This post comes from a conversation I had with a friend at a writing event.
He was telling me about a woman he knew who canned water during the Y2K scare. I had all sorts of questions about that, so I googled “canning water”. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my questions answered (most of the sites were about the water bath used in canning), but I did learn about U.S. Government canned water, and that’s just as interesting.
First of all, we’re talking about water in cans, not canning jars. We’re also talking about tin or steel cans, not aluminum cans used for sparkling water. Cans for storing water might be up to 50 gallons.
During World War II, the United States canned water to ship to the troops. Apparently, canned water didn’t spoil and didn’t need an expiration date. It was good up to 30 years (some cans opened 60 years later were still good), and the water wasn’t affected by heat, which could be useful depending on where you were fighting.
Civil defense canned millions of gallons of water in the sixties to have on hand in case of a nuclear strike.
Canned water is still available today in smaller containers for personal use. It can be an alternative to bringing a filtration device when camping, or for storing water in case of an emergency. However, it has two downsides. It’s expensive and it’s heavy, especially if you have to carry it with you.
I tried to buy canned water on Amazon, but they only had aluminum cans. However, they had boxed water, which is also interesting.
When I was at geology camp in the desert of Nevada in June/July 1994, I had an army green, 12 oz. can of water on the bedside table in my tent as a joke. I never opened it, and now I wish I had. It might have been my only chance to drink canned water, unless I get some from my friend’s friend the next time she prepares for the apocalypse.