In North Carolina, we are subjected to everything that Mother Nature can throw at us other than volcanoes. 😉 We are often warned to prepare for some impending bad weather by gathering up supplies and by filling up the bathtub with water. Normally I wouldn’t consider using bathtub water for anything other than flushing the toilet, but I could actually fill up the bathtub with safe, clean drinking water if I first inserted a waterBOB in the tub. waterBOB fits any bathtub, it’s made of heavy duty plastic that is FDA-compliant for food storage, and it can keep water fresh and clean for up to 4 weeks. Just fill it up, and use the included siphon pump to fill up your pitchers or bottles with safe drinking water. The waterBOB is only $24.95 – much cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of bottled water. You can purchase a waterBOB from HurricanePrepper.com
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Given that this is a one time use product, for the price I would recommend getting a backpacking water purifier instead. In an emergency fill your tub and then use the water purifier to make it safe to drink. When the emergency is over, empty your tub and pack the purifier away for it’s next use.
This type of product is next to useless in a real emergency.
The problem? You do not get warnings when your water stops running (or goes bad).
This bathtub systems assumes that (1) you get a warning, (2) while you are at home, (3) with enough time to find and fill this device.
@thsu When a hurricane is heading toward North Carolina, we do have plenty of warning time to fill this up.
There’s usually plenty of warning prior to water safety issues. I’d clean & sterilize my tub and keep refilling my PUR (or Brita) filter with the tub water till the water’s gone.
One of the problem with this solution is when you no longer need the water: you have to pump it down the drain, but if you have not used up the water, the drain will be blocked by the bladder itself. Furthermore, while the bladder is BPA-free, the pump might not be. This is the type of pump we use in Vietnam for pumping kerosene, not water.
How can food grade plastic purify bathtub water by simply filling in?
Their website did not explain anything about it.
May be having Britta in addition to that would work?
I think the idea is to capture clean tap water before contaminated supply gets in the system.
@Joe Lex is right – you’re supposed to capture clean tap water before the water supply is compromised. Water coming from the bathtub faucet is as clean as water from the kitchen tap, so there’s no need to purify it if you capture it before the local water supply is compromised.
THIS IS A GREAT IDEA !!!
Why would you think it is a “one time use” item?
Just empty it and hang it upside today out, then put it away for future use.
Yes, tub water and kitchen water are the same comming out of the tap, as clean as the city or well water is normally.
I would much rather drink water from this than from an open bath tub, even if it had been cleaned thoroughly before filling.
24.95 is a great price for a simple way to store and dispense clean tap water in an emergency. Not having it could be much worse.
This along with water purifiers and pitchers will insure that you have plenty of water for several people for several days.
I’m buying one for each tub in my house.
Byron
@Byron.. here is a quote from their instruction page
“When fresh water is no longer needed, slit the side of the liner and drain the remaining water. The bladder should be disposed and recycled.”
Sounds pretty one-time use’ish to me 😉
Yes, I saw that,
However i can think of only 2 reasons to do that.
1) you did not use all the water and need a way to empty the bag so the tub can be put back to use
2) they just want to sell more bags
Like water jugs made of the same material, properly drained and dried these WaterBOB bags should not have to be disposed of.
You should get many uses out of 1 bag.
That’s my plan anyway
@Byron,
You have to find a way to sterilize the bladder before storing it. Not if you consider molds as water additive.
A mix of bleach and distiller water should do, just make up a gallon and use it to wash the inside, then hang upside down to dry.
Much better than drinking bathtub water that is exposed to open air.
Besides, if you want to recycle it and get a new one each time you need it, the cost is much better than drinking contamited water.
Don’t forget your hot water tank holds 40 gallons…for your use to drink.