Water Storage

 I was talking with a friend today who is just beginning to create stores. She has purchased some reusable jugs for water storage and we were discussing where to put them once filled. I suggested to her that she utilize the crawl space under her house. Years ago, I read in a publication that this is a great, empty space that can be used for water storage. I acted on that suggestion and began to fill the taller sections of the crawl space (where you could almost stand upright) with crates full of water jugs. Then I got older and developed arthritis in my knees and all my children got too big to crawl through the opening easily, so I had to hire a young man in the neighborhood to pull out my crates of water for me. I moved them under my deck. 


When I made the suggestion to my friend that she utilize her crawl space, she seemed a little taken aback. I added, “Or anywhere they’ll stay cool and dry, really.” She responded that dry isn’t a problem, but cool is another matter entirely. In the Deep South, exterior temps in the summer can exceed 104 degrees. You shouldn’t keep water bottles in your vehicle during the summer. They heat up during the day, then cool down at night, and the plastic bottles can leach chemicals into your water. I’ve also found that it just doesn’t taste as good after being heated and recooled. Which begs the question, why do I think under our house is a cool location?


Years ago, we purchased foundation vent covers that change orientation based on the weather. I don’t know how they work; they aren’t electronic. They must work off of barometer or something. I think they’re just plain magic. Anyway, the vents close during the cold months of the year to hold in heat and open during the warm months to allow cross-ventilation. In other words, they hold the heat in the crawl space during winter, keeping your floors warmer and making it easier to heat the house, and allow air flow during the summer to help the heat escape and keep your crawl space and, thus, your interior floors, cooler in the summer, reducing your air conditioning needs. With these vents regulating air movement under our home, the shade on all 4 sides from the structure above, and the cool dirt below, the crawl space underneath our home maintains a temperature range that is quite acceptable for water storage. I’m sure there are lots of places where you can store water, but who wants to take up home interior square feet to store water? Underneath our house is a great alternative.

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