http://www.waterbob.com/Welcome.do
 
So the Water Bob is basically a  large folded container that expands to convert a bathtub into 100+ gallons of sealed water storage.  It seems like a pretty smart idea to me, and pretty inexpensive at $25 per unit.  It even comes with its own manual syphon/pump system for pouring the water.   Anyone have any experience with this product before?

 Wonder how tough the plastic is to fold flat enough like that.  But then again, you wouldn't be hauling the water around anyway.   How about getting one and give us a review.   

Ya I'm debating picking up two.  I wonder how reusable it is once filled.  It doesn't seem all that easy to dry out. 

I looked at the Water Bob a while ago. From what I could find, it wasn't reusable at all. Just a one time use thing.

I decided against it as we have bottled water and can fill up the bathtub without the 'bob for use as non-potable water. It does seem like a good idea though.

The only way I could see it sucking is if you only have one bathtub.  You'd be SOL if you wanted to take a bath/shower.  Or even worse if the wifey wanted to take a bath/shower in the comfort of her own bathroom.

The problem with just filling up your bath tub, it's more than likely you don't have a perfect drain plug so it could be half gone the next day.  Also, even for non-potable use, water sitting open like that, in your bath tub no less, will probably be pretty disgusting after just a week.  Just a guess.

Sure, one could argue that for most emergencies we'll have water back on after a few days--but then why would you need 100 gallons anyways?

It shouldn't be a persons first plan for water in an emergency, who is to say you'll have time to fill it up?  But I plan on getting one or two eventually.

And yeah, not re-usable.

The problem with just filling up your bath tub, it's more than likely you don't have a perfect drain plug so it could be half gone the next day.

Honestly, I never thought of that, but you do make a really good point. I wonder if any drain plugs work perfectly.

Most drain plugs you see for bathtubs are worth a sh. for stopping the water effectively. You gotta get one of those marine type rubber plugs, in the appropriate size, with the nut from like westmarine.
That bag sounds like a very good idea for potable water storage. But even tho it's in a bag, does it need any kind of treatment? The natural occuring microbes in tap water would love to have a party in a nice sealed warm plastic bag. Just a thought.

Most drain plugs you see for bathtubs are worth a sh. for stopping the water effectively. You gotta get one of those marine type rubber plugs, in the appropriate size, with the nut from like westmarine.
That bag sounds like a very good idea for potable water storage. But even tho it's in a bag, does it need any kind of treatment? The natural occuring microbes in tap water would love to have a party in a nice sealed warm plastic bag. Just a thought.

New to the site and glad to see there is a survivalist section. My family and I are also concerned about natural disaster and numerous other unforseen possibilities. Glad to find some like minded people instead of the "Morning of" individuals that are raiding all the shelves and gas stations when the SHTF or the Zombies come...
 
Cheaper than Dirt had these for $20.00 recently. I have never personally used these. I am from South Texas and have weathered quite a few hurricanes when I was growing up there. We always filled the tubs and almost always lost power, shortly followed by the water. If your going to fill up your tub, Do yourself a favor and clean it real good first. Even treated water doesn't do well with soap scum and other stuff that is living in a bathtub. I recommend pure bleach as it kills most anything.
 
 
As far as treating water, you can use pure unscented bleach treat water. Do not use NON-CHLORINE bleach. 1/8 teaspoon for gallon of water, stir it, cover it (hard to do in a bathtub, but with duct-tape anything is possible).  You should be able to smell a chlorine smell after about 30 minutes, if not, repeat same. If the chlorine taste is too strong, let it sit uncovered for a few hours and some chlorine will dissipate.   Syphon as necessary, but keep it covered (this keeps the chlorine from getting out). It isn't DASANI, but its potable and will keep you from de-hydrating and being on the obituary pages when the papers start printing again.

If the water goes out, you can drain your hot water heater as necessary into a sterile containers. Be careful doing this, it would suck to get seriously burned in the middle of an emergency.
 
If your bugging out, there are numerous portable filters and pills available. I have drank river/lake water on numerous occasions using water treatment pills and have never gotten ill. FILTERS DO NOT TRAP/KILL LEPTOSPOROSIS!  (http://www.leptospirosis.org/topic.php?t=15)
 
Follow the directions explicitly and don't for get to treat the cap/thread on your container when you are using the pills. It only takes one of some water-borne critters to get you very sick.
 
Don't let an emergency be the first time you try treating your water. Practice, then practice again..
 
 
 

Vooduchikn, thanks for the very detailed description of how to treat your emergency water supply. I will save your post and study it for future reference.  I will also practice the tecniques you have described.
Thank you
B 

A word of advice, do not fill the tub up to the spout where it can be submerged into the water. In the event of a power outage/main water line break/etc the water lines may experience a vaccum and cross contaminate your water you have saved in the tub. Granted you will be purifying it before drinking, but at least you can keep it somewhat clean by keeping at least an inch of clearance.

Another cheap tip for SHTF water access... your heater. Depending on the size of your heater you have upwards of 50 - 60 gal. (unless you have one of those little ones, or even worse the instant hot water heaters). Just periodically check the drainage valve at the bottom (usually a hose bib) to ensure that sediment isn't plugging it up.

