# 160 Gallon Water Reserve



## Redneck

I ordered one of these from Emergency Essentials last week. Seems to be a real nice product and I like that it is stackable & will fit thru normal doors. Two of these stacked would take up very little floor space but provide the water of about six 55 gallon drums. The FDA-approved high-density plastic is non-permeable and BPA-free. Enhanced with a special UV resistant formula to provide the longest shelf life for both the water and the tank. Filling and draining the tank is easy with the two included lead-free faucets. https://beprepared.com/160-gallon-water-reserve.html

One thing I've learned when ordering from these folks is to place the item in your shopping cart, then close out the page & ignore it for a bit. When you come back, they will offer you all sorts of deals to complete the order. Can be free freight or in my case it was an additional 15% off the entire order. This is of course based upon you having an account setup so that the shopping cart is not deleted when you don't checkout immediately.

The unit cost $369.99 but I got a $55.50 discount with that 15% off. Freight was only $12, which amazed me.


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## Camel923

Nice.


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## paraquack

I like the stack-ability but went with the cheaper 260 gallon tank from Sure Water $429.99 + S&H. It too fits thru standard doors. Thanks for the tip about making them think you changed your mind to get a discount. Dang smart. Sure Water


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## Steve40th

Do you use a hand truck to movie it around?
These would be great during hurricane season to have something ready to fill.


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## Redneck

Steve40th said:


> Do you use a hand truck to movie it around?
> These would be great during hurricane season to have something ready to fill.


Haven't got mine yet but I'd sure think filled that would be heavy... maybe too heavy for a dolly. I know a full 55 gallon drum by itself is very heavy & this is about 3 times that size. If it had to be moved, I'd drain it first, I think.


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## Illini Warrior

Steve40th said:


> Do you use a hand truck to movie it around?
> These would be great during hurricane season to have something ready to fill.


going to weigh in at 5/4 of a ton when filled - it needs to set very flat on a well supported piece of home real estate ....


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## 7052

Illini Warrior said:


> going to weigh in at 5/4 of a ton when filled - it needs to set very flat on a well supported piece of home real estate ....


Sounds like a basement floor to me!


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## sideKahr

These things look great. I'd love one, but the wife would freak out.


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## paraquack

My wife was none too thrilled but since we are in southern AZ...


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## Slippy

Very nice *******. 1 Querstion; Did they actually ship a Metro-Sexual wearing Skinny Jeans and why is he leaning on your stackable water reserves? :vs_worry:



******* said:


> I ordered one of these from Emergency Essentials last week. Seems to be a real nice product and I like that it is stackable & will fit thru normal doors. Two of these stacked would take up very little floor space but provide the water of about six 55 gallon drums. The FDA-approved high-density plastic is non-permeable and BPA-free. Enhanced with a special UV resistant formula to provide the longest shelf life for both the water and the tank. Filling and draining the tank is easy with the two included lead-free faucets. https://beprepared.com/160-gallon-water-reserve.html
> 
> One thing I've learned when ordering from these folks is to place the item in your shopping cart, then close out the page & ignore it for a bit. When you come back, they will offer you all sorts of deals to complete the order. Can be free freight or in my case it was an additional 15% off the entire order. This is of course based upon you having an account setup so that the shopping cart is not deleted when you don't checkout immediately.
> 
> The unit cost $369.99 but I got a $55.50 discount with that 15% off. Freight was only $12, which amazed me.


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## Illini Warrior

Egyas said:


> Sounds like a basement floor to me!


full size bathtub is around 100 gallons and needs to be specially supported in the floor joisting .... 160 gallons in a 24 inch space - covering a couple of joists at most - I'd say a basement location would be a smart move ....


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## Redneck

My house is on a concrete slab, so anywhere downstairs or in my barn will work.


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## Redneck

Slippy said:


> Very nice *******. 1 Querstion; Did they actually ship a Metro-Sexual wearing Skinny Jeans and why is he leaning on your stackable water reserves? :vs_worry:


From the looks of things, if came with it, he wouldn't last one hour on my farm.


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## A Watchman

Slippy said:


> Very nice *******. 1 Querstion; Did they actually ship a Metro-Sexual wearing Skinny Jeans and why is he leaning on your stackable water reserves? :vs_worry:


Psst .... Hey Slip, that's *******, sorry I thought you knew he was a ....... well a ....... :vs_smirk:


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## RJAMES

I lived in Panama City Panama and had a water tank on a stand built in the bathroom. Ceilings were very high. Water pressure was a problem and you could only get water during a couple hours at night so they fill a tank with an automatic float shut off. Tank filled at night then gravity fed into the apartment during the day. Several Amish built houses in my area have a tank like this on the second floor or sometimes attic. They pump every couple days with a gas engine pump from a well then gravity feed fro there to get pressure. They normally set 4 4x4 post in the ground/ basement and run them straight up to where they build a platform with 2x8 or 2x10 . Tie the post into a walls on the first floor and second floor if in the attic , vent it put in an over flow and insulate . In the basement Use some 2x6 to tie the 4x4 together. In one home basement it looked like a heavy storage bin and a shelf , first floor the space held a hot water tank , 2nd floor it was the top/ landing for a set of stairs, attic was the water storage tank . Those tanks are built in and then filled you could not get them in place once all construction is done. 

