Last year I decided to step up my water storage plan and looked into getting some 55 gallon plastic drums/barrels I could store inside. My main rationale for this decision was that I wanted potable water on hand that would be immediately useable in an emergency. Sure I have means to collect, filter and purify found water sources, but I wanted the piece of mind knowing I have enough water on hand to get through most short duration emergencies or utility interruptions (water main break). After a lot of looking around at used drums in my area on Craigslist, FB marketplace, etc. I came to the conclusion that saving some money to buy a used drum where I would not be 100% certain of the previous contents wasn’t work the risk. Cleaning and sanitizing any drum, even new, is mandatory, but without knowing exactly what was in a used drum previously, I wouldn’t want to risk ingesting water stored in there, no less give it to my family. This led me down the path of finding where I could source new drums, for a reasonable price. After some looking around at different vendors, I found that the online restaurant stores were the best vendors for both price per drum and shipping rates. These stores tended to have shipping rates lower than if I were to buy direct from a manufacturer. As of today I can buy one 55 gal drum from The Restaurant Store for ~$109 shipped. When considering the price it would cost to buy the equivalent 5-7gal water storage containers to equal 55gal, $109 is actually a pretty good deal. And if buying more than one drum, the shipping rates do no go up so much that it becomes cost prohibitive. Also, I found that one 55gal drum takes up less space that the equivalent volume of individual water storage containers. Sure there are new challenges that come with a bulk storage container, it won’t be easy to move, can’t really be transported when full, need a way to get water out of the container, weight can be a factor depending on where stored, etc. but for me these weren’t a big issue.