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One of the most essential items in your emergency preparedness kit will be water. When disaster strikes, access to public utilities, including water, will most likely be compromised for many days, if not weeks or months. Keeping enough drinking and hygiene water for your family during this time is one of the most important things you will need to do, and should be the first item you add to your kit. And if you have the storage space, purchasing and maintaining multiple water barrels will be helpful for people in your community that have no access to water.
There are several ways to store emergency drinking water. One of the best ways is in a large, BPA-free, food-safe water container. Richmond PTA is excited to offer a low-cost option for purchasing pre-used, rinsed, BPA-free, food-grade 55-gallon emergency water storage barrels that can safely store water for you and your family. This type of barrel ranges in price from $80-$120 when purchased new. You can order these containers online at the Richmond PTA Store for $30 each, to be delivered to Richmond for pick-up in late October (home delivery available for an additional $5 fee). Paper order forms may be downloaded here and are also available outside the front office and may be returned with payment (cash or check made out to Richmond PTA) and placed in the Red PTA Mailbox or mailed to Richmond PTA, 2276 SE 41st Ave, Portland, OR 97214 before October 15th.
Here are some other essential tools that we would strongly recommend purchasing for maintenance and usability of your water barrel.
SIPHON PUMP
When it is time to get water out of the barrel, it will be easiest for you to do so if you have a pump to transfer the water from your large water barrel to smaller, transportable containers. Siphon pumps like these are economical and easy to use.
DRUM BUNG WENCH
The hole where water is accessed in the barrel is called a bunghole. After filling your water barrel, or when you need to access the water in your barrel, you will need a special tool called a bung wrench to open and close the bunghole. It is possible to use a large traditional wrench for this purpose, but this inexpensive tool will make this task much easier.
PORTABLE WATER CONTAINERS
Depending on where your water barrel is stored, it may be more convenient to fill smaller, portable containers for different uses (i.e. drinking, cleaning). There are many options to choose from, but from our experience, the most reliable and easy to use containers is Reliance Aqua-Tainer. Amazon also sells a replacement spigot set for this container which might be a good idea in case one fails during a disaster. You can also use gallon water containers, or rinsed, 2-liter containers. If you are living in an apartment or smaller home with little storage, multiple water containers might be a better solution for your family than the larger water barrels.
BPA FREE HOSE
To transfer water from my house to my water barrel I used the Camco TastePURE Drinking Water Hose. It’s lead free and safe for drinking water.
BLEACH
Microorganisms and bacteria can grow in your water barrel, so it’s important that you treat your water with some regular household bleach to keep those germs at bay. You will use a trace amount (Here’s the EPA guidelines for bleach), and this amount of bleach is safe for drinking and watering your garden when you refill your barrel (annual refilling is suggested to keep the water fresh).
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