It is recommended that households store at least one gallon per person per day for at least three days for emergency drinking water. This comes in handy if there is an earthquake, flood, terror attack, or some other disaster that prevents clean water from reaching your household. When storing water, it is important to use emergency water containers that are safe and designed to be used for this purpose. The wrong containers can cause water to evaporate or become contaminated. You can select from plastic, glass, or stainless steel. Learning the pros and cons of each type of container will help you determine which is the best one for your family. Here are a few of the pros and cons to using food-grade glass containers to store your emergency drinking water.
Cons of Using Food-Grade Glass Containers to Store Emergency Drinking Water
- Glass Is Heavy
One of the biggest downsides to glass containers is that they are heavy. You have to be careful how many you store on a shelf or storage unit, since the weight of the water combined with the glass may be too much for the shelf to hold. And if you are looking for large containers, the weight of the glass and water combined may be too much for some people to lift. If you don't want anything heavy, plastic or stainless steel may be better options for you.
- Glass Breaks Easily
The other disadvantage to glass water containers is that glass breaks easily. If the containers fall of a shelf, such as during an earthquake, the glass can shatter and your water supply may be gone. If you use glass, you need to be able to place it in a safe area where it can not be broken or cracked.
Pros of Using Food-Grade Glass Containers to Store Emergency Drinking Water
- Can Be Stored Near Gasoline or Chemicals
One of the biggest benefits to glass is that it is impermeable. This means that outside contaminants can't sink through the material, which is not the case with plastic. As such, plastic water storage containers can never be placed near gasoline or chemicals that may leak and then leech into the container. If you have limited storage space and need to store a variety of containers containing different items together, glass is a great choice.
- Glass Is Easy to Sterilize
The other advantage to food-grade glass containers is that they are easy to sterilize. You simply place the glass container in boiling water for about 20 minutes to kill germs, bacteria, fungus, and other contaminants that can harm your drinking water. It is much harder and more time consuming to sterilize plastic and metal containers.
It is important to have drinking water stored up in case of an emergency. Learning about various types of emergency water containers will help you determine which type is the best option for your water storage needs. Talk to a company like WaterBrick International for more information about food and water storage containers.