These are new (unused) food-grade plastic bladders housed in new/used metal cages. 285 gallons! And it stores in a lot less space than you’d think. While I’m aware of others having stacked their tanks three high, due to space constraints (and a lack of a death wish) ours are stored two high. I’ve now had mine stored in the garage for three years without any incident; I rotate one tank every six months.

This is a new food grade plastic bladder housed in a metal cage. Approximate weight when empty: 130 lbs. Approximate dimensions: 4′ H x 3′ W X 4′ L. Here is my setup (click to enlarge):

The metal cages allow you to stack the tanks, if desired, and protect the hard plastic bladder. These are fantastic tanks because they have a cap on the top for easily filling them w/ your garden hose (or other source), and a spout on the bottom so that gravity is used to create water pressure. This is a far superior system to your standard 55 gallon blue water tanks, which are nearly impossible to stack well, and which require a pump to draw the water up and out.

Each tank is $295, and delivery is $30 per location (so if you order two tanks, you only pay one $30 fee). However, you must live within 15 miles of Point of the Mountain in Lehi. If you live further away and would like to participate in this order, please arrange to have your tank delivered to somebody’s home that lives within that distance.

These tanks are rarely offered for direct consumer purchasing that I’ve seen, and through many other outlets can easily cost double this price! See here for one comparable tank that is over $500! I haven’t found any cheaper than that. So this group buy is $200 off the lowest retail price.

Please email me at cboyack{at}gmail{dot}com if you would like to participate in the order. I will confirm your total price and provide you with payment instructions. The group buy is open through Sunday, June 19. Deliver should occur within three weeks of that.

Feel free to share this order with friends!

This review will cover receiving, unpacking, assembling, and filling the tanks during which I will summarize the features and mention pros and cons. While some individuals ordered the 525 gallon tank, my review will only cover the 275 gallon.

The tanks are shipped by private freight. As is the standard with large freight, they are delivered to the end of your driveway. Don’t worry about hauling the tank into your house or garage however, I found them much lighter than I imagined. They could be easily lifted by an adult if they weren’t so large. Due to the diameter and height of the tank it requires two individuals to transport it.

The tanks come wrapped in plastic and with cardboard rings protecting the spigot mounts. The plastic only covered the sides however so the top and bottom of the tanks were a little scratched up from shuffling during transit or perhaps being slid instead of carried.

Removing the plastic and tape was easy but did require a blade.

While not a big deal, I was disappointed with the type of tape used as it left a residue. It’s always annoying to have to get out the Goo Gone and clean something that is brand new.

I was immediately impressed with the quality of the tank. While light, it is strong and made of quality materials. If it was assembled from multiple pieces of plastic, it is impossible to tell. The entire tank appears to have come from a single mold.

There are only four parts to the tank: the tank itself, the bottom spigot, the “easy fill” 2 foot high spigot, and the ait-airlock lid on top.

The lid locks in securely, but is not air tight. This is by design however so that that tank can breath. The spigots also come with caps to hep prevent spillage caused by curious children.

Another feature that the manufacturer pointed out that pleased me was how the spigot handles can be removed, making it impossible for someone to open them.

The tank is 7 feet tall, 28 inches wide, and 34 inches deep, shaped as a straight-sided oval. One of the biggest benefits of these specific dimensions is that the tank is the largest that it can be while still fitting through a standard doorway. This allows one to bring the tank inside and store it in a basement or storage room. The height of the tank is also where it outperforms any other solution in regards to utilizing storage room. The tank holds as much as five 55 gallon drums in only a third the floor space (7 square feet instead of 21).

SureWater recommends that you clean the tanks before assembling. Cleaning is a simple process, only requiring you lay the unit on it’s side, fill with some water, dish soap, and some bleach, and then rolling it back and forth. It is recommended that you do this on your lawn to avoid scratching the tank. Be sure to rinse it out good when you are done.

Installing the spigots was also a very simple process. The spigot mounts come pre-assembled. The instructions include a step for tightening them down (reverse direction), but mine were already as firm as they could be. The spigots come pre-wrapped with plumbing tape and are hand-threaded into the mounts.

I pointed my “easy fill” spigot down but finished the lower one off to the side so as to ensure easy access.

Filling the tank can be done from either the top or the bottom spigot, although the bottom approach does require a female-female connector that is not included. Make sure that you place the tank in it’s permanent location before you begin as it will be impossible to move once it is full.

In conclusion, I am very satisfied with the quality and features of the tank. It is an excellent product and I hope to acquire another soon. While my goal of a year’s supply of water (a gallon per person per day) is still a long ways off, I’m a third of the way there.

