The WaterBOB is a massive 100-gallon emergency water storage device that will keep fresh water on hand when disaster hits. It is an excellent option for a large-capacity bathtub or garden tub that can be filled in a pinch as harsh weather hits.
Whether you’re a serious prepper wanting to be ready for anything, or you live in hurricane territory that puts you at-risk, the WaterBOB makes water storage easy.
In this review, we will lay out the specifics of the WaterBOB, and you can decide if it is for you.
Let’s get to it!
Specs and Buying Options
Fill time: 20-30 minutes
Water Storage Capacity: 100 gallons
Fresh Water Shelf Life: Up to 16 weeks
Materials: BPA free, 10 mil heavy-duty food-grade plastic
What’s In The Box?
The WaterBOB comes with everything you need to get set up straight away:
- Plastic bladder – Holds the water
- Fill sock – connects to the faucet for easy filling
- Siphon pump – connects to the bladder for easy access to your stored water
Water Storage Capacity
When it comes to capacity, the WaterBOB has just about every other similar water storage system beat. The 100 gallon capacity is quite possibly even more than you need.
This system is designed to be filled and stored inside of a general household bathtub. The average bathtub holds 70 gallons, meaning the WaterBOB will need a new tub to use its full potential.
Some garden tubs available will hold 100 gallons, but that will mean another purchase and additional, significantly sized storage. If you have a larger bathtub already, this is a great option.
Continuing to fill the WaterBOB after reaching the brim of the tub sounds like a good idea in theory but can mean disaster and potential loss of all your water.
Fresh Water Shelf Life
WaterBOB recommends not using the stored water after about 16 weeks of it staying stagnant in your tub.
When the water is sitting in a tightly sealed space, there’s a big chance of bacteria growing and quickly ruining the entire water supply.
Chances are, your water will come back within 16 weeks, but it’s best to be aware of its limitations in the case of a more extended outage.
Read more about storing water for the long term; also, see our water storage calculator.
Top Tip
The backdoor trick to get your water to last longer is to treat it with water purifier tablets immediately when filling the bladder. The tablets will inhibit bacteria growth, and your water will stay fresh for longer.
One Time Use?
The WaterBOB is intended to be a one-time use product and then find its way to a landfill.
However, if you are careful and treat the water both times, the plastic is durable enough to keep water for a second go-around. The second time it could be useful for rinsing and flushing, but be wary with drinking it.
Setup and Filling
Setup is simple enough. The 10 mil plastic quickly conforms to the bathtub’s shape as you fill it, so there’s no difficulty fitting odd shapes into odd spaces. It uses every nook and cranny available to get as much water as possible stored.
The WaterBOB comes with a hose that slips over your bathtub’s faucet and connects to the bladder. It’s easy to hook up and go right out of the box. Securing the hose to the faucet is easy, and you can walk away from the tub while it’s filling, but it isn’t a bad idea to check periodically.
Once it’s filled, the 18-inch siphon hose attaches to the spout on the bladder and will easily reach out of the tub to fill pitchers for easy transport. Whenever it’s not in use, to keep the water sealed tightly and safe from bacteria growth, the hose is removed and the vent cap tightened for a complete seal.
In a disaster, the last thing needed is a complex system to set up and figure out while stressed and rushed. The WaterBOB is quick and incredibly easy to use in the heat of the moment.
What We Like
The biggest pros of the WaterBOB are its long shelf life and huge water storage capacity. Up against other similar systems on the market (see WaterBOB vs. Aquapod), it will hold the most water for the longest amount of time.
Another huge pro of bathtub water containment systems is that they take up virtually no additional space until you need to use them. Most other ways of storing water require a large storage area that not all of us have.
While the WaterBOB can only be used once, it is also incredibly affordable. They aren’t asking you to spend hundreds each time you need water to take care of your survival, and we appreciate that.
What We Don’t Like
The WaterBOB is a single-use system that is not guaranteed to perform after you’ve cracked the seal and filled it with water once. The reason being that any water left in the bladder is going to create a bacterial infestation. The bladders are incredibly difficult to get entirely, I mean entirely, dry to stop growth.
100 gallons can be unrealistic for some people’s home setups. If you want to use this to its full potential, you need to buy a garden tub or have a jacuzzi installed.
Alternatives
Read the following posts for some alternative ideas:
- Waterbrick review – a more permanent solution
- Stockpiling water in milk jugs – not a great idea!
- Emergency water container options
- Emergency water pouches – convenient but expensive for large quantities
Specs and Buying Options
Fill time: 20-30 minutes
Water Storage Capacity: 100 gallons
Fresh Water Shelf Life: Up to 16 weeks
Materials: BPA free, 10 mil heavy-duty food-grade plastic
All images via waterbob.com
Regarding emergency water sources.
As a pool owner, here’s an option for you to consider. To possibly use that water for washing, you will still have to treat it using calcium hypochlorite (chlorine) and maintain it at the minimum level of 4ppm for killing bacteria – hopefully fido hasn’t been cooling off in it while hanging out and enjoying his Bud lite.
You can use dry pool shock or liquid chlorine for pools or even Clorox, because there’s no CYA (cyanuric acid) stabilizers in those to be of concern. However, for algae control instead of algicide, get a Solar Pool Ionizer floater. It’s solar powered, uses a replaceable copper rod and very low DC voltage to produce electrolysis and copper sulfate that kills the algae so no algicide is necessary.
Most ionizing floaters will treat 10,000 gallons or more and last several years before requiring a replacement copper rod. If you have a smaller storage source and don’t require that large of a floater, use it for only a few hours a week. I’ve used one in my pool for a couple of years now and it’s very effective at eliminating and preventing the cursed “yellow or black” pool algae. Green algae are easy to kill.
The only caution is that if left in a smaller pool for too long, it may stain white materials or clear plastic products to a light green or blue if they are left to soak in the water.
Several models are offered on Amazon.