Water · Gear Review
The Augason Farms barrel is our pick for most households. The barrel itself is almost commodity — the accessories, placement, and treatment are where people go wrong.
The verdict
For most households, any new, food-grade, bung-top 55-gallon HDPE barrel serves well. The differences between brands are small. The differences between setups — accessories, placement, treatment — are large.
Best overall
BPA-free food-grade polyethylene. Closed bung-top design with two 2-inch bung fittings. Available as a standalone barrel or as a kit with siphon pump, hose, Aquamira treatment drops, and bung wrench — the kit is the better purchase for most first-time buyers.
$60–$80 standalone · $100–$130 kit
Best for limited floor space
Smaller footprint than a standard round barrel, designed to stack two high safely. Food-grade HDPE, closed-top. Better choice for households that need to maximize a small storage area or plan to stack multiple barrels. Slightly higher cost per barrel.
$90–$120
Affiliate disclosure: New World Survival earns a small commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. This helps us cover operating costs and keep building new content. We only recommend gear we would put in our own kit.
Before you buy
Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. A full 55-gallon barrel plus the barrel itself runs roughly 475–480 lbs. It cannot be moved once filled. Decide where it goes before ordering. A basement or interior room is ideal. Garages work but introduce temperature extremes that accelerate plastic degradation and require more frequent water rotation.
Concrete is porous and can absorb and release chemicals. Temperature differentials between a cold slab and a plastic barrel can stress the material over years of contact. Use a wooden pallet, a sheet of plywood, or a food-safe rubber mat. For a barrel you plan to leave in place for 5 years, this matters.
A standalone barrel comes with two bung fittings and nothing else. You need a bung wrench to open and close the fittings and a hand pump or siphon to extract water without lifting the barrel. The Augason Farms kit includes both. If you buy a standalone barrel, add a hand siphon pump ($10–$20) and an aluminum bung wrench ($8–$15) to your order.
Used barrels sold as "food-grade" online often previously held industrial chemicals, wine, or pickles. HDPE absorbs trace compounds from whatever it stored — cleaning does not fully remove absorbed residues. Buy new barrels only from vendors who can document the barrel has not been previously used.
How we evaluated
High-density polyethylene (HDPE, resin code 2) is the only acceptable material for long-term drinking water storage in a plastic barrel. BPA-free is a given in any modern food-grade HDPE barrel. What matters more: new, not reconditioned.
Bung-top barrels have a fixed lid with threaded bung holes — a more secure, tamper-resistant seal over multi-year storage. Open-top barrels have a removable lid secured by a lever-lock ring — easier access but a less reliable long-term seal. For water stored 1–5 years, bung-top is the better choice.
Standard emergency preparedness barrels run 0.085–0.10 inches of wall thickness — adequate for stationary indoor storage. Blow-mold construction (a single seamless piece) is preferable to injection-molded barrels with welded seams, which are more prone to leaks over time.
The picks
Best overall — kit with accessories included
The Augason Farms barrel earns the top position primarily because of availability, pricing, and the kit option. As a standalone barrel it is a solid food-grade HDPE bung-top drum at a competitive price. As the kit, it arrives with a 6-foot siphon hose and hand pump, Aquamira treatment drops, two 2-inch barrel plug fittings, and a bung wrench — everything needed to fill, treat, and extract water in a single purchase. For first-time buyers, the kit eliminates the accessory shopping that trips up a surprising number of people.
The barrel is manufactured to meet EPA guidelines for potable water storage. The closed-top design uses one 2-inch NPT fitting and one 2-inch buttress thread fitting that accepts most standard siphon pump attachments. Wall thickness runs approximately 0.087 inches. The barrel weighs 18.2 lbs empty and measures 22.95 inches in diameter by 35.13 inches tall.
One note: the Aquamira treatment drops included in the kit are the chlorine dioxide format — useful for field water treatment but not the Water Preserver Concentrate formulation designed for 5-year storage. If the goal is 5-year storage without rotation, pick up Water Preserver Concentrate separately.
At a glance
Made in USA — if domestic sourcing matters
The HOANK barrel is explicitly made in the USA, eco-friendly manufactured, BPA-free food-grade HDPE, available at a similar price point to the Augason Farms. For households where domestic manufacturing matters, it is the straightforward choice. The bung-top design accepts standard 2-inch fittings and siphon pumps.
The main difference from the Augason Farms: no kit option. You will need to purchase the siphon pump and bung wrench separately. Budget an additional $25–$35 for accessories. The barrel itself is comparable in quality and dimensions to other reputable brands in this category.
At a glance
Affiliate link — small commission, no cost to you
Best for stacking — limited floor space
The Bushman barrel has a rectangular footprint rather than circular, allowing it to be positioned against walls more efficiently and stacked two high. The tight-head (bung-top) design, food-grade construction, and closed lid make it suitable for long-term water storage.
A pair of Bushman barrels stacked two high occupies less floor space than two Augason Farms barrels side by side while holding the same 110 gallons. The cost premium is justified when space efficiency is the constraint.
At a glance
Affiliate link — small commission, no cost to you
What not to buy
HDPE absorbs trace compounds from whatever it previously stored — cleaning does not fully remove absorbed residues from the plastic matrix. For drinking water storage, new-only. The cost difference is $10–$20; the risk difference is not worth it.
The bung fittings on a 55-gallon barrel are installed at 80–120 ft-lbs of torque. Without the correct wrench, you cannot reliably open or close them. Every barrel purchase should include either an aluminum bung wrench or access to one. Do not skip this.
A full 55-gallon barrel cannot be tilted. Water must be extracted through the bung port using a siphon or pump. Without it, the barrel is inaccessible in an emergency. The hand siphon pump that comes with the Augason Farms kit costs roughly $12–$15 standalone.
Setup guide
Step 1
Position on a wooden pallet or rubber mat before filling. Do not place directly on concrete. Confirm the floor can support ~480 lbs of concentrated weight.
Step 2
Add 1 gallon of water and 1/4 cup of unscented bleach. Slosh to coat all interior surfaces. Drain. Rinse twice with 2 gallons of clean water each time.
Step 3
Fill with potable tap water. Add Water Preserver Concentrate per label dosing for 5-year storage. Tighten both bung fittings firmly with the wrench.
Step 4
Write the fill date and treatment used directly on the barrel with a permanent marker. Set a calendar reminder for 5-year rotation (or 6–12 months if untreated).
Accessory checklist
How this fits
The treatment that turns a 6-month rotation into a 5-year shelf life. What it is, how to dose it, and why it is different from bleach.
Read the guide →
How a 55-gallon barrel fits alongside 7-gallon jugs, stackable bricks, and bathtub bladders in a complete household water storage plan.
See the comparison →
Storage is one layer. The water hub covers treatment, collection, conservation, and resupply — the complete picture.
Explore water →