I will  I stumbled across this DIY project recently for storing 55 gal. water barrels horizontally. The biggest drawback of standard upright water barrels is getting the water out when needed. This generally involves either a siphon or a hand pump. Storing the barrels horizontally and adding a spigot to one of the caps makes using the barrels much more convenient. You’ll also be more likely to exchange the water every six months since it will be easier to do.

Here’s the website I found this project on and here are the instructions you’ll need (same pdf as you’ll find on the other website).

Since I have 5 water barrels I decided to make a six barrel holder instead of the two barrel holder you see in the picture. This allows me to store more in less space than before and now I have an incentive to add another barrel. I’ll share the changes I made to the design and what I learned to make this project as easy as possible. Since this is basically a box, you should be able to complete this project in a few hours. For me it took a little longer because I also cleaned or rather my kids cleaned the water barrels, I had to dig through random boards to find what would fit the project and I ended up stopping before completing the project and finishing on another day.

It was  time to exchange the water in my barrels so this project came at a perfect time. I also had wood lying around so I was only missing the spigots.

The first task was to empty the water out of the barrels using a garden hose for a siphon. I had two going at once to speed this up as it takes a little while. I let my 10 year old boy suck on the hose to start the water siphoning. I was surprised since he didn’t seem to suck very hard but the water still came. It takes a lot less suction than I imagined, even with a long hose.

I let my boy clean the barrels while I gathered the tools and hunted down boards. I also read through the instructions, decided which changes I’d like to make and then calculated my board quantity and lengths for cutting.

Suggestions/Changes I Made
Main changes I made were to add an inch on each side of the barrels since these barrels sit outside and I wanted to allow for expansion. I also calculated the changes I would need to make this 2 barrel rack into a 6 barrel rack.

Here are the instructions you’ll need as a reference for the board letters below (same link as above).

In the diagram the boards labeled E (skids) are not necessary and you can cross them off your list.

You decide whether to use boards labeled C for cross braces or use the boards labeled F. Using both is overkill.

I used 2 x 6′s instead of 2 x 4′s for boards labeled A since my rack is three barrels high instead of two. I also cut the first notch in A 6″ up so that I would have more room to connect a hose to the bottom barrel without kinking the hose. This also allowed me to use all 90° hose bibs (spigots) instead of using 45° angled hose bibs on the bottom barrels.

To make a double wide rack as I did, just double boards B & D. OK, technically you double the length and subtract 1 1/2 inches. CAUTION: you must be more exact in your measuring and cutting out the notches in A for the cross boards B as you now are lining up three points of contact instead of just two.

I decided to eliminate the curved plywood boards D and instead used the cutouts from A, cutting them into wedges. If I had to do this part again I would make two identical wedges by cutting straight from corner to corner of the cutout. I saw these wedges right as I was preparing to cut out the plywood and this idea worked wonderfully.  I would do it this way again but it is not as finished or attractive as using the plywood boards to keep the barrels from rolling.

Make sure you drill a hole through the wedges first or you’ll split them with the screws.  I placed the wedges about 7 1/4″ from the vertical supports A but your measurement may vary depending on the shape of the wedge. Also, I widened my supports by an inch on each side of the barrels for expansion so my veritical supports A are further away.

Ok, so I made lots of changes to the original design but I’m happy with the result and I now have a much more convenient and compact storage rack for my water barrels. I also have room to add one more barrel to the rack. I guess this is an example of resourcefulness as I didn’t purchase anything to build this rack.  I only used what I had on hand and my only expenses will be replacing the drill bit I broke and the spigots.

Assembly
You will want a helper to hold boards in place as you screw everything together.  I found it easiest to assemble the front and back sections on the ground or on a flat, level surface.

Follow the order on the instructions eliminating step #6 (the skids) and do either step #5 or #7 but not both as discussed above.

I didn’t encounter any difficulties in putting everything together. The only addition to the instructions would be to make sure the notches in A are facing outward and not towards the center of the rack.

I used some pretty hefty 3 1/2″ screws to put everything together and pre-drilled holes before screwing each of the boards together.

Hose Bibs
I found 3/4″ Celon Hose Bibs for $3.29 online (half the websites spell it Bibb the other half Bib). As I am currently seeking employment I opted not to purchase the hose bibs just yet and to install these the next time I rotate the water in these barrels.

Used Barrels
I picked these barrels up for $20 each a few years back. They were filled with juice concentrate previously and were really a pain to wash out since you can’t get to the bottoms to scraper them out. If you have a pressure washer it might be easier. Since I saw clean, new barrles for $45 just a few weeks ago at macey’s, it is probably not worth saving a few dollars buying used barrels unless you are seriously strapped for cash.

