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To: Lurker; gundog; Kartographer; Former Proud Canadian; little jeremiah; Uncle Ike
OK folks, do NOT use old plastic milk jugs to store water. You can never get them clean of all the milk proteins and your water will rapidly become undrinkable.

I respectfully say - Not so.

We live in a storm prone area and putting up emergency water every storm season is just part of our routine every spring.

We have been reusing milk jugs for years and I can state from experience that water we store in cleaned milk jugs is just as sweet in six months to a a year as the day the jugs are filled.

I read somewhere that hot wash water cooks the remaining butterfat. Don't know how valid that is but we have always used cold or cool water to wash and rinse and it works for us. When a milk jug is empty we give it a quick rinse, fill it with cold soapy water, let it sit for a while or overnight, then rinse and air dry several times until the jug is odorless and soap free.

We add a little bleach, fill with tap water and store the jugs out of the light. When the storm season is over we put the jugs, one by one, in the refrigerator and use for drinking water. Then we air dry the jugs and keep the good ones for next year.

Old plastic milk crates or store bought ones that hold four one gallon jugs make them easy to store, easy to handle and help protect the jugs. When it looks like a storm is heading our way it is fast and easy to pack some crates of water in the bailout vehicle.

We also use two liter soda bottles. They are easy to wash but they are cumbersome and not as easy to store and handle as milk jugs.


28 posted on 06/13/2011 12:45:47 PM PDT by Iron Munro (“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.” Sun Tzu)
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To: Iron Munro

Thanks for the information. Sounds as though using the cold water to wash with does the trick, and the several rinses and air drying.


29 posted on 06/13/2011 12:49:07 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. CSLewis)
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To: Iron Munro

Thanks very much for the information. I’ll give that a try.


30 posted on 06/13/2011 12:51:56 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Iron Munro
We also use two liter soda bottles. They are easy to wash but they are cumbersome and not as easy to store and handle as milk jugs.

Stack 'em horizontally with the bottoms against a wall. I've got 200 in the pantry, rotated or used and refilled 20 per week. They're stacked about nine high.

In the event of an earthquake, they'll fall down and roll around all over the 5' x 8' floor of the closet. So? They won't break, and it'll save me having to unstack the things.

34 posted on 06/13/2011 2:12:38 PM PDT by archy (I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!)
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To: Iron Munro

How much bleach do you use per gallon?


44 posted on 06/13/2011 3:10:32 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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