Here's a link to rain barrels which might work for water storage: http://rainbarrel.ca/products/
The food grade barrels you sourced should work fine: you'll want to treat the stored water with some bleach (1 drop per litre). Also recycle the water (replace every so often - not sure how often) . Maybe you also want to boil drinking water when you use it too.
And BTW, welcome to the forum!

Thanks PrepHer, I will be sure to checkout your link. I think the ones I looked at will be just fine, but want to be sure. My plan is to use them for emergency water storage, but I want to use them for my everyday drinking water as well. The real plan is to set them up on a tiered system where they all rest on supports above one another then fill them (with tap water from my home) and have them drain form the top down to the bottom one where I would have a spout, and from there I would have a filtering system (I'm going to use a Big Berkey water filter) and I will use the water daily for drinking and cooking, this way I can be sure the water is being rotated regularly.

Thanks Mr. the once from providence supplies are waaaay out of my price range. The ones from Briden solutions are more of what I'm looking for and more in my price range, but would definitely like to find something locally. Thanks a lot for the suggestions though!

my barrels had grape juice (for wine), sugar, or some pickled type stuff in them. the smell can be hard to get rid of, but if you filter the water with a carbon filter before drinking it'll be fine.

yes you need to be careful of what was in it before. the best bet is to find a source that bought them from a place that kept food in them. i got some from a guy in new market maybe? (it's been a while) http://www.makenterprises.ca/plastic_drums.php is their website. they have a couple of locations, one is in a large parking lot with big trucks lol, looks shadier then it was. he was a really nice guy and very helpful.

i got some IBC (1000L totes, in steel cages) from a guy in Elmira, On. PM for his info, i'm not posting it on a public forum.

if the containers are dark you'll be better off, but clear ones just need to be kept out of the sun and maybe treated (with bleach) or rotated more often.

what doesn't go bad, but it goes stale and grows stuff (if left in light) my water barrels were fine for over two years.

before drinking the water i'd filter it with a carbon filter (Brita for example) to remove the chlorine taste.

my barrels from the website above were like $30 each, my water IBC totes were $100 each if you buy two or more.

if you have the space, go big!
this year i was lucky not to need water for the garden, the well was wet, but the pond is nearly gone, it's 1/4 of the size it was last year, and it's smaller then it was two weeks ago. next year i'll make sure i have more then enough for me, the family and the garden. . .

Wow, thanks for another great response Entropy, I'll be sure to checkout that link for sure. My plan is to get the dark barrels, I know that stuff will grow in the clear ones with sunlight. I will be putting them in my basement out of direct sunlight as well.

been doing this a while, and i've had all the answers handed to me when i needed help. i've got a long way to go, but i've got a lot to offer too. i take prepping really seriously, i have for a long time now, if things get really bad, i want others safe at home. . . (and not knocking on my door 😀 )

i've had some really great mentors with prepping, we can't do it alone, and we need good people with good sources. (i've also had mis info that cost a lot of time and money. . . ) preps need to speak when they know, and ask when they don't. (and those that think they knew need to be told they are wrong when giving wrong info, of course being Canadian we'll be polite when doing it 😀 lol)

prepping takes years, map out your goals and move forward as fast as you can, without taking on debt.

look forward to hearing about your projects and progress. . .keep up the great work.

Thanks for the tips Entropy!

I haven't hand any answers handed to me as of yet. I've been doing this for 6months-1 year now, and have yet to find like minded people like myself other then what I have now found on the forum here. Also, anyone who I share my prepping lifestyle with just laughs it off and says I'm crazy. Needless to say, I don't mention it to anyone anymore, especially now that I've learned that mentioning about your preps could come back to hurt you in times of desperation anyway. I do a ton of research, a ton of reading, and have acquired some really great books (Many of which I still have to read) and I've watched countless hours of youtube videos as well.

I to feel very strongly about prepping. Especially now that I have my first child on the way (Dec. 19 due date) I want to make sure me and my family are prepared and provided for. Since I have started prepping, I have really cut down on anything we don't need, and when purchasing anything new, I ask myself if it is something I need, and if it will serve me. I did for a while there go a little overboard on the spending, I felt as if I couldn't get my preps fast enough, and I still feel that way, but I have learned to control myself more. I have unfortunately learned a lot of lessons the hard way, and have found myself with useless kit that I shouldn't have purchased. I'm now only allowing myself $100/week for prepping.

I know that prepping takes years, and I'm super dedicated. I have a lot of goals, my biggest one being a homestead (which I hope to purchase next year) where I can live self-sufficient.

My current project that I am working on is water storage. I'm actually working on this today. It will be a three tiered stand with 3 55 Gallon food safe water barrels stacked on top of one another, and a water filtering system. I wish we were able to post pics on here of our projects. Bummer.

i learned some things the hard way too, trusted family members that can't keep their mouths shut. sadly it wasn't the truth they were saying but a ramped up version that got other undesirable words spread about.

when buying stuff too, don't cheap yourself to death, if you're buying kit that will make the difference now and in 35 years, buy the best you can. . . don't buy a cheap wal mart canner hoping it'll work in 30 years. . . "buy once, cry once" is something that has helped me.

i remember finding it hard to justify things like the top dehydrator, or canner, grain mill etc. they are pricey pieces to buy, but in the end they are the best for a reason. a lady i can food with, has the same canner as me, but hers is 50 or more years old.

congrats on the baby, that's one thing i don't have to worry about, but i tell ya, my dogs worry me just as bad as a kid would. lol.

take your time and do it right, it's not like the world is ending tomorrow . . . we have a few months lol (kidding, but i'll be pissed if it ends on the 21 Dec, i have to work that day 😛 )

Thanks for the congrats on the baby. It's definitely going to add another element to all the prepping. I'm definitely going to slow down and take a little more time with it. I still feel like I can't prepare fast enough. lol

I'm a firm believer in not buying anything cheap, you really do get what you pay for.

LOL... There is always "cheap" VS inexpensive.... Virtually all products have a price latitude. Yes you do get what you pay for in most things...BUT... do you need the very best of everything all the time?... I don't believe so. You need to weigh what you are going to use something for and how often against the investment. Just my 2cents

I always learn something useful to add to my prep to-do list when I come here, so glad I found this forum! I was wondering about the steel covered plastic containers for water, thanks for input on those.

LOL... There is always "cheap" VS inexpensive.... Virtually all products have a price latitude. Yes you do get what you pay for in most things...BUT... do you need the very best of everything all the time?... I don't believe so. You need to weigh what you are going to use something for and how often against the investment. Just my 2cents

agree fully, you don't have to have the brand names for everything, but sometimes those names are the ones that stand out for a reason, "country living mill", "all American canner", "Dakota", "Lorex" etc, but big Berkey, i have a big shiny water filter, but it's not the brand name. . . the elements in it are top of the line though!