So water is one of the high priorities on my list for "food storage."
I bought water containers (7 gallon kind) from Walmart, took them home, cleaned them out with a bleach solution and filled them up with water.
But it wasn't meant to be easy. When the water containers were turned on their sides, as they were designed to do (hence the uber useful reversible cap spout) a steady drip drip drip of water leaked out. I tightened the cap. My husband tightened the cap. Still drip drip drip. So the containers went back to Walmart.
I looked a little harder this time--and I noticed that those very same containers are sold on most food storage websites and even at the Tucson army surplus store. Having noted their propensity to drip, I decided to try another brand.
And the brand I chose also happened to cost a pretty penny. But I figured that there was no way these bad boys would leak. (they also happen to be earthquake resistant, which, although earthquakes aren't an issue where I live, maybe they're sturdy enough to be used as extra chairs at Thanksgiving dinner...)
I ordered 4 (so we could last a few days without running water) (and because my apartment was in no state to receive a wall full of blue water containers). They arrived in a big cardboard box, and good news! they didn't leak. Even when turned on their sides.
Here's the link for the Extra Sturdy Water Containers.
Note: the lids are different than the one pictured on the web site. This is what they actually look like:
This is the self venting faucet I bought along with the bung replacement plug (who came up with that name???).
THAT SAID: my husband's parents have the water containers from walmart. They have a HUGE stack of them, and they hold the water fine, cost a lot less, and fill the need.
So I'm not saying you have to spend a fortune to buy water containers--the cheaper ones will probably hold up just fine. I wanted to make sure you were aware of their flaw (at least in the ones I've tried) and give you an alternative. And, so you know, I think the one's I have are going to be a tad tricky to drain properly because of how they are constructed.
So...none of the small time water storage systems (I haven't looked into the water barrels yet) are perfect. Although, if Camelbak made 5 gallon containers with their sweet, sweet logo on them...
