one gallon water storage

I've started to put aloe vera juice in my fruit blends - it's supposed to be good for joint pain...anyway, I noticed that the #2 plastic jugs it comes in are really nice - heavy plastic with a fat & funny shape. I had an empty one and I thought it would make a good water container for the camper. It fits perfectly under the sink and the handle makes it easy to retrieve.

It's nice to have a gallon of fresh water in the galley (sometimes the campground water is kind of unpleasant) and it's easier to fill our daily water bottles from the jug than from the spigot on our large water storage container.

It's sold at most drug stores - I bought mine at Wal-Mart for around $7.

 

Hi Jenn,

It's pretty amazing when you consider some of the packaging that is expected to get thrown away (or recycled) right after use.

Anyway, I would say heavier than a gallon milk container, maybe not as heavy as a nalgene water bottle.

The opening is a little more than an 1" in diameter - It pours out pretty good although does tend to "glug" a bit when full. The lid sits a little higher than the handle so I can get two jugs under the (c. 2014) sink, if I orient them like this:



I have a plastic container that fits perfectly under the drain end of the sink that I use to hold my collapsible water buckets and folded-up grocery/garbage bags. This is what it looks like with the jug:



You know, whenever I post anything to the forum, I always imagine what Bear would say if he saw my post - kind of a WWBD sort of thing. I'm pretty sure he would shake his head and chuckle at this....

 

I'm reluctant to store anything drinkable in plastic that isn't specifically designed for that, because I don't really want to ingest all those chemicals that leach out of the plastic. I can only imagine how hot that container gets if the TD is parked in sun.

(The juice container is designed for beverages, but not likely designed for refilling/long-term use. So maybe OK to use for short term, but I would not use it long term.)

How different is it than water stored in a water bottle in your car in the heat. We aren't supposed to drink that water.

I know the aloe juice bottle is thicker than a one-use water bottle, but I'm still reluctant.

Maybe it doesn't matter once you're 50 years old or so. Perhaps the cancer/health risk has already been determined based on your exposure by then.

But if I've used that bottle for storage for a while, there is not a chance I am serving that water to a kid unless the kid is deydrating and there is no other source.

 

That's true - when we had the jug in our galley, it was September/October in Michigan - we had a few hot days, but nothing like Arizona-hot.

Before I found the jug, I was using two 64-oz Nalgene rectangular bottles that also fit very nicely under the sink. On the one warm campout we had this summer (we had a lousy summer), I didn't notice the bottles getting any hotter than the outside, ambient temperature:



http://www.rei.com/product/402058/nalgene-space-saver-bottle-64-fl-oz

Both the Nalgene container and the aloe vera jug are made from #2 plastic (HDPE: High-Density Polyethylene) which is considered one of the "safer" plastics. Of course, most laundry detergents also come packaged in #2 plastic....

The Nalgene bottle is definitely sold to be re-filled and it's much heavier construction than the jug. We use them to hold cold water in our fridge at home. The wide-mouth design makes it easier to fill from a spigot - and it pours out nice, too. I highly recommend them - they're pricey at $12 each, but if you've got some dividend dollars laying around unclaimed and you want to store some extra drinking water in your galley (that isn't in your fresh water tanks), they're very nice. You could also freeze them and use them in your cooler.

I like the jug because it was "free" with the purchase of $7-worth of aloe vera juice, the handle is very handy (ha!), and I can store one gallon in less containers, in less space. I suppose if you do drink aloe vera juice (or know someone who does) and happen to have a steady supply of containers, maybe switch them out periodically...if you're willing to risk drinking out of a compromised plastic container that's probably been sitting around in a warehouse somewhere under fluorescent lights for who knows how long...OK, never mind...I'm going to use stainless steel from now on.....

Here's a really cool double-wall stainless steel 1/2 gallon water bottle that we bought for use as a growler but none of the breweries around here will fill it because it doesn't have a Surgeon General's Warning and the cap can't be "sealed" to properly comply with state & local growler laws. It's a little too tall to fit under the sink but that's OK because you probably cram other stuff under there anyway. The cap has a little handle pull-thingy if that seems useful. It comes in the burly man (a.k.a. gender neutral) colors of brown, black, and classic stainless steel - it's $55 at REI but you can probably find it cheaper somewhere else:



http://www.rei.com/product/850811/hydro-flask-wide-mouth-vacuum-bottle-64-fl-oz

Yes, I bought mine with dividend-dollars. They really are nice and they even sell a straw-lid for those days you want to sit in your car and drink A LOT of water (or coffee, or apple pie, I don't judge) but you don't want to have to hoist up a 1/2 gallon jug, moonshiner-style:



http://www.rei.com/product/867473/hydro-flask-wide-mouth-lid-with-straw

 

My favorite reuse container for water is the Arizona Tea gallon containers with a large mouth, good cap and handy handle. It is a Number 7 recyclable meaning "other" plastic. Following is from their Q and A site.

I’m Having Trouble Recycling Your Gallons In My Area, What Can I Do About It?
We, at AriZona Beverages have worked with our plastic bottle manufacturer to make our plastic bottles recyclable and as environmentally friendly as possible. Due to the rigors of our filling process and in order to insure that the product inside remains fresh for as long as possible, we need to use a special grade of plastic in the bottle. Because of this, we are required by law to use the Resin Identification Code #7 on the bottom of the bottle. Before we commercialized this bottle, we worked with the member companies of the Association of Post Consumer Plastic Recyclers to determine how the bottle would affect the plastic recycling stream. The testing concluded that the bottle could be recycled with other polypropylene bottles to make products such as battery cases, sheeting and piping.

The Safety of Beverages in Plastic Bottles

The above site addresses some of the concerns raised in this thread.

 

I hope this won't come across as TMI but I like to reuse 1 gallon water jugs for evening nature calls. I usually go through about a gallon of water each camping trip and thus will just hang on to the empty jug for the next trip. Using a filter like this, it works for men and women:
https://www.amazon.com/FloTool-1070...21341&sr=8-10&keywords=oil+funnels+automotive

 

Polyethylene is about the most inert stuff out there. No plasticizers added that could leach out. Don't fret.