It's A Reveal Party...For Preppers!

I don't know when "gender reveal" parties for a baby became a thing.  But let's appropriate that new tradition for our own benefit.

Back in 2005, we bought the home we currently live in.  It was about that time that I filled three water jugs with tap water, treating each with some bleach (a half cup or a full cup....I can't remember) before storing them in my garage.  

I put the jugs sit on the concrete floor (and yes, I know that's a controversial practice) where they've sat, summer, winter, spring and fall for twelve years, three presidents and a high school graduation.  Until now.

Tonight, I opened them up. Behold - The Great Water Stored In Jugs Sitting On Cement In A Texas Garage For 12 Years Reveal!

I'd drink that water, with some additional filtering through a Berkey or similar filtration device.  

A few thoughts from this:

• Water is heavy and it takes up space.  This was only nine gallons total, so it wasn't consuming lots of space.  But if I had a considerable amount of water, I'd likely have to store it outside.  And that's what I did until recently - with "blue barrels," the food grade ones - placing four of them in the shade outside filled with water.  
  
  
• Water does not go bad, but it should be rotated.  I purposefully did not rotate this water, because I wanted to see what it would look/smell like after a long storage period.  The Berkey filters are robust enough to pull out any chemicals or other cooties in the water.
  
  
• Even with a large rainwater collection system, having some smaller water jugs on hand is still a good idea.  You may need to provide water to a neighbor during a utility outage or after a disaster. Having some jugs on hand will help you do that.
  
  
• Test theories and ideas.  I had heard all sorts of things would go wrong if you stored water in food grade containers sitting on concrete.  Don't be afraid to test out some ideas or theories you hear about from time to time.  This one was twelve years in the making - but worth it.  I can say I've done it now.

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