Are you interested in storing drinking water in your home but don't have enough space? Take a look at the Water Bob. Click here to see how it works in our in-depth review.
Water storage is one of the essential preparedness tools you can use if an emergency strikes. Some people tend to look at those who prepare for the worst as if they’re silly for their worry.
Prepping isn’t necessarily about surviving the end of the world as we know it. There are several instances where people lose their power and water for days at a time and have to hope the local supermarket has enough to tide you over.
What Does the Water Bob Do?
The role of Water Bob in-home water storage is both unique and practical.
Preppers who live in a spacious house might not have trouble finding a place to store their water.
They can find a place in their basement for a couple 55-gallon water storage drums. This will give them enough water to survive for a couple of months, depending on how many people live in their home.
If you live in an apartment in the city, however, you probably don’t have this luxury.
There isn’t enough room to store a couple of large drums of water. Sure, you might be able to find a spot for them in the middle of your living room, but it isn’t practical to tailor your living situation to a disastrous event that may never happen.
Water Bob for Practical Storage
The Water Bob water storage container is for people who don’t have unlimited storage space but want to keep an ample supply of water in case of an emergency.
Living in a city apartment doesn’t completely prevent you from being prepared if you use a one-time-use product like the waterBob.
Water Bob designed their product to fit in a regular-sized bathtub. You can fill it up when you know disaster is imminent, treat the water, then drain it when you need clean drinking water. Each WaterBob bladder holds up to 100 gallons of water.
With the WaterBob, you can keep almost two 55 gallon drums worth of water in your home for a fraction of the price.
Is the WaterBob worth it? Does it live up to expectations for practical water storage? We’ll explore this a bit more ahead. First, we’ll take a look at how the WaterBob works.
Quality | Price | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|
$ $ |
How to Use a WaterBob
Using the WaterBob is quite straightforward. To fill it up, all you have to do is unfold it, place it in your tub, and put the hose over the nozzle of your bathtub spout.
Turn on your water and hold the nozzle to make sure the bag will stay in place as it fills. If it’s secure, you can check on the WaterBob periodically to make sure it’s still filling. When it’s all said and done, it will take up to a half hour to fill the WaterBob.
We recommend treating the water after filling it up.
If you leave it untreated, the water will last about 16 weeks. If you treat it, it will probably last longer. Treating the water will ensure bacteria doesn’t grow while you’re waiting for your water to come back on.
When it comes time to dispense the water, take the siphon out of the WaterBob packaging. This 18-inch hose attaches to the spout of the WaterBob bladder. You can use this to fill pitchers to bring to other areas of the house for drinking and bathing if necessary.
Press the red pump on the top of the WaterBob to dispense the water. Once you’ve filled your container, twist the vent cap until it’s loose and the water stops flowing from the siphon. Remove the hose, then tighten the vent cap again to make sure the bladder stays secure.
Once the disaster has passed and your water comes back, use the hose to drain the excess water from the WaterBob before storing it or throwing it away.
WaterBob states that their product is only intended for one-time use. In other words, you’re supposed to throw it away once you’ve used it.
Fortunately, we’ve found that the WateBob is durable enough to last two uses.
You have to be careful, though, and take the proper steps during draining to make sure bacteria doesn't start growing in your used WaterBob. If you want to use it more than once, take extra care in treating the water during your second use.
Pricing and Purchase Options
You can purchase a WaterBob through several online retailers, but you should note that demand for this product seems rather high.
At the time we’re writing this review, several retailers are sold out of their stock. You can probably find the product on Amazon through a second-hand dealer if not from the source.
Coupons and Deals
WaterBob will offer periodic deals through systems like Groupon.
As of this writing, there are no available coupons or sales associated with the WaterBob, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find any. If you’re interested in this product, make sure you look around for the best deal you can see before purchasing.
Public Perception
Testing a product in a controlled environment can only do so much.
If it works well or poorly for us, we can always fall back on our clean water source. Those who have used their WaterBobs in real-life disaster scenarios, though, have a better understanding of the practicality and usefulness of the WaterBob.
In general, the public perception of the WaterBob is positive. Several people commented that the WaterBob saved them from losing clean water during hurricanes in their area. They purchased this product for emergency water storage, and it served their needs.
When a product plays a role in saving you from dehydration, users tend to be generous with their reviews. As with any product, though, there are some who didn’t have as smooth of an experience with the WaterBob.
