Emergency water... store in fermenter?

[arla]

Okay, it was only mildly related to brewing, so this seemed the best place. Recently was thinking about Emergency supplies (living in CA, the next big Earthquake is always gently on my mind) and I had a thought... what about storing emergency water in my Fermenter when I'm not using it?

I have two fermenters, generally one of the two is actually in use, and both hold around 8 gallons of water, when I brew I can use that water (instead of water from the tap) to brew, and then after fermentation is done, refill the fermenter (after cleaning/sanitizing of course) with fresh tap water, ready for the next brew, or, if necessary, an emergency.

So it's not ideal, 8 gallons is BARELY sufficient for a family of 3, and if I'm fermenting a beer when an earthquake hits I guess we're drinking beer instead of water (and washing in beer and... yeah, enough on that) but it would seem like it's better than a kick in the teeth.

 

[MaxStout]

That's good planning. I would think those fermenters would be perfect to store potable water.

I have a bunch of those 3 and 5 gallon plastic water jugs, and keep them filled with RO water for brewing. After each brew I refill them. In a pinch, that water would be there in an emergency. Disruptions in municipal water systems can happen any time, anywhere. Last year, we had two disruptions in our local water--both due to software problems! Water service was out for several hours, then followed by a couple days of a "boil water" order. It was nice to have that clean water on hand.

 

[Sailingeric]

I got a 65 gallon water tank to store RO/DI water for my salt water tank and I try to keep it full and I have considered that is a good back up just in case we have water disruption. You might want to think about getting something along that line, as you said, what you have is barely enough.

 

[Still Brewn]

Personally I would install something like this if I lived in an area where the utilities are managed by morons....
https://www.menards.com/main/plumbi...9153238829.htm?tid=4669383171223135029&ipos=5

Plenty of sizes to fit your family needs. Just be sure to install a check valve on your household water inlet so you don't lose the water to a break of some sort and be sure to install the check valve after the main shut off that way in the event of a contamination incident you can isolate your household from the contamination and still have potable water. You will also want to install a valve on the inlet of the tank for those time where they want you to flush the pipes for a certain amount of time or when you need to shut off your water for repairs.
These tanks are also great for storing RO water and they have smaller sizes to suit your needs..... no more storing buckets of water.

If you live in an earthquake area be sure you strap the bigger ones down.

Is this the kind of tank you are using for your RO water?