Added bleach to 5 gallon water storage jugs and it's undrinkable

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

shanrose

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Jan 15, 2024
Messages
682
Location
Northeast
I filled up 5 gallon jugs with water and added a spoonful of bleach that I read would keep the water safe. My husband took a jug with him on a trip and said that it tasted so badly that it was undrinkable. Has anyone had this issue and will the bleach taste dissipate over time?

I see that iodine and chlorine dioxide can work but I don't know how much to add to a 5 gallon jug. Does anyone know what works best?
 
the bleach is reported to disapate after being left open for a day, second hand info but ....
 
shanrose said:
I filled up 5 gallon jugs with water and added a spoonful of bleach that I read would keep the water safe. My husband took a jug with him on a trip and said that it tasted so badly that it was undrinkable. Has anyone had this issue and will the bleach taste dissipate over time?

I see that iodine and chlorine dioxide can work but I don't know how much to add to a 5 gallon jug. Does anyone know what works best?
Click to expand...
Maybe a little too much bleach?
Making water safe to use with bleach having a 5%–9% concentration of sodium hypochlorite is 8 drops per gallon or 40 drops per 5 gallons.
Your teaspoon is essentially 100 drops, so maybe a bit much? As per @Tirediron, let it breath before drinking. Some say a couple grains of salt really helps too. We filter at the time of consumption, so if I fill a container, it'll taste OK.
 
Dave V said:
Maybe a little too much bleach?
Making water safe to use with bleach having a 5%–9% concentration of sodium hypochlorite is 8 drops per gallon or 40 drops per 5 gallons.
Your teaspoon is essentially 100 drops, so maybe a bit much? As per @Tirediron, let it breath before drinking. Some say a couple grains of salt really helps too. We filter at the time of consumption, so if I fill a container, it'll taste OK.
Click to expand...
Yes maybe a teaspoon was too much. I don't know where I got the teaspoon idea from but it's definitely wrong.
 
shanrose said:
Yep. Hubby said there was no way he could drink it. Live and learn...
Click to expand...
We keep around 20 gallons of distilled water on hand for topping off our battery bank. We could drink it in a pinch if we needed too. Plus we keep about 20 empty distilled water jugs that we refill with well water for emergencies. Some are a couple years old and never treated. Of course they are always kept in a cool dark location.
 
way to much bleach...toss it and start over...look for info..its just a few drops...dont know correct amount
 
shanrose said:
I filled up 5 gallon jugs with water and added a spoonful of bleach that I read would keep the water safe. My husband took a jug with him on a trip and said that it tasted so badly that it was undrinkable. Has anyone had this issue and will the bleach taste dissipate over time?

I see that iodine and chlorine dioxide can work but I don't know how much to add to a 5 gallon jug. Does anyone know what works best?
Click to expand...
what makes you think it even needs bleach? if its from well or your tap why do that?
 
If you put the suggested amount of chlorine in your water it will not be palatable. Letting it sit open for a day or two allows the chlorine to dissipate. Heating the water will dissipate the chlorine almost immediately. I make up a gallon of chlorinated water and pour it from one container to another and swish it around to clean each container. I let them sit till dry and then fill with filtered water and store in a cool dark place. I have an R/O filter at home so I don’t feel a need to chlorinate. I have a well.

If you are using chlorinated city water use it out of the hot water tap. The heat of the water heater kill the chlorine. If you are using city water it is already chlorinated so if you add more you’re giving it a double whammy. Were I to treat my drinking water with a chemical it would be chlorine dioxide due to the potential health benefits, though after sitting for a while I doubt that there would be any noticeable amount left.
 
You could use what you have to scrub the porcelain and the floor. That’s the amount to disinfect contaminated surfaces. There was a thorough video I found that had printables depending upon what form of bleach you use. If I can find it, I will post it to this thread.
 
shanrose said:
I filled up 5 gallon jugs with water and added a spoonful of bleach that I read would keep the water safe. My husband took a jug with him on a trip and said that it tasted so badly that it was undrinkable. Has anyone had this issue and will the bleach taste dissipate over time?

I see that iodine and chlorine dioxide can work but I don't know how much to add to a 5 gallon jug. Does anyone know what works best?
Click to expand...
I think it kind of depends on the source of your water. My water comes out of a city line and I don't think it needs to be treated, but maybe I am wrong.
 
ive had similar happen to me, i opened the lid and let it air out for a day or so and that worlkd fine. i also have poured the bleached water from 1 jug into another a few times to aerate and add oxygen. and i alwasy run my water thru my berkey filter
 
Mountain trapper said:
We keep around 20 gallons of distilled water on hand for topping off our battery bank. We could drink it in a pinch if we needed too. Plus we keep about 20 empty distilled water jugs that we refill with well water for emergencies. Some are a couple years old and never treated. Of course they are always kept in a cool dark location.
Click to expand...
That's interesting that you didn't add anything and they're still good. I used reverse osmosis water and I thought that I had to put something in it to prevent contamination. I also wondered if I should have used the iodine or chlorine dioxide pills they sell on Amazon.

I know that there are mold spores in the air because I left a cup of reverse osmosis water out while we traveled. We came back several months later and there was mold growing on top of the water. We don't have a mold problem either. So I was a little wary of not adding anything - although the cup of water was exposed to the air.
 