I would place water tanks then fill with a hose never fill then try to place. I have a 500 gallon tank that I just pick up, easier with two people, but you can pick it up to take it out of a pickup truck or put it in. When on the ground I would set it on a garden cart or on its side it is round you can roll it. It does not fit thru a door it is just your standard farm water tank you get at a farm store - Orchilains, Farm and Home , Tractor Supply. 

If I put this one in my house I would have had to place it as it is being built to wide to get thru a door.


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## Joe

******* said:


> Haven't got mine yet but I'd sure think filled that would be heavy... maybe too heavy for a dolly. I know a full 55 gallon drum by itself is very heavy & this is about 3 times that size. If it had to be moved, I'd drain it first, I think.


 @******* IW has a good point Once that tank is full it will weigh 1360 lbs. It looks like a great investment. Thanks for sharing the info.


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## Redneck

In my case, I will not keep if filled with water but keep it empty in the barn waiting for an extended outage. If you keep it full, you have to monitor the water quality & would probably be a good idea to put in additives to keep the sludge out. They sell such an item but on my farm, I just normally add a bit of Clorox to stock tanks & similar.


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## Steve40th

In Romania, they had many of the big square white water storage containers on farm land. I have seen a rum facility that used these to transport rum too. But, they are somewhat clear.. and have metal cage wrapped around them.\
If you were to store the water, how much clorox per gallon do you use?


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## Redneck

Steve40th said:


> If you were to store the water, how much clorox per gallon do you use?


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## Back Pack Hack

FYI: As time goes by, bleach loses its potency. Depending on how it's stored, within a year it can lose 50% of it's effectiveness. So that half-used 5-year-old bottle may not really be any good.


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## RJAMES

I have ponds, large lake next door, a spring , a well so water storage for me is not a big concern. I could see how for many it would be - in hurricane alley, in a city with earthquakes, a city with only the public water system for a source.


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## Ragnarök

******* said:


> I ordered one of these from Emergency Essentials last week. Seems to be a real nice product and I like that it is stackable & will fit thru normal doors. Two of these stacked would take up very little floor space but provide the water of about six 55 gallon drums. The FDA-approved high-density plastic is non-permeable and BPA-free. Enhanced with a special UV resistant formula to provide the longest shelf life for both the water and the tank. Filling and draining the tank is easy with the two included lead-free faucets. https://beprepared.com/160-gallon-water-reserve.html
> 
> One thing I've learned when ordering from these folks is to place the item in your shopping cart, then close out the page & ignore it for a bit. When you come back, they will offer you all sorts of deals to complete the order. Can be free freight or in my case it was an additional 15% off the entire order. This is of course based upon you having an account setup so that the shopping cart is not deleted when you don't checkout immediately.
> 
> The unit cost $369.99 but I got a $55.50 discount with that 15% off. Freight was only $12, which amazed me.


I'm eyeing one myself but need to wait until we move to a more permanent location. Right now I've got lots of carboys, water cans and bobs that can be filled when others are panic buying bottled water. Got about 18 gallons set aside for natural disasters.

A huge point lost on a lot of people is that ability to filter heavy metals and other pollutants from your water sources. I'd invest in high quality filters to garnish those reserves if you haven't already.


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## Redneck

Ragnarök said:


> A huge point lost on a lot of people is that ability to filter heavy metals and other pollutants from your water sources. I'd invest in high quality filters to garnish those reserves if you haven't already.


Good point. I have some filtration but should not be needed. I'm on a well with no industry around. Very little farming either but lots of cattle & woods.


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## Maol9

Those big bad boys look like they would work pretty well. So far we have gone down this road:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reliance-Aqua-Tainer-Water-Container-7-Gallon-9410-03/872426

They are only slightly more expensive and easier to move. We use our units as a 2-unit thick wall in the safe room. We have other plastic barrels for Non-Potable Water. Those we get from the local car washes. I think the last ones were $35.00. They used to be cheaper.


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## Chipper

Thought I'd mention another option. Around here you can get these food grade 250 gallon containers for free. Flush them out and your in business. Put a couple in the garage or out building.

We have this one set up for watering the plants and garden. Rain gutter run into the top.


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## Maol9

Chipper said:


> Thought I'd mention another option. Around here you can get these food grade 250 gallon containers for free. Flush them out and your in business. Put a couple in the garage or out building.
> 
> We have this one set up for watering the plants and garden. Rain gutter run into the top.


How the heck are you getting those for free Chipper?

We want to that exactly. Well almost, we want it to be a little farther away from the house and in a preexisting hole.


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## Ragnarök

******* said:


> Good point. I have some filtration but should not be needed. I'm on a well with no industry around. Very little farming either but lots of cattle & woods.


