[SkyDancer]

Never use milk jugs to store water. As I’ve heard.

[driftdiver]

Yeah they break down and start to leak. Not to mention giving the water a funky spoiled milk taste. We buy cases of bottled water and use it occasionally to cycle through it. I also have 3 water bobs to put in the bath tubs, 5 gal water jubs and a couple of 50 gallon barrels. Multiple means of sanitizing or purifying water as well.

[jy8z]

Never use milk jugs to store water. As I’ve heard.

I store water in them after a thorough bleach cleansing for my pets. Potable water is stored otherwise. In doing so, I rotate the jugs every eight months as they do have a mandated life span. I haven't had one leak yet or killed any pets. I keep around seventy five gallons this way.

[Iron Munro]

Never use milk jugs to store water. As I’ve heard.

We have used milk jugs to store water for years.

As soon as they are empty of milk we wash thoroughly, rinse them well and leave with caps off to air out.
When dry we give them the smell test before filling with water.
Any with an odor get recycled but there are very few that fall into this category.

I suspect that leaving empties around awile before washing them makes them more likely to go off but I have never kept track.
I do know it makes them harder to clean.

Every storm season we fill any empty ones with tap water that is chlorinated at the water treatment plant.
We used to put a little bleach in each jug but stopped a few years back and have not had any problems.
I figure there is enough bleach in the city water to make more unnecessary.

However, If I was going to store water for several years I would go back to adding more bleach.

After storm season we gradually use the water in them, air them out and refill.
We have almost never had a problem with water being off, even after stored for a year.

We also use 2 liter soda bottles and other containers but I like the milk jugs for their ease of handling and storing.

[Marcella]

“Never use milk jugs to store water. As I’ve heard.”

True. You can’t get the milk smell out plus they are very thin and you will have water on the floor within a short time.

[NTHockey]

I use OJ containers. Rinse them out really well with hot water. Let them air dry until OJ smell is gone. You can put some baking powder in to absorb the smell.

I have some refrigerated that is over 3 years old. Drank some this summer and it tasted fine. The rest is stored in the finished basement. Cool and dehumidifier runs year round. Use the dehumidifier water for the plants, along with the rain barrel water.

[gundog]

Clean ‘em. As I said before, I’ve had jugs out in the woods for years.