Water Storage / Hauling

I pulled the trigger on a water storage and hauling solution. Thanks to JT and Russ for inspiration and sourcing on this project. I wound up purchasing the containers from two different sources. JT recommended "Smith and Edwards" in Utah (just north of Ogden and south of Brigham City off the freeway) as a good source. KSL.com also turned up another supplier in SLC. Both suppliers containers were used and both claimed "water potable". I was less than confident in the SLC container suppliers claim of what had been in the containers originally. The smell coming from the inside of the container was too chemically obtrusive for me to feel good about drinking from them. When I balked on the purchase, he plummeted the price to $30 and asked me to try it out. I bought one from him and will use it for fuel or something else I'm sure. There is just no way I can refuse that kind of container for $30.


On the way back up to Logan, my buddy Mike and I swung into "Smith and Edwards" and picked up three more containers for potable water use. S&E claimed they had previously been used to store coconut oil and were washed four times. I believed them, as the containers smelled and looked fantastic. The current plan is to seal in the top and sides with foamboard/plywood and bury at least one to prevent winter freezing. I'll use the other one for transporting water from town and increased storage in the warm months. Also, the containers have a six inch access hole in the top with a screw on/off lid. The bottom of the containers have about a two inch ball valve for easy gravity feed draining and the whole container sits on a platform that is forklift friendly.





I was previously looking at an in-ground 325 gallon cistern. Going this route I feel as though I lost nothing and gained more water storage, a hauling method, and saved a ton of cash.


P.S.....trailer wheel bearings apparently last about 10 years with heavy use and no maintenance. I was about 25 miles from home when I pulled off the side of the road in Fruitland and found the inner bearing on the trailer had disintegrated, leaving only the now useless outer bearing on the spindle and one loose fitting wheel! I wasn't about to leave my water containers on the side of the road for any length of time, so Mike and I made the correct call (for us) and continued the final 25 miles at a much reduced rate of speed. The cargo made it home, but somewhere along the way we lost the outer bearing as well. I had no clue a loaded trailer would pull so well without bearings!!!! (the little voice in your head will only remind you to do something for so long before it says "I told you so")

In retrospect, I would do the same thing again, but I seriously don't recommend it to anyone. Thanks again for coming along Mike. It was a good day!

it's amazing how well a castle nut and cotter pin work together to keep a wheel on a spindle...that big gap between the castle nut and wheel hub should not be there....lots of slop!!!