Drinking water?
Hi all - hopefully not too dumb a question but can one of these barrels - the common plastic units the majority of people seem to be discussing - hold drinking water, and if so, how long do you expect it would remain potable? Perhaps with a few chlorine tabs in it?
Assuming I can find one and it's outside over the winter, what are good approaches to handle icing? I assume automotive deicer is a bad approach <smile> but how about weighing down one of those long 2-4" radius balloons and dunking it in the middle? would that give sufficient room for expansion if the water turns to ice? Alternatively has anyone heard of an appropriate additive to drop the freezing point?
_____________________________________________________
UPDATE:
_____________________________________________________
After doing a few quick link-dives I found a few resources that may be of help to anyone else trying to maintain/create potable water:
1) calculator used to determine how much bleach is required to purify water (I can not vouch for it's accuracy):
http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oemergencypurifycalc.html
2) rain runoff reclamation system (non-potable without further steps):
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE029
3) Good primer on water storage containers:
http://survivalprimer.com/Water_Storage_Container_FAQ.htm
4) UN Water Manual (designed for refugee situations)
http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/CD3WD/WATSAN/UNR01/INDEX.HTM
5) Not a resource but I read that frozen water will thaw at ~1gallon/day. Again, I'm not vouching for the validity - just a point to consider.
6) Potable additive:
http://www.emprep.com/water preserver.html
I hope this helps others.