# Would vinegar work-water preservation?



## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Would vinegar work for water preservation or would it take too much to be practical or tasty?


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

If the water is reasonably pure to begin with and the storage container is clean, you don't need anything to preserve water.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

It would certainly be better than nothing. In other nations vinegar is used as a disinfectant. I doubt it would kill all foreign bacteria and organisms, but it would help.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Just boil the water before use if you're concerned about it. 10 minutes at a rolling boil is the usual quoted amount. 

Something I've found out ...

You can spend as much or more time, money, and energy on a non-sustainable prepping solution as you could have on actually setting up a renewable system to provide your home with an indefinite supply.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Cabin Fever said:


> If the water is reasonably pure to begin with and the storage container is clean, you don't need anything to preserve water.


CF, I'm using old milk jugs. Can they be made clean enough?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Ernie said:


> Just boil the water before use if you're concerned about it. 10 minutes at a rolling boil is the usual quoted amount.
> 
> Something I've found out ...
> 
> You can spend as much or more time, money, and energy on a non-sustainable prepping solution as you could have on actually setting up a renewable system to provide your home with an indefinite supply.


Well, maybe time and energy. I don't see how to do that right now without the money that I don't have. 

Mostly I'm thinking of water for short term preps such as power outages, frozen pump, and so on. Long term I live 1/4 mile from a live creek that flows year round.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

tinknal said:


> CF, I'm using old milk jugs. Can they be made clean enough?


I suppose they could, but you'd be better off using water jugs (deionized, distilled or spring water type) or even 2-liter pop bottles.


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Tinknal, you can keep clean activated charcoal right in the water, such as the compressed charcoal pellets that are used in aquarium filters. It's also helpful if the water is stored in a dark place where no light can get at it.

.


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## 10kids (Jun 24, 2010)

Cabin Fever - I'm wondering what your opinion is about a time frame for rotating the water...many places say 6 months. Does sealed water "go bad"?...if so, could there be other uses for it?...watering the garden?


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Milk jugs will always make the water taste bad. They also have a tendency to fall apart rather rapidly.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I just opened a bleach bottle i had filled 9/6/2010, i had rinced it out well and filled with water capped and set on the shelf in the root cellar i tried drinking the water after 6 months and it was fine no bad taste.

i refilled it and marked the date and put it back on the shelf for another 6 months 

we are on chlorine treated water "city water" so if your on well you may want to add bleach to treat 1/8th teaspoon bleach per gallon , then 6 months no problem.

i have a camping jug i pour a cap full of bleach in and a half gallon or so of water then swish around till it get all the surfaces and the inside of the cap , then rince and fill , it also sits 6 months then gets dumped and refilled sanitiezed once a year.

i like the camping jugs each one is a days water for the hole family , i need to get more.


the water in milk type jugs at the grocery are around 60 cents and have a 1 year experation date on them 60 cents extra on each grocery trip would keep a fair amount of water on hand you could just drink it when it is getting close to the year mark.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

10kids said:


> Cabin Fever - I'm wondering what your opinion is about a time frame for rotating the water...many places say 6 months. Does sealed water "go bad"?...if so, could there be other uses for it?...watering the garden?


Unless the water is full of nutrients, organic matter and/or microbes to begin with, it should not go bad if properly sealed.

The water we keep in reserve is probably several decades old and is stored in sand and gravel.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

35% hydrogen peroxide, food grade, is the best water purifier/preservative that I know of.
It doesn't take much, either.
Less, by far, than 1%. We occasionally put as many as a dozen _drops_ of the stuff in a pint of water for an internal cleanse, and that's a lot.
Stainless steel is the best medium to store water in.
Failing that, keep it dark and cold.

Peroxide also keeps chicken waterers and other typically and routinely nasty livestock watering equipment fresh and odor-free.
It also replaces chlorine bleach for laundry purposes...... and is good for plants, compost and the soil, after.


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## Sunbee (Sep 30, 2008)

My folks use the milk jugs. They rotate the water constantly. My mom collects house plants, which prefer warmer water than what their well puts out. So she waters from the storage jugs and refills them. They don't store a lot of water--they live on a creek--so it's not a huge amount of storage, just enough that if the power went out for a couple days they wouldn't have to bother with going down to the creek, hauling water up, and boiling it.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

Ernie said:


> ..........Something I've found out ...
> 
> You can spend as much or more time, money, and energy on a non-sustainable prepping solution as you could have on actually setting up a renewable system to provide your home with an indefinite supply.


Not to be contrary, but as someone who spent $32,000.00 on a well, I might add a 'usually' to this statement!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Milk jugs will always make the water taste bad. They also have a tendency to fall apart rather rapidly.


Same experience here... one gallon jugs aren't designed for ltr. I use to purchase gallons of distilled water, to put in my deep cycle battery bank. I'd always buy more than I needed, and inevitably when I went to pick up the spares, it'd disintegrate and get the floor wet.

If I wanted to store water long term, I'd get soda syrup barrels.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Forerunner said:


> We occasionally put as many as a dozen _drops_ of the stuff in a pint of water for an internal cleanse, and that's a lot.


It doesn't make you throw up?


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Never had any nauseous reaction to peroxide using that ratio.
In a more concentrated solution, that may happen.
Peroxide is definitely worthy of respect, at any rate.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Forerunner said:


> 35% hydrogen peroxide, food grade, is the best water purifier/preservative that I know of.
> .


where do you get peroxide of that strengh , is there a source in northern ILL or southern WI that you know of.

my brother is sensitive / alergic to the chromium in many bleaches we use 
H2O2 for many cleaning tasks , but we just get the 3% from the pharmacy


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

It is available online, by the gallon.....fairly expensive.
I get mine from a local livestock mineral supplier, 5 gallons or more at at a time.
I've been paying 8 bucks a gallon.

Restaurant suppliers may be able to get it.
Dairy farm may be able to get it.

My understanding is that anyone can order bulk (35-55 gal. plastic drum)
if you can have it shipped to a business address.
The stuff keeps a long time, cool and dark and best in quantity.
I bought some in '99 in a 35 and it lasted, full strength until it burned in '09.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

thanks forrunner i will check my feed supplier and see if they can get it.


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