I’m going to town for my Monday drinking water refill in just a couple of minutes. Dragging out some older bottles to add to my reserves since the freeze danger is over, I got the idea maybe this information would be useful…
The bottle on the left is available at the food store in town in any desired quantities for $6.50, including $.75 worth of purified water. The bottle on the right costs $12 and is only available at a K-Mart 60 miles away, or online.
I used that first sort of bottle with fair success for several years, the only necessary precaution being that they must not be stored outdoors because the plastic is very susceptible to UV damage. But then a couple winters ago I started losing my bottle – and water – supply week after week with punctures at every least little thing. The manufacturer cheapened the plastic somehow making the bottles fragile and no longer cost effective.
I’ve had bottles like the one on the right fall out the Jeep’s back door at speed and roll down a grade without damage or spilling. The cost is well more than twice as much including opportunity costs, but they’re worth it. I did have to initial all mine, though, because they’re identical to the ones D&L use and I always bum water rides from them.
I’m not sure what your infrastructure is for filling and dispensing your water but I have had good luck with Coleman five gallon jugs. They have a built in handle and come with a dispensing cap if you want to use it that way. I haul all my water from a key access public well so we fill with a garden hose. I use gallon clear plastic juice jugs for table water and the five gallon ones for cooking and washing.
If you can get a hold of them, the one gallon Arizona tea jugs also hold up well. If you want something a bit smaller for, say, having a jug of water in the jeep during the heat of our lovely summers.
I’ve been using 2 of these for a few years as emergency water storage.
https://relianceproducts.com/products/hydration/187.html
They are the most durable water storage containers I have ever found. For example stupid me forgot one in my truck last winter for 4 days. The water container froze solid. I lugged it into the house let it thaw and all was good. The container did not rupture and I still use it when I go car camping.
The nice thing is short of the container rupturing you can get spare parts and fix ’em. The company also offers a good water filter kit that one can use when the water is sketchy. And yes Amazon carries them