We’ll start the day normally, hot and humid, chance of rain. We’ll see where it goes from there. Yesterday was sunny and a bit cooler than summer, but still plenty hot in the sun. But then, in the late afternoon, the sun went away and it was uniformly overcast. It cleared briefly for a very pink and orange sunset which was very nice.
I got the yard trimmed and mowed. Weeded the raised beds in the back yard. Moved some stuff around. Filled 4 big water jugs (that I had cleaned after the freeze but never refilled.) Other than that, I took it easy. My back issue was borderline bad all day. I was right at the point where it could get a whole lot worse very quickly, so I didn’t want to strain too much.
WRT to water jugs, one was a Coleman 5 gallon, two were 7 gallon aqua-tainers, and one was a 7 gallon Reliance jug in a more NATO style. One of the ‘tainers was new to me, just picked up last week, the other had been out in the sun. Well, I stacked the new one on the old just to see, and the old split open on the bottom corners, which had been exposed to the sun… I’ve noticed before that the ‘tainers will get brittle from the UV. Keep them in the cool and dark and you will keep them longer… The coleman and the other Reliance jug are much heavier plastic, and a different type. I’m sure they could deteriorate too, but they seem sturdier.
I have replacement caps and vent covers that I bought some time ago for the aqua-tainers. The spigots break and let air and junk into the jug. Fortunately the caps usually don’t, and the thread for the spigot is a standard US NPT pipe thread. I’ve used a hose bib in place of the plastic spigot before, but this time, I just used plastic pipe plugs and removed the spigots that had broken.
To prep the water, I rinse the containers out with straight bleach, empty that out, and then fill with tap water. There is plenty of bleach left to treat the water. I had some treated that way that were still drinkable after 7 years. Bigger containers will need more bleach added. When I use the water, I put it through a Britta filter pitcher just for taste. You can also remove any chlorine taste or smell by aerating the water (pour it back and forth between pitchers a couple of times).
I’ve got lots of water stored, but the 5 and 7 gallon jugs are very convenient for daily use when you don’t have city water. You can easily bring them into the kitchen, or your ‘camp kitchen’ and dispense water as needed. It was past time to get them filled and back into service.
I’m sure there are other aspects of my preps that need a similar review and refresh. One more thing to add to the list… we’ve got time, until we don’t. Time to get cracking on inventory and double checking that everything is still in good order.
Stacking is the easy part. Don’t neglect the other aspects of maintenance and rotation like I’ve been doing.
nick