There have been some snazzy water / food storage containers going around, they stack, have handles and cost about $17.99 each! http://www.brownells.com/emergency-survival-gear/water-amp-hydration/water-storage/stackable-water-and-food-storage-containters-prod61209.aspx
I mock those who pay that to store 3.5 gallons of water. So much more can be had for so much better a price. https://colemans.com/?s=water&submit=Search
With that said, my intent is to be as budget friendly as possible so for part, not all, of my water storage plan I use my gallon milk jugs.
The other day I went into the cabinet in my home where I store some of our water. All in milk containers. I noticed some jugs were only partially filled, and the neat stack was now a jumbled mess.
I had setup many of the now water jugs on the floor and then stacked 1 “on top” of four other jugs so the weight of the top jug was supported by 4 others.
It turns out milk jugs are thin, very thin. Out of 15 gallons in this area, only one jug was left undamaged. If there had been a critical need for water, this cache would have been all but worthless.
![partial pile of the collapsed jugs](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0593-300x225.jpg)
![Damaged caused by the weight of the other jugs](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0595-300x225.jpg)
![Close up of the damage of collapsing](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0594-300x225.jpg)
As you can see in the pictures, many split down the sides, others developed pinhole leaks where they collapsed.
![Even pinhole leaks, are well, leaks...](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0596-300x225.jpg)
![If you are leaky and you know it then...](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0597-300x225.jpg)
![Yes, this is a different jug, all of them are](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0598-300x225.jpg)
![One final leak. This water had not made it to the floor yet.](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0599-300x225.jpg)
The floor was an absolute mess. As you can see in the pictures, the mold and wearing of the wood. I admit it was not in good shape before, it is a corner that was not used and hidden out of sight, however the water damage was probably not there before. I say probably since I had an icemaker water line about 3 foot away crack and leak for an unknown number of days / weeks / months.
![Some of the containers did not totally collapse leaving me with some water.](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0607-300x225.jpg)
![Oh yeah, floor damage](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0602-300x225.jpg)
![Time to get the remodeler out](http://the22man.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSCN0600-300x225.jpg)
As a result of this catastrophe, I did go check my other small caches of water. The jugs in the garage had 2 of 10 that were leaking. They were all on the ground, not stacked on each other.
With this problem I noted, the 2 quart juice containers and 1 gallon Apple Cider containers were fine. Picking them up and comparing them, they are a multitude of times thicker than the milk jugs.
Before I jump on the anti-milk jug bandwagon, I still think they are a viable platform. They are light enough to be carried / moved by all but the youngest of children, and provide enough water for one person per day.
Before you ask, I do have 55, 25 and 5 gallon heavy gauge plastic drums / containers cached elsewhere.
The week prior to discovering this I gave away a lot of my old A/C repair equipment to another business that does that type of work, including my Freon recover jugs in … wait for it … milk crates. I ran out and dumped “stuff” out of the four crates I still had, then checked each milk jug and placed four in each crate. Then stacked 2 crates on each other, no more pressure on the jugs from each other. Now for the wait and see.
I hope this give you some advice, knowledge and maybe wisdom. After all, it is much better to learn from other peoples mistakes.
Until we meet again, have a virus free week.
Experts recommend that you avoid using a regular old garden hose when filling up your water barrels and instead use a speciality drinking water hose.