Fresh Water Question

bennydog · 01-23-2010, 01:26 PM

How long would you "store" water in the fresh water tank? Reason for the question is this. In my opinion the travel trailer would be a good disaster shelter in the event of something like an earthquake. If the house should become uninhabitable we could just move into the trailer. Our water comes from our own well and there is always the possibility that the well could be damaged and we would be unable to get water out of it. Trailer holds 60 gallons but is not air tight so not sure how long the water would be good for drinking and cooking. What else would you "keep" in the trailer as a shelter that you would not take camping?
Watching the stuff out of Hatti has got me thinking.

Festus2 · 01-23-2010, 04:48 PM

Bennydog: If you do a Google search, as I have just done, you will find out all sorts of information about what supplies you should have on hand in case of emergencies. For example, I found out that you should have a minimum of 2 weeks supply of drinking water. You can store this water in separate, plastic water containers or, as you are suggesting, in your water tank. Various types of water purification systems are available as well as tablets which you simply add to the water. A small amount of bleach added to your tank is something that I understand might work. Not sure of the quantity or whether or not this is something that would be ok. What about contacting your Public Health Office or similar agency about how long standing water in an RV tank is good for?

Not sure if you live in an earthquake prone zone as I do or whether your major concern is with flooding or ???? I would suggest that you do a Google search - you will find the answers to your questions and concerns - many of which come from what I would consider to be reliable and knowledgeable sources.

SLIMSHADIE · 01-23-2010, 05:21 PM

I cant quite remember but the dealer told me 2 or 3 weeks. A little bleach may help, but i know what you mean. I have kept water in 1 gallon containers in my basement for 6 months but its out of sunlight and hot weather too.

m109rrider · 01-23-2010, 07:42 PM

Good question. I have honestly never drank water out of the tap (tank or campground connection). We always take bottled but that is a good idea if you can keep it safe. As long as you have gas you could always boil it first if you were unsure.

bennydog · 01-23-2010, 09:07 PM

I did do some Google work on the subject. One of the Fed sites suggested 1 gallon of water per day per person for 2 to 3 weeks. That's 42 gallons which seemed like a nice fit for the fresh tank in the trailer. But a sealed 1 gallon container I would think would have a longer shelf life then the open nature of the tank in the trailer. I don't want to but bottled water that I then have to use and replace if the big one didn't come in the next 6 months. I always have full bottles of propane around as well as the 500 gallon tank that runs the house. Maybe I'll see if I can get the propane company (which also owns the tank) to plumb it so I could feed the trailer. Have a generator that we use for the house, runs on gas but could be converted to propane. We live in western Washington so quakes are the big one. High on a ridge and town is away from the river so not so much for flooding. I look out at Duval which most years is cut off from the rest of the world once or twice a year. Just trying to figure out how the trailer could be made more useful as a shelter if we could not use or get into the house.

Terrydactile · 01-25-2010, 07:17 AM

Just be careful when storing well water. Although the water is obviously clean enough to drink if you let it set for too long it will grow things much quicker than treated water. At a minimum add an appropriate amount of bleach to prevent bacteria growth. Even doing this the water will evetually spoil unless you continue to treat it on a regular basis.

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