Conclusion
It has been a week now since I finished this project and the rack is still standing :-) Since each filled barrel weighs about 450 lbs. this rack is holding 2,250 lbs. total. I’m very happy with how it turned out and would highly recommend this project to anyone who has 55 gallon water barrels. If you don’t have any water storage currently then consider the storage options in last month’s water storage group buy which are very convenient. If you decide to build a horizontal rack then please share your experience in the comments below.

The product is a high-capacity residential water storage tank. It holds 275 gallons (the equivalent of five 55 gallon water drums) and is being sold for $345 (includes shipping). The unit fits through a standard doorway so you can place it in a back room or a basement. Please note the SureWater tank also comes in a 525 gallon option. While we did not include the larger size in the original announcement, it is available for the same discount at $470.

Please also note that these tanks will all be shipped to a single location in Northern Utah County. It will be your responsibility to come and pick it up. We are working to arrange a second drop-off location in Southern Utah County, but that will depend on the level of orders in that area.

Email Wade to participate with your name, telephone number, and a note regarding the size and quantity of tanks you want.

Please feel free to pass word of this deal along to family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. There is one week left. This is an excellent way to get your water prep done all at once!

Click here to view the embedded video.

During my church’s recent emergency preparedness drill, I discovered that while many people are doing well on their three month supply of food storage, very few had any type of water storage system. To help correct that, we have arranged for group buys on two different high-capacity water tanks, both of which store the equivalent to five 55 gallon drums!

Group Buy Option 1

The first is the same 285-gallon water tanks I was able to purchase last year. These are new (unused) food-grade plastic bladders housed in new/used metal cages. 285 gallons! And it stores in a lot less space than you’d think. While I’m aware of others having stacked their tanks three high, due to space constraints (and a lack of a death wish) ours are stored two high. This is a food grade plastic bladder housed in a metal cage. Approximate weight when empty: 130 lbs. Approximate dimensions: 4′ H x 3′ W X 4′ L. Here is my setup (click to enlarge):

The metal cages allow you to stack, if desired, and protect the hard plastic bladder. These are fantastic tanks because they have a cap on the top for easily filling them w/ your garden hose (or other source), and a spout on the bottom so that gravity is used to create water pressure. This is a far superior system to your standard 55 gallon blue water tanks, which are nearly impossible to stack well, and which require a pump to draw the water up and out.

Group Buy Option 2

The second option is the 275 gallon “doorway” tank by SureWater. This tank is oval shaped and designed to fit through all standard 29″ doorways and only uses 7 square feet of floor space (less than half the space as 55 gallon drums). It also has a spigot at the bottom allowing for complete drainage, but it also includes one two feet up making it easy to fill a bucket or pan. It also includes a man hole in the top that can be used to get inside for some reason (such as cleaning). The biggest benefit by far is convenience. There is no solution easier than this for accessing and rotating your water supply. While 55 gallon drums require siphons or pumps to retrieve the water, the SureWater tank allows you to simply turn a spigot as you would at your kitchen sink.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to buy the 285 gal. bladder tanks (Option 1)

You must live between Payson and Salt Lake City in the valley (email me for possible exceptions). The price is $245 per tank, plus $25 home delivery fee for anywhere in Utah valley. (So, as an example, two tanks would be $515.) You’re welcome to get together with others and consolidate your orders in order to save on the delivery fee. These tanks are rarely offered for direct consumer purchasing, and through many other outlets can easily cost double this price! See here for one comparable tank.

Checks only, made out to PROVCO (not me!). Checks should be mailed to me. When you comment below or email me with the number you would like to order, I will email you my mailing address to which you can send the checks. I will collect these checks and forward them all on to the company processing them. They will not be cashed until the order is processed. Estimated delivery date is somewhere during the week of June 29 – July 3. I will email those who have placed an order w/ any updates I receive. If you cannot be home during the delivery day/time, they will simply be left on your driveway.

If you wish to order a tank, please email me with the quantity you desire to purchase. You will then be emailed your total amount due as well as my mailing address. Remember, I must receive all checks by June 20 – no exceptions! (I’m mailing the order out on the following Monday morning.)

How to buy the SureWater 275 gallon “doorway” tank (Option 2)

The price for the SureWater tank will depend on how many orders we get. The more interested parties, the lower the price will get. With enough orders, we can get the units for $345. Delivery in Utah and Salt Lake Counties to group locations is included as well as the essential parts to install and use. For other locations in the continental US, the cost of shipping is $45-$65. Email Wade to place your order by June 20.

Feel free to share this order with friends!