We’ve talked before about water storage, and it seems that for most people I talk to, their idea of storage is the standard 55-gallon drum. These are great if you have the room for them, but what if you live in an apartment? Or you want to move the water around, or take it with you in the car? We found a product that is both easy to store and transport.
The WaterBrick is a plastic storage container measuring 9″ wide by 18″ long by 6″ high. Each brick holds approximately 3.5 gallons of water, so they weigh about 28 pounds when full, making them easier to transport than a typical 5-gallon container at 40 pounds.
The innovative part of the WaterBrick is the way they stack. Each brick has two holes in it, which in addition to making it stronger allows it to interlock with bricks on top and below it, just like Legos.
The bricks can be stacked up to four feet high without danger of tipping, and with the way the lock together they could even turn a corner and still be stable. You can stash them where other containers won’t fit, like under the bed or in the trunk of your car. I’ve even seen them stacked with a sheet of wood on top and turned into a coffee table.
The bricks can be frozen (as long as you don’t fill them to the brim), meaning it’s fine for them to be outside in sub-zero weather. You could also freeze one and use it as an ice block to keep your cooler chilled.
The bricks can also be used for dry storage of rice, beans, flour, even ammunition – just about anything that will fit through the 3″ opening.
A removable handle makes the bricks easy to carry; again, much easier than something like a Reliance container which typically comes in 7-gallon sizes. The handle folds into a recess in the brick, so there’s no need to actually remove it for storage. You can also add a spigot to the bricks to make them easier to pour, but you’d want to only put it on a brick in the top row – when the water level drops below half the brick you’ll need to tilt it to get the rest out.
All of this convenience and engineering does come at a price. A WaterBrick costs right around $20 for 3.5 gallons, or around $5 per gallon. The Reliance jug I mentioned above is about $18 for 7 gallons, which is about half the price per gallon. If you use a 55-gallon drum, you’ve got that price down to $1 per gallon or less. So you wouldn’t want to store hundreds of gallons in them, but they would be perfect for augmenting another form of storage.
What we liked about the WaterBrick:
- Very sturdy, stackable, easy to stash and easy to carry.
- Wide opening allows you to store dry goods as well as water.
- BPA free and made in the USA
What we didn’t like about the WaterBrick:
- The cost.
So just like everything else when it comes to preparing, a mix of approaches is a good idea. We have several WaterBricks that we’ll use for portability, but we’re not going to replace our 55-gallon drums with them. We’ll probably also get 3 or 4 more for storing rice and beans that we use regularly.
