Part of my ongoing attempt to rehabilitate other mils of Mylar bag, I present my Rice+Water test, started in 2017.
We’re all thinking about what to do about water After the End, whatever that looks like. And freeze dried foods and dry goods alike need lots of water to work their best. The side benefit of this test is:
1: I’d have some more water stored no matter what. I'm not necessarily the best about rotating my water storage, so my hope was even if I missed a bunch of years of testing, in Mylar with bleach the water would last indefinitely (so far it has).
2: I could test water purity after different lengths of time when stored in Mylar bags.
3: I could hand out these kits to folks in need and they’d have what they need (other than fire and a pot) to make it. They’re around 3000 calories per kit. Not a ton, but I chose the size to match the two Mylar bags.
So the test:
1: 4 cups of rice stored in 5-Mil 6”x9”x3” Mylar bags.
2: 8 cups of water stored in 5-Mil 8”x12”x4” Mylar bags.
3: Each Mylar bag of water contained 0-5 drops of bleach. After testing these for 7 years now, I’d probably go to 3 drops max if I did this again. The 5 drop ones are super chlorine-y even today. All the water is still palatable, including the 0 drop water. I haven’t died yet drinking any of it or making food with it.
4: I always do 1 part water to 2 parts rice when cooking.
5: I originally stored these in Cardboard Boxes (yes, terrible for all kinds of reason, I know, but I had a pest service at the warehouse where all these were stored, and I was trying to be frugal). I re-stored these all last year in Totes (I did pop one bag of water on a sharp edge as I was doing it). I did 8 cases in all, 64 kits (The original boxes stored 8 total kits).
So what did I find out?
1: Yes, you can store water in Mylar bags just fine. The 8”x12”x4” bag is about the largest size I would use, as even those they’re a bit bulky and I just worry about dropping them or slicing them open on a corner of a workbench or something. Again, I’m not necessarily recommending this as there are other easier ways to store water, but in a pinch it works. I think its funny, searching the Internet, all of these organizations say store your water 6 months max. I've always thought that was nuts, but after this test now I know it is.
2: Yes, the kits work just fine; I pour all 4 cups of rice and 8 cups of water into our rice-maker, and I have had rice now for a bunch of years (I think I missed 2 years of testing in there around COVID as we were just super busy).
3: After a location move, and then moving from boxes to totes, I only had the one incident where I lost a seal, and that was totally my fault. The rice is all still fully contracted, and the water is delicious, if a bit high on chlorine taste for those with 4-5 drops.
4: 5 Mil bags work perfectly for all kinds of things; not everything has to go in a 7 mil bag.
