Can You Store Water In The Heat for Emergency Preparedness?

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There seems to be a common theme going around that you can’t store water in the heat. That would include in your vehicle or in a shed or garage.

What most people are concerned with is the plastic from commercial water bottles leaching into the water because of the warmth.

IF some little bit of plastic components were to leach into your water, it’s such an insignificant amount to have any harmful impact on your overall health. If you feel it necessary, you can try to filter and purify that bottled water.

Or a very simple option is to simply rotate the water every 6-12 months.

We keep water year-round in our hot car (we live in TX and used to live in AZ) and we not only use our car water on our adventures, but we’re also regularly rotating it. I keep it under the seats and even covered with a blanket to keep it out of direct sunlight, but it doesn’t matter if it gets warm.

I even store water in my dark, warm shed completely covered with a blanket, out of direct sunlight and the water is perfectly fine.

How do we know? We use it!

We rotate it every 12 months or so. This is the same practice for bottled water as well as water in various types of containers. Never has it tasted funny, looked funny, nothing looks degraded or weird, it all looks and tastes perfectly normal.

I know everyone wants their preps to last forever, a sort of ‘set and forget’ but that’s not exactly how a lot of our resources can be treated, especially if you want to store large amounts of things.

Also, if you’re concerned about consuming the water that was left in the warmth, you can always use the water for your garden, hygiene or cleaning dishes or other things instead of consuming it.

Have you ever seen rain water collection containers outside?

What about water storage containers or cisterns outside?

Yes, this water is mostly being used regularly, maybe. Depends on the purpose of those outside water containers. However, we add bleach to our water containers which absolutely helps to keep the water in better condition for longer. We also try to keep them in dark containers, not clear. Which is why covering your water is so important.

The other concern is that the water will be…well, warm.

Warm tasting water may taste bad but that’s about it. It’s not harmful in any other way.

We all like to drink a cool glass of water, I get that!

But when it comes to storing water for emergencies, the temperature of the water is the least of our worries.

For some additional information, when you see these numbers on plastics:

They are considered safe for food grade consumption and have little to no chance of toxins leaching into your food or water.

Of course, I know what you’re thinking, how can we trust the government to tell us these are ‘safe’?

I get that. I rarely trust what the government tells us is ‘safe’. Heck, tap water isn’t even the best.

However, I’ve done a ton of research and personally feel confident in my findings. I encourage you to do your own research as well.

Water is such a precious resource, we need to be storing it in every way possible. I say, don’t worry about warm water, rotate it, sanitize if needed or if you are truly uncomfortable consuming it, use it for other purposes like for your garden.

Take all of this how you will. Do your own research, as I have. And finally, do whatever you feel is best for you and your household.

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