Storing preps

Claire - January 19, 2024

I know it’s not recommend to store water directly on cement floors. Can you put cardboard down first? Or thick plastic (like a tarp or construction trash bags)?

And does the same apply for food in food grade buckets (food is in Mylar bags in the buckets)? Should the bucket not be stored on cement floors? 

Thanks!

3  

Assuming your food and water are in some kind of containers, I’m actually not aware of any problem with those containers being directly on a cement floor. What kind of problem would you expect from doing that?

 

There was a myth going around on the internet a few years ago – maybe it’s still out there – that “chemicals” from the cement would somehow leach up through the plastic containers and poison the water.  

Considering that a lot of people get their drinking water directly from cement cisterns, spring boxes, cement lined wells, et cetera, and the increased amount of lime in such water still tests well within acceptable limits, I don’t think we need to be very worried about the hypothetical trace amount that could somehow pass through plastic.

 

Maybe it could have started from concerns over storing water buckets on cement floors previously contaminated with chemicals. A garage or basement could perhaps be contaminated with something like gasoline, oil, weed killer, etc.? And then because concrete is porous it stays somewhat contaminated and then leaches into the plastic bucket and the water? I don’t know though. 

I’ve also heard that raising it off the ground, like on the 2x4s can be good as it allows for air flow. But I don’t know how important that actually is.