Realized my water storage plan was useless after one hot Texas August

Been stockpiling bottled water for years, figured a pallet of cases in the garage was enough, then last August in Austin my garage hit 110 degrees and the plastic bottles started tasting like chemical soup. Turns out I never rotated the stock or checked the dates, so half of it was skunked from sitting in the heat. Anyone else build a proper rotation system with a spreadsheet or stickers, or am I overthinking this?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jana1d ago

Well damn, I used to think people were nuts for tracking water like it was a pantry full of fancy spices, but after reading this I get it now... @sandrat24 nailed the real issue with the heat breaking down the plastic faster than I ever considered. I had those big 5 gallon jugs in my shed last summer and now I'm wondering if they're just as bad off as your bottles. Think I'm gonna pull everything into the spare bedroom closet this weekend and start writing dates on the caps with a sharpie, just simple and low tech.

sandrat242d ago

You mentioned "chemical soup" and that's the part that got my attention. Plastic bottles definitely break down faster in heat, so storing them in a garage that hits 110 degrees is asking for trouble even if you did rotate the stock. I'd move whatever you keep long term into a cooler spot like a closet or under a bed, then just keep a smaller stash in the garage for quick grab and go.