Caribou said:
If you put the suggested amount of chlorine in your water it will not be palatable. Letting it sit open for a day or two allows the chlorine to dissipate. Heating the water will dissipate the chlorine almost immediately. I make up a gallon of chlorinated water and pour it from one container to another and swish it around to clean each container. I let them sit till dry and then fill with filtered water and store in a cool dark place. I have an R/O filter at home so I don’t feel a need to chlorinate. I have a well.

If you are using chlorinated city water use it out of the hot water tap. The heat of the water heater kill the chlorine. If you are using city water it is already chlorinated so if you add more you’re giving it a double whammy. Were I to treat my drinking water with a chemical it would be chlorine dioxide due to the potential health benefits, though after sitting for a while I doubt that there would be any noticeable amount left.
Click to expand...
It's reverse osmosis water. It took a long time to fill the jugs up so I don't want to dump it. It's not palatable but I'm going to try leaving the lid off to see if it will dissipate. That's a good tip to know about heating it. There's a lot of wisdom on here.

How long do you store water for without adding anything?
 
LadyLocust said:
You could use what you have to scrub the porcelain and the floor. That’s the amount to disinfect contaminated surfaces. There was a thorough video I found that had printables depending upon what form of bleach you use. If I can find it, I will post it to this thread.
Click to expand...
I thought that maybe we'd have to use it for bathing instead. I'm going to try leaving the lid off to see if it will improve - if not I'll try heating it or getting new jugs as Bacpacker suggested and splitting them in half. It took me a long time to fill those jugs with reverse osmosis, which is why I'd like to salvage them if possible.

I'd appreciate any video - thank you.
 
shanrose said:
That's interesting that you didn't add anything and they're still good. I used reverse osmosis water and I thought that I had to put something in it to prevent contamination. I also wondered if I should have used the iodine or chlorine dioxide pills they sell on Amazon.

I know that there are mold spores in the air because I left a cup of reverse osmosis water out while we traveled. We came back several months later and there was mold growing on top of the water. We don't have a mold problem either. So I was a little wary of not adding anything - although the cup of water was exposed to the air.
Click to expand...
To be honest, the water we keep on hand is more for flushing the toilet, brushing our teeth, cooking or washing up with for the times when our well pump generator goes down. I have drank some and never noticed a bad taste. Our well pump generator is pretty reliable so this water sits around for quite awhile. I understand why some would want/need to treat their water, but I just can't drink treated water. I can't drink city water either.
 
shanrose said:
I filled up 5 gallon jugs with water and added a spoonful of bleach that I read would keep the water safe. My husband took a jug with him on a trip and said that it tasted so badly that it was undrinkable. Has anyone had this issue and will the bleach taste dissipate over time?

I see that iodine and chlorine dioxide can work but I don't know how much to add to a 5 gallon jug. Does anyone know what works best?
Click to expand...
CD is very effective as a water disinfectant as low as 0.1 ppm. I recommend 1-3 ppm if the water is from an outdoor source. It's far superior to chlorine bleach. It will not leave the water with order's or tastes that's un drinkable.

https://www.evoqua.com/en/faqs/faqs-for-chlorine-dioxide/
 
Mountain trapper said:
To be honest, the water we keep on hand is more for flushing the toilet, brushing our teeth, cooking or washing up with for the times when our well pump generator goes down. I have drank some and never noticed a bad taste. Our well pump generator is pretty reliable so this water sits around for quite awhile. I understand why some would want/need to treat their water, but I just can't drink treated water. I can't drink city water either.
Click to expand...
I can't drink city water either.
 
Interesting thread. It's a good reminder to me to check my water stash.

I have 5 gallon jugs that I filled back in 2017. I basically rinsed the containers with plain bleech and dumped it when the jug was thouroughly rinsed. There was still a small amount bleech left in the container b/c I didn't allow it to dry. Then I filled it with well tap water and stocked it away. I haven't opened it since. I guess I should. Just to be safe, I'd run it through my Berkey before drinking it. However, I'd also use it for other uses such as bathing, washing, etc.
 
angie_nrs said:
Interesting thread. It's a good reminder to me to check my water stash.

I have 5 gallon jugs that I filled back in 2017. I basically rinsed the containers with plain bleech and dumped it when the jug was thouroughly rinsed. There was still a small amount bleech left in the container b/c I didn't allow it to dry. Then I filled it with well tap water and stocked it away. I haven't opened it since. I guess I should. Just to be safe, I'd run it through my Berkey before drinking it. However, I'd also use it for other uses such as bathing, washing, etc.
Click to expand...
I rinsed the containers with bleach too. I thought of getting a Berkey. I prefer reverse osmosis because it takes the most contaminants out. I bought clear jugs and not-clear jugs. I prefer the clear to see if the water is clear.
 
Our 55 gal water barrels were filled 4 yrs ago. There is a tsp of bleach in them. I figure I'd run them thru the Berkey, too, if I had to drink them. Our one gal containers are in the basement, no bleach, because they don't see the sunlight so won't grow algae. I'd still run those thru the Berkey because they're just well water in empty clean milk jugs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top