^ good advice. 

I ordered two from Cheaperthandirt and the order is pending once a few more items are back in stock.  When I get them in I'll write up a review and let you guys know if they're worth the money or not. 

Aloha all,

I have direct experience with the water BOB.  I live in a high rise condo with bathtub.

I purchased one from the American Red Cross around December 2009.

I used it on the day of our Tsunami Warning 2/27/2010.

I knew it was a one time use thing, so I waited until the last possible hour to fill it up.  I watched the initial reports from the Big Island and tried to determine if the surge was enough to worry about.  I was conflicted because I KNEW if I filled it up, nothing would happen and I would waste the BOB.  And if I didn't fill it up and tsunami washes ashore, knocks out the power, and shuts down water production, I would be kicking myself for not filling it up.  So, in this event, I decided to play it safe and utilize the water BOB.  At worst, it would be a $30 test to see if it worked as designed.

The water BOB fits very well in a standard size tub.  Attachment to the spigot is a little tricky, so be sure to have some tape on hand to hold it in place, since it is basically a flimsy plastic sleeve that slips over the spigot.  It took about 20 minutes to fill it up, and I didn't have the water on full blast (because of the flimsy sleeve / tape attachment).  They say it holds 100 gallons, but I filled the bob to the top of my tub and there was still some excess plastic that it could have expanded with water, so this amount will vary based on the size of your tub.  Realistically, I probably had 80-90 gallons in the BOB.

So sure enough, THANKFULLY, the Tsunami was a non-event.  I left the water BOB in the tub for the remainder of the day to test the short term structural integrity, practiced pumping water using the very useful hand pump, and showing my wife how it worked etc.  I then cut a long slit in the plastic and began the draining process.  The plastic was thick enough for me to believe it would certainly hold up for as long as you had water in it (definitely a month minimum is my estimate - not sure about UV degradation though, so in all likelyhood in a cool, non-sunlit room - a very good amount of time)  Also, the hand pump that I mentioned is really quite good, and in all likelihood could be used as an emergency bailer in an outrigger, or siphon pump in your gas tank (though I'm sure the manufacturer wouldn't recommend either of those uses.  But the SHTF, so who cares, right!)

In the end, the water BOB is a very practical means for quick water storage, especially if you live in a condo and can't have 55 gallon drums sitting around everywhere.  Very easy to use, I have confidence in it's structural integrity, and highly recommend it.

Caveat - only recommend for a bathtub.  Not sure how it would perform structurally stand-alone or without other types of structural support.

I bought mine for Red Cross for $30 (I think), and the website sells them for Price of only $19.95 + $4.95 Shipping.  Buy 4, get one free, so seems to make sense to get together with some family/friends and split the cost to get one free.

Regards and aloha,
KNOWLEDGEISPOWER

Wow, great in depth review knowledgeispower. Welcome to the site and thanks for sharing.

After reading that and listening to others' recomendations, I will be getting at least a couple to have around. For anybody looking to get from Cheaper Than Dirt, here is the link. It looks like shipping is very expensive from CTD if you aren't ordering anything else. And the actual WaterBOB site does indeed offer a buy 4, get one free offer. It doesn't say whether or not you have to pay shipping on each one, though, and it states there is a $15 surcharge on their 2-3 day delivery and $25 for their next day delivery (their only two options).

I'm also going to end up getting some Polar Pure water disinfectant which should be good for use in the wilderness.

Another very thankful for the review!

I will also probably be picking up a few of these.  If anything, good to have backups since they are one-time use.

2aHawaii -regarding disinfecting, I picked up Polar Pure as well, I liked that it has indefinite shelf-life as well as having potential to disinfect large quantities of water.  Another less talked about disinfecting method is calcium hypochlorite, which also has very long or indefinite shelf-life, unlike chlorine bleach.  Do a search to find out the details, the info is out there.  Strange that most people don't learn about this method until they've been prepping for a while.

Ah great review knowledgeispower. 

Any more reviews on the WATER BOB?
I am wondering if there is a way to make it more than a 1x use?

Personally, I use the tub fill for non potable water. I line the tub with a (good condition) tarp, and fill it up. In a pinch I can boil the water to use for drinking, but mainly it's there for if/when we need to flush the toilet and other general purposes. For stored potable water, I have some clean emtpy 5 gallon buckets (w/ lids). I normally figure that if I use up all the  bottled water for drinking/cooking, and an additional 25+ gallons of clean "bucket" water for the same, then I'd start looking at boiling/rebottling my tub water. Though the Water Bob sounds interesting, I figure with my current set up, I can last at least 4-5 days with no water service. Just what I do at my place, and has worked out the last few scares.

I never thought about using a tarp before. It sounds like a great idea for non-potable water.

For those of you who have City & County waste/recycle bins, I washed mine out and used them to store water for toilet use.
Regular rubbish cans can be lined with extra large garbage bags and filled with water.
   Don't think I use it for drinking.  Bathing maybe.

A siphon hose or bucket will be needed to get water out.

Since we have storage room, I have save all the gallon containers from the wife's Arizona Tea she drinks.
   Just fill with tap water and use PUR or Brita pitcher water filters as necessary.