55-Gallon Barrel Combo

I'm shocked that no one else has reviewed this product. It's simple, straightforward. I rinsed the tank out filled it with water (after I bought a cheap dolly underneath to be able to easily move it). Add the bottles of chemicals, seal it up, mark down the date put the pump on top and you're set. Hopefully I'll never have to use it, but I live in California. After the 9.0 in Japan, you think that these things would be sold out. This was bought for me as a wedding gift, we put it on the registry. It's nice to know that I have enough drinking water for about two weeks if I ever need it. An earthquake will knock out the aquifers supplying water to southern california. The water is fine for five years. Cool.

I recently purchased this water storage barrel after the earthquake in Japan. I live in Washington State and they say we could also have one as equally devastating here due to the Cascadia Subduction zone. With 3 little ones I wanted to make sure we have the necessary supplies to make it through an emergency like that.

I like the idea one buyer had about putting a dolly underneath it so you could move it around. I hadn't considered that, but now I will.

My only complaint about this product was the price. When I received the unit I noticed the packing slip said Costco.com. I thought that was strange. So I went to Costco.com, and sure enough they are selling this product. FOR $30 CHEAPER THAN WHAT I PAID FOR IT. That was a little dissapointing. Felt like I got ripped off a bit.

If I survive an emergency and use this thing I will be sure to post a re-review to let you know how it worked for us. Hopefully that doesn't ever happen.

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This exact item is $109.99 at Costco, shipping included (as of the time of this writing 8-30-11)

Yes, it's going to smell like plastic. No, it's not pleasant. Yes, it's theoretically safe as it's made from High-density polyethylene and does not contain BPA. Theoretically, no bad chemicals should leech into your water (at least none that we currently know of). Two of these barrels should hold a family of 3 over for a month (given the 1 gallon per person per day rule). If you take issue with the smell/taste of the water after it's been in this barrel, you could try running the water you extract from the barrel through an activated charcoal filter which should reduce the smell/taste. Either way, it beats scrounging the local pond for water in an emergency.

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The water barrel is great quality. The plastic is heavy duty and BPA-free. I contacted Emergency Essentials before ordering to confirm this. I also asked what their recommendation was regarding cleaning before use and they suggested rinsing the barrel out with a bleach and water solution, which I thought was an excellent idea. I haven't tried the siphon yet but it appears to be good quality. It's coiled a little too tight in the plastic bag that it comes in and it did kink in two places but that shouldn't affect its useability. The Aquamira stuff was really simple to use. I'll update this review if I have to use the water or in 5 10 years when I change it and report how it worked.

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Living in Southern California and being shaken by several earthquakes originating along the Mexican border, we decided that we really needed to put together an survival kit to prepare for the really big one. One important element of the kit is a large water barrel. I searched Amazon and there are many merchants selling 55-gallon water barrels. However, many of them may charge less for the barrel by itself, but their shipping charges were exorbitant. I liked the fact that Emergency Essentials includes a wrench and a siphon tube, so I didn't have to purchase them separately. What closed the deal for me on this purchase is that Emergency Essentials only charged $9 for the shipping. No other merchant even came close. I fully expected that it would take forever to get the barrel for a $9 shipping charge, but I was pleasantly surprised when the barrel showed up on my porch 2 or 3 days after I had ordered it.

I am no expert on water barrel quality, but this one is obviously sturdy and well made. The wrench is a bit on cheap side but given the fact that I only expect to use it a few times, it is perfectly adequate for the purpose. I was impressed with the siphon hose. It is a simple device that is designed to start the water flowing without having to suck on the free end. Given the reasonable price for the combo and the extremely low shipping charge, I am very pleased with this purchase. Emergency Essentials also sells emergency food supplies and I in the process of wading through their extensive catalog (which came with the barrel). Given my great experience with this order, I plan to order our emergency food supplies from them.

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