Saratoga Farms 5-Gallon Stackables

I bought four of these two years ago. I filled each with drinking water to the top of the rim to reduce the amount of air content, along with a few drops of bleach. I put them in the back of my closet, meaning to replace the water every few months so algae would not begin to grow at some point. I pretty much forgot about them until two years later (today). I finally opened one, and the water was as crystal clear as it was two years ago.

I did not have the "leaky seal" issue that others mention. Here's what I did to prep these:- Wash the top of the container and cap with dish soap on a sponge.- Put more dish washing soap on a sponge and wring the sponge into the container (you definitely don't want to drip liquid soap directly in these; it will be very hard to get it all out).- Swish the container and flush it out several times with water.- The inside of the container should no longer smell like fermented plastic.- Add sanitizing mixture of bleach and water (2 cups / 1 teaspoon of concentrated bleach), shake around, let side for a minute, then drain.- Rinse one more time with water.- Fill to just below line on top.- Add 40 drops liquid per guide.- Crank cap down. I suggest checking the inner o-ring first to make sure it is lying flat, and crank it down *with the included tool* until it won't click anymore.

I’m writing this review during the “Texas ice age” - everything is iced over right now. Many without power, frozen pipes - no water, no gas, heat, etc. Its a scary time for many.I cannot be more grateful to have made this purchase a few months ago. The snow came, my pipes froze - and I didn’t stress for a minute about what I was going to do for water.The fact that these are 5 gal jugs is ideal. I was able to bring one in the house at a time and use as needed. I helped out a few neighbors with a 5 gal jug. These are so portable and so much easier to move around than a 50 gal drum.I bought 20 of these - worth it. Saved my family and a few other families from dehydration like a lot of other folks in Texas sadly experienced.These are very durable containers. The lids sealed tight. I rinsed the containers out before I filled them. Water was only a few months “old” - tasted fresh.Just make the purchase :) - the worst time to prepare for an emergency is during an emergency. Stay safe ya’ll!

The containers are solid, easy to stack and store, easy to fill, and easy to maintain. The optional spigots met my expectations when I tested them out. There was more than enough water treatment (bleach) to fill all containers. I am good to go for 5 years - hopefully never have to use them but with earthquakes, wildfires, and power outages in California you just never know.

These 5gallon water storage containers are great. The kit holds 20 gallons and includes 2 spouts and a bottle of water preservative for 55 gallons storing up to 5 years safely. We had been storing 1 gallon plastic jugs from the grocery stores in milk crates but after about 6 months they would start cracking and leaking everywhere, plus they had expiration dates of about a year. The kit costs around $95 but now we don't have to worry about emergency water for 5yrs.

I bought these for camping - some of the lids leak. As such it's not possible to store these in a sideways orientation. Not a big deal for me, but if you were really wanting to store water in these long term, then the seal is not good. I removed the perma-seal rings on the lids due to my repeated filling/use of these. They do work great for that purpose - just be careful not to fill them too full as the leaky lids will lead to leaks in your vehicle as they slosh around.

Product seems well made but had a terrible time getting all the pieces as advertised! What I saved in buying from them on this particular purchase was lost in time. The seller did all they could to make it right. Just one of those fluke things, I bet. Even they were puzzled by my request for missing pieces like they couldn't believe the "kit" left their facility not being a kit, but their disbelief wasn't that they didn't believe me, just that they hadn't had that problem before. I'd say still make the purchase.

Seems sturdy and they have no chemically smell. 3 stars because these came with no instructions at all. BPA free, but are they sterilized or at least clean? Should I wash the insides before use? If so with what? Washing up liquid? Baking soda, or what? If I did not need to wash them then the instructions should say so. This was a nagging question and after some internet search I decided to wash them with odorless washing up liquid and rinsed each 3 times. May be I ruined them for long term water storage! May be not! I would like to know.