Saratoga Farms 5-Gallon Stackables

Update to the review which follows: I'm raising my review by one star simply because the seller (mfr.?) took the time to reply here, which you don't often see. Disclosure: I also received the items he mentioned in the comment below (free spigots). They are of the same design as those I purchased, a little lightweight but functional. Assuming any of the stuff I criticized in my review is improved on future models of this container, they are worth looking at. Mine are still in deep storage after a few months and holding water for potential emergency use.Original review: Overall I'm (only) OK with these. I bought a 4-pack of 5 gallons each, received today, filled with water and put in storage. They do stack well (I'm only going 2 high) and they work as intended to store water for the long-term. They seem rugged enough to handle everyday use for camping, etc. as well. I also bought the separate spout (8 bucks) which works OK also.But I took off a couple stars for the following reasons. Each is a fairly minimal complaint but taken together I think they are reasonable to mention.1. Advertised as BPA-free in the Amazon listing, this is not noted on the container anywhere nor on the box they arrived in. There are numbers and other info molded into the plastic, why not a notice about BPA as well to give the customer reassurance and help with info later when someone looks at these as a possible source of drinking water. I used a marker to write "BPA Free" on the top of each container. These do smell like plastic when new. I rinsed them with vinegar and then fresh water which helped, before filling for storage.2. There was no instruction or data sheet enclosed. Not everyone will realize you can (optionally) drill a vent hole under a small white cap at the rear to aid in pouring water (I did not). There's no discussion about drilling into the big cap to attach a hose (which it is apparently designed to optionally do). Using the big cap is not 100% intuitive. It has a locking ring at its base (similar to what you see on a sealed gallon of milk, only larger) and it's not clear that this must be removed from the cap before you can unscrew the cap again (at least that what it seemed like to me). This cap ring apparently requires a boxcutter or similar sharp tool to remove, once you tighten it down. You can't do it by "force" as you do when opening a jug of milk where the ring breaks off. I screwed on one cap tight just to see if it leaked and then realized about the locking ring, so I then cut it off as I could see no way to remove the cap otherwise, there's no "lock release" function. I then cut off the other cap rings before installing them. You do not need the locking ring to get a good tight seal as there is a rubber washer on the inside of the cap which seems to seal well. So to re-state this, cutting off the locking ring does not affect the seal of the cap. The locking ring is apparently intended for "permanent" storage to ensure the lid won't come loose, that's all I can think. Again, brief info about this on a sheet of paper enclosed would be helpful.3. Probably my chief complaint is that you cannot easily drain these of water completely. If you turn them upside down, after "emptying" there is water trapped in the "shoulders" which rise above the drain spout (and are below it when the jug is inverted). You have to shake and twist the container to get perhaps the last pint of water out. This design may have been necessary to allow for stacking but perhaps a better design could have gotten around this issue. For example, the typical 5-gal. "jerry can" water containers have their cap at the lowest point when inverted properly though they don't stack well as these do.4. If priced a little better for the 4-pack I might have only taken off one star. One free spout with each 4-pack would be a nice touch, at 8 dollars the spouts are also overpriced being made of simple plastic and not looking too rugged at that. These containers are adequate for emergency storage but perhaps not quite as good as they could be.

I bought a set of 8 and yes they did have a plastic odor, (they are plastic) I rinsed mine with hot water and a heaping tablespoon of baking soda, then rinsed again and let dry. Smell went way down. Filled with tap water and one teaspoon _regular_ bleach. I'll leave the water in for 1 year and then change it. When I refill these I will put some water in with a sanitizing level of bleach to sanitize the jug, empty it, cover the lid with paper towel and let dry for a day, then refill with tap water and add one teaspoon regular bleach and store again. Adding that teaspoon of bleach kills any pathogen in the water and the bleach quickly degrades, you won't even be able to smell it in a few days but as long as your bleach is in there, your water is clean and no bugs can grow, provided your lid is tight and you store properly. This process is much like canning, everything has to be clean and sterile going in. This is easier though because the bleach does most of the work for you.If you don't have good hand strength, get a wrench, these lids do require some effort to get then tight enough to seal but the do seal. I tested each one by tipping over on it side and pressing down on the container to build some pressure and I had no leaks. There is more to storing water then you think, read up on it, you have to do this correctly or you can set up a bateria farm in your water jug and then you don't want that.If you are not concerned about the tampering, take it off the tamper-evidence ring, the lids tighten down easier without it, it is not necessary to seal the jug, it is just a tamper-evidencing device that will only work once anyway. The rings break right off.

These containers are stackable when full and light enough to carry around without throwing out your back (about 42 pounds). Mine arrived in perfect condition, but without any instructions. You'll need to do some drilling of holes if you want to use the spigot, but otherwise you can just tear off the rip ring around the large white caps and screw it on tight by hand. I washed out the insides with a cup of bleach and 5 gallons of water, letting it sit for an hour first, then rinsing it out clean with fresh water. I then refilled with fresh water from the tap and added 1/2 a teaspoon of regular bleach to each 5 gallon container. I plan on doing it again every 6 months.I contacted tankbarn.com about getting extra spigots and a cap wrench and they directed me to Amazon for both:Wrenches: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DFW937KSpigots: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0172DT2L0Accessory kit with spigot and two caps: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DFW90GY

No matter how tightly you screw on the caps, they do not make an air tight seal. If you squeeze a full container or lay it on its side water will leak out around the cap. I bought 4, and they all have this problem.