Emergency Water Storage

The Department of Homeland Security requests that everyone keeps a 3 day supply of drinking water. As someone who took the Boy Scout motto way too seriously, 3 days is not nearly enough. Water is one of those few pesky things we cannot do without, so the more you can store, the greater your chances of surviving long blackouts or a loss of municipal services.

Our current method of water storage for drinking is 5 gallon containers that we can move about easily. With each container weighing 40 lbs, it's in our best interest to not make them too heavy so most of the family is capable of moving them around. We currently purchase our containers from http://www.containerandpackaging.com/ and have had no complaints in the last 3 years of using them.

Each year, we drag them out of storage, dump them, clean them, refill them, and put them back in storage. The water after a year is still clean, and washing them with bleach helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria. With 10 of the containers, we are only storing a 10-11 day supply for the family, so future projects will involve expansion of our water storage capabilities.

The Big Berkey - The Review

On Monday, after running a few short errands in town, we came home to find a box in our courtyard. Thinking it was maybe some kitchen gadgets that we had previously ordered, we were ecstatic to find it was our brand new Berkey! It took less than a week to get to our door, and we didn't pay for expedited shipping.

Assembly of the Berkey was similar to building a nuclear weapon. Cleanliness and attention to detail are paramount, and with the stainless steel and black plastic bits lying around my countertop, it felt like an infinitely more nefarious project. The included directions were easy to follow, and after priming our filters, the Berkey was up and running. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, more like an older coffee urn. If it wasn't for the knob on top, it would almost fit in the space between the countertop and upper cabinets.

I added 20 cups of water to start, and after letting the lower reservior fill a bit, lifted the lever to pour a glass of water. Nothing. Nada. So I ended up taking the spigot apart and now it seems to work, albeit dripping slowly. The warrantly on the Berkey is good, so I'll be contacting the retailer about getting a replacement spigot and washers. The water quality from municipal water, however, is excellent. As previously mentioned, we have a filter in our refridgerator, and the taste of the Berkey water is much cleaner with no metallic taste. I put in cool but not cold water, and the metal has done a good job keeping the water cool even in the 70 degree house. Besides the spigot issue, the Berkey is solid, and I don't forsee it being a weak point in the family emergency water supply.