This is the drinking water we use day-to-day, to rotate our supply.
I’ve started filling and storing 7 gallon water containers, the blue Reliance containers I talked about in my Water Storage and Purification post. So far I have 9 containers, totaling over 60 gallons of filtered tap water. Now it’s time to start rotating them!
I found a great spot on a shelf above our washer/dryer, which are just off the kitchen. I put the water container on that shelf. Keep in mind, this container weighs almost 60 pounds, so I kept it all the way to the side, next to where the shelf is supported. This will keep the shelf from bowing or breaking under the weight. Now, instead of getting drinking water directly from the tap, we can use the water stored in this container. When it empties, I’ll refill and take back to the basement. I’ll then bring up the next oldest water container, and the process will continue.
With our containers tagged with the fill date, we never have to guess about freshness...barring a basement skunk attack 
Speaking of, it’s time to tag the water containers in the basement. None of them are more than a month old, so I tagged them as “07/01/2009″ to be safe. Whenever I get a new container for upstairs, I’ll check if any have hit the 6 month mark and refill those as well.
The result is that I never need to remember to empty/refill the water containers every few months. It will happen automatically, ensuring fresh and clean water when we need it.
Tags: disaster preparation, survival, water rotation, water storage
