If you store drinking water how often do you refresh it?

[demotedreally]

I'm thinking about keeping our camping Jerry cans full over the winter but pretty sure I will need to change the water occasionally or more often. How often does anyone know?

I buy 4 bottle packs from Aldi as and when and keep them as long as the use by date (or a bit longer).
The use by date takes the plastic leaching into account. If kept much longer, I'd plan to use it for other than drinking eg - watering plants
I have a water butt but I'd probably filter and boil before using to drink.

We don't store water. I don't see loss of water as a credible risk. We have a filter (used for camping) if we are that desperate.

I've heard of using very small amounts of bleach to store water long-term. Sounds awful to me. Otherwise, invest in water filtration and purification methods and water butts.

Hmmm, not helpful so far. I'd be surprised if noone did this

@demotedreally I store 2 big plastic bottles of tap water for an emergency, like if the water got shut off over night until we could buy more. I keep them in a dark cupboard to prevent microscopic growth and refresh every few months (or when I remember!). I then use that old water to water plants so it doesn't go to waste. I also have a life straw and water purification tablets for a bigger emergency. But I mainly prep for water being shut off or unusable for a short amount of time as that is most likely. Unfortunately I don't have a garden so can't collect rain water in a water butt.

I buy the 10 litre boxes (they come with a little spout thing like the booze boxes). I've usually got one on the go and a couple under the kitchen table. There are five of the large bottles upstairs in the bedroom (I'm not a great sleeper and get thirsty), and I've a couple of 10 litre plastic jerry cans in case of emergency.

I was thinking of buying some water purification tabs but I honestly don't feel that will be an issue. I have some muslin (for straining my home made tofu) so I could use that to strain water if I had to.

I know buying water is costly but honestly, you would too if you had to drink the assorted chemicals that come out of my taps. I avoid it as much as possible but if I buy cheap water it tastes good on its own. The tap water is OK in tea or coffee though.

I buy a couple of bottles of water when the expiry date of the last ones comes round, just for an emergency drinking supply, based on the idea of us being without water for a day or so when Thames Water screw things up. I also have plastic jerry cans of water in the garage for refilling the cistern and washing in - I don't tend to bother changing them as a, it's a hassle and b, I'm not going to drink it. If I was going to drink it in an emergency I'd probably change it every 6-12 months, and maybe boil it first. If you did it every 3 months I don't think you'd need to worry about chemical leakage, given how long it would sit in a plastic bottle you'd bought at a supermarket.

@FlipFlops4Me where do you find those boxes of water sounds like a great solution for our beach hut! as well as general preparedness

I get them from Ocado. They're just Highland Spring water - they come in assorted bottle sizes or 5ltr and 10ltr boxes. I get the boxes because it's cheaper and they store so easily.

I've always stored water as

A) I have complex medical issues which means I can't drink tap water
B) There have been several times where we have had water problems

There is nothing worse than the water board knocking at your door at night saying there is a leak and you have 5 minutes to fill a kettle / sink / bath before they turn the water off. Except every single time, the water is already sludge brown or it's been turned off as the fella has been knocking on doors.

I buy the 3 litre ones from Sainsbury's (were 17 a month or so ago, then 25p, now 29p) I always have a bottle in the fridge for drinking, and 6 bottles under the bed. I don't like the idea of larger ones as I'm disabled and they would be cumbersome. (although I like the sound of a tap!) Anyway, I make sure to rotate date wise often. If I screw up, then any out of date ones get stored in the conservatory and would be used to flush the bog in any water outage situationn.or like a PP, water some plants.

Our water was once off for a week and the promise of dropping off drinking water took some time. It was also limited to 2 bottles per house per day, so we had to use a bucket and a stand pipe in the next street for toilet flushing water etc. This was many years ago, but it was January, and it stayed with me.

Yes I store some bought water in 5L packs.

I wouldn't store tap water for drinking unless I also planned, and had the means, to purify it before using it. This is based on my assumption that the water out of the tap is still likely to have some kind of bacteria or spores in it, and so would whatever receptacle I would be storing it in. So I assume it would just grow more bacteria/mould over time and become unsafe to drink but I wouldn't necessarily be able to tell when that would be.

So I buy a couple of boxes of water each year and then restock them the next year before the expiry date.

Hi, I just bought a "Sawyer mini water filtration" systen on Amazon for under £40. It is good up to 100.000 gallons and removes 99.999999% (probably 100% but they can't say that for insurance purposes). There are cheaper alternatives but no need these days to store water. Or, if you do store water the filter will deal with anything that gathers in it....Good luck :)

Yes, I have a couple of Lifestraws.

Sorry, I could have address the question more accurately: for storing safe water in a container after cleaning and sanitizing:

Label container as “drinking water” and include storage date.
Replace stored water every six months.
Keep stored water in a place with a cool temperature (50–70°F).
Do not store water containers in direct sunlight

N.B. stainless steel is better than plastic :)

I store tap water in case of earthquakes, and probably only refresh it every year (I plan for six months, but it doesn't always happen). It did come in handy when I had to turn the water off while waiting for a plumber to deal with a leak, and I suffered no ill effects.

I store two huge Jerry cans as when power goes out after a wee while you lose your water too

It was a god send in 10 day power cut last winter for flushing the toilets and boiling on stoves.

Also remember when you lose power straight away fill your bath tub so you have water for toilets.