What other ways can wells be compromised? Was reading briefly on privately owned wells. Do you have water test kits? Your well is fine now but what about in 10 years and along the calendar in between. Do you have the ability to fix it if your water test kits detect something present in a shtf?


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## Redneck

Ragnarök said:


> What other ways can wells be compromised? Was reading briefly on privately owned wells. Do you have water test kits? Your well is fine now but what about in 10 years and along the calendar in between. Do you have the ability to fix it if your water test kits detect something present in a shtf?


I don't know of any way to compromise a well without someone putting lots of bad chemicals in the ground. We are blessed with living above a huge underground aquifer. No one here has test kits as there has never been a problem. A lot of that has to do with the very sandy soil around here, which filters water percolating down thru the soil. Being very rural means no industry discharging any waste. If anything, during a SHTF, our environment will improve greatly... not get worse.


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## Mad Trapper

Chipper said:


> Thought I'd mention another option. Around here you can get these food grade 250 gallon containers for free. Flush them out and your in business. Put a couple in the garage or out building.
> 
> We have this one set up for watering the plants and garden. Rain gutter run into the top.


I've got two setups like that at the house (metal roof). I usually gravity feed those in garden hoses down to the vegetable garden where I have more tanks and 55-gal barrels. I need to work on my slow sand filter system as that I plan on gravity feeding from that into 55-gal drums in the basement. The plan is to sawyer filters between the slow sand and the potable storage barrels. Those can get pool shocked/bleached if long term storage is needed.

One more thing is important with the rainwater collection. Add some screening around the top where the rain gutter feeds in (the downspout too), otherwise you make a mosquito/insect breeding tank. Another option is to add some Bt mosquito dunks to the tank, the Bt is non-toxic to plants and animals. Algae and fungal growth can also cause problems with the clear tanks in the sunlight.


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## Inor

We are presently in the middle of building a house with a very deep well. Because of that, I wanted an above ground water tank. We went with a 1550 gallon above ground tank with a secondary 2 gallon pressure tank. So far it works great. And having a 1 year supply of water (if rationed) above ground for 2 people in the middle of the desert is not a bad thing.


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## Chipper

Maol9

Found some on Craigslist. Plus I know a guy that works at a company that makes different food products. They have them sitting around. Never know when one gets blown away in a storm.:tango_face_wink:

Ours is set up along a back garage out of the way. We have the gutter on longer brackets and it will slide out of the way under the roof edge. So the snow and ice sliding off the roof does damage it in the winter.


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## rice paddy daddy

Inor said:


> We are presently in the middle of building a house with a very deep well. Because of that, I wanted an above ground water tank. We went with a 1550 gallon above ground tank with a secondary 2 gallon pressure tank. So far it works great. And having a 1 year supply of water (if rationed) above ground for 2 people in the middle of the desert is not a bad thing.


We have a 225 foot deep well. To take the iron and mineral taste out of the water, there is an aerator in the system.
Pump #1 pulls the water from the well and shoots it over to the aerator, which holds 200 gallons. From there, another pump pulls it from the aerator and sends it too the house.
I have plumbed other circuits in also - the animals and the garden can be watered straight from the well, and also in case the aerator pump fails I can cut it out of the loop.

We also have one of those plastic tanks-in-a-cage like someone posted above, that holds 350 gallons, out by the stables for animal water if there is an outage.

Inor - a very important person in your life will be your well man. Ask around, and make sure you've got a good one.


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## 8301

Keep in mind that the 160 gallon tank in the OP weighs 1300 lbs when filled. That's a lot of weight in a small area if you have wood floor trusses. I hope you plan to keep them on a concrete floor.


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## Inor

rice paddy daddy said:


> We have a 225 foot deep well. To take the iron and mineral taste out of the water, there is an aerator in the system.
> Pump #1 pulls the water from the well and shoots it over to the aerator, which holds 200 gallons. From there, another pump pulls it from the aerator and sends it too the house.
> I have plumbed other circuits in also - the animals and the garden can be watered straight from the well, and also in case the aerator pump fails I can cut it out of the loop.
> 
> We also have one of those plastic tanks-in-a-cage like someone posted above, that holds 350 gallons, out by the stables for animal water if there is an outage.
> 
> Inor - a very important person in your life will be your well man. Ask around, and make sure you've got a good one.


Our well is 540 feet. I do not know a lot of well guys, but the one we have found water in the middle of the desert. So that should count for something. :tango_face_grin:

So far, our biggest problem with it was a few weeks ago the counter weight that shuts off the well pump when the tank is full, fell off its actuating arm. Mrs Inor and I showed up one morning to work and the whole well area was flooded! Leave it to the Inors to have flood problems in the middle of the desert.


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## Redneck

John Galt said:


> Keep in mind that the 160 gallon tank in the OP weighs 1300 lbs when filled. That's a lot of weight in a small area if you have wood floor trusses. I hope you plan to keep them on a concrete floor.


All our floors are concrete slab.


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