A few people have stated that the WaterBob came damaged, or was difficult to fill because of a faulty filling hose. While these users were the exception to the positive public perception, you should still take their experience into account before you buy.
If you decide to purchase the WaterBob, make sure you unpack it and check for holes before filling. We’ve seen that the product is durable, but not invulnerable. If there’s a shipping defect or tear in the bladder, you need to know about it before you need to fill the WaterBob.
How it Compares
If you compare the WaterBob to a traditional 55-gallon drum of water, there’s no contest.
The 55-gallon drum is more reliable, easier to fill, and provides a variety of storage options. If you have the budget and space in your home to store one of these drums, it’s almost always the best way to go.
A drum of water is reusable, and you won’t have to worry about it ripping. It’s also far more portable, and you can move this water storage around far easier than the 100-gallon WaterBob.
Not everyone has the means or the storage area to purchase a couple of these water drums, though. Which is why the WateBob is so popular.
If you’re deciding between a drum of water and the WaterBob or a similar product, we suggest you spend the extra money and opt for a storage barrel.
The AquaPodKit
The AquaPodKit is the primary competition for the WaterBob.
It’s another inflatable bladder that stores water in your tub. The two are very similar when it comes to filling and dispensing. Both have a few benefits over the other, but we think the WaterBob takes the lead.
From what we’ve seen, the WaterBob is more reliable and durable. The AquaPodKit holds 30 gallons more water than the WaterBob. But this doesn’t matter if you’re storing the water in your tub. A standard bathtub holds around 70 gallons of water, so your tub will fill before either of these products.
The thick plastic of the WaterBob also keeps water safe for almost twice as long. If you’re facing a water outage that will last over eight weeks. The WaterBob will keep your water safe for longer.
Quality | Price | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|
$ $ |
The Importance of Water Storage
People occasionally get stranded in their communities in this country. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters can knock out your water supply for days or weeks at a time.
When this happens, the local store will eventually run out of bottled water. If you don’t have your own water storage at this time, then you’re at the mercy of strangers. You’ll have to rely on the kindness of another person to make sure you and your family get enough water to survive.
Natural disasters aren’t the only element that can affect the drinking water of an area, as we saw in Flint, Michigan. Before we saw an entire town’s water supply become contaminated, many people thought that something like this wasn’t possible in this day in age.
There is a variety of ways a water supply could become contaminated. It’s naive to think that you’re immune from the effect a devastating event could have on your local food and water supply.
Preparing and Storing Water
Whether a natural disaster is imminent, or you just want to be safe, it’s a good idea to start preparing water storage in case of an emergency.
FEMA recommends that you keep at least three days worth of water in your home to keep you and your family hydrated as you wait for the water and electricity to come back.
In an emergency situation, a person will use about a gallon of water in a day. They’ll use half of this gallon to drink, and the other half for hygiene purposes. So, if you have a family of four, you should keep at least 12 gallons of water in your home to prepare.
You can prepare for short-term water outages by filling up water bottles and storing them in your house. You can even use unopened bottled water as your emergency three-day water reserves.
This three-day recommendation is a starting point, but it’s often a best-case scenario.
When a natural disaster ravages a city or town, there’s no guarantee your water will come back within three days. You might be stuck for weeks or even months without any clean water in your home.
If this is the case, your three-day water supply will dry-up quite fast.
Those who are looking to be prepared for all situations will want to store far more water. If you have room in your house, it’s better to store a month’s worth of water or more.
You never know how long a water outage might last, and preparing for the worst-case is far more responsible than planning for a few days without power, food, and drinking water.
What We Think
The WaterBob is a great product for what it does: store water in your bathtub in case of emergency.
It can’t hold a candle to a large water barrel. But a lot of people don’t have access to these products. They’re expensive and take up far more space when you’re not using them. So that a WaterBob will be the only practical option for many.
If you’re in a city apartment and don’t have enough room to store a barrel of water.
Then the WaterBob is probably you’re next best option. It will prepare you for the worst-case scenario without taking up valuable space when you aren’t using it.
Some else who might be interested in the WaterBob would be a person who doesn't live in a hurricane-prone area but wants to be safe.
The WaterBob is durable enough to last a couple uses. Even if you throw it away after you finish, you’ve likely still got your money’s worth from the product. It’s one of the best tub bladder water storage units we’ve seen.
Leave a Reply