]

great idea.. 

[incubatorwarehouse]

There are two things you need for the spigot part of the plumbing. A bung nut and a spigot. There are two common bung nuts available for 55 gallon drums, one fits in each of the two holes in the drum. One is a fine threaded bung, the other is a course threaded bung. The course threaded bung comes with threads for the spigot. You can find both on ebay. The course bung nut is item # 230661647583. The spigot is item # 330637370111. Just copy/paste those numbers into ebay's search window.

[Metinabong]

How do you make the spigot? I think I understand the piping and spout, but attaching it to the bung hole isn't quite clear.  A supplies and measurement list would be awesome as well! Great job!

[incubatorwarehouse]

It actually cost very little. The brackets were only about $2.00 each at Home Depot. Then there is just screws and 2x4's (assuming you already have the plumbing for the barrels). As a lower cost option, you can just use 2x4's to form diagonal supports across the front, back and sides and not how the expense of the metal brackets. Although the brackets look better and don't take up as much space.

[MrDove01]

I like this setup. I have 6 barrels and thought about putting together something like this. At the moment they are simply sitting on the floor in the garage. May I ask how much it cost you to put it all together? I'm guessing that the metal brackets cost a fair bit for at least 8 of them.

[incubatorwarehouse]

That is a very good idea! Thank you! The issue I see is that there would be air trapped in the top part of the container with no way for it to escape as you put water in. Any thoughts?

[leloodallasmultipass]

you can use a spout that rises up from the air inlet so you can fill the tanks up all the way. you may not need it, but it's basically the same thing that you have for the output spout, upside down.

[incubatorwarehouse]

I just sketched out the plan myself using the size of the barrels as a guide. It's holding up great!

[takingcareofmine]

Did you have a plan that gave you the demensions or did you just wing it?