Aqua-Pak Ecopackaging Water Container

I honestly don't know what the 1-2 stars are about.This is a super product. My buddy has the same thing but 7 gallon so I was already familiar with the design and found it to be reliable.I have to admit that I hesitated ordering it because of the 1 -2 star reviews, but I ordered it anyway and after testing mine I can address the most common alleged weaknesses."It leaks from the spout" Mine leaked at first... til I realized I had overtightened the spout onto the tank. So I unscrewed it and tightened it down gently... tipped it back over into position... saw a few drips... tightened it down until the drips stopped. PROBLEM SOLVED"It leaks from the plug" There's a small opening for letting air in to displace the water running out. It has a stopper to keep bugs and crud out when not in use. This opening is NEVER liable to leak unless you lay the tank on its side when not in use... which is not advisable. The plug is just that--- a small plug for air that a 5 year old can pull out and push in as needed; IT'S NOT A VALVE AND IT ISN'T INTENDED TO WITHSTAND THE WATER PRESSURE OF THE TANK BEING LAID ON ITS SIDE. So stop trying to make it do something it wasn't designed for! When transporting the tank, keep the valve and the plug upright! PROBLEM SOLVED"It smells inside." Yeah, it smells like plastic inside... when you first get it, because I guess it's factory fresh. I let mine sit on the shelf for a couple of weeks fully open so it could "off-gas" --- no smell, and no taste. PROBLEM SOLVED"The plastic is thin." or "The plastic is thinner than it is on the bigger sizes". This was the criticism that had me the most concerned when I ordered it --- I pictured super thin, like milk jug thin and bulging. Not the case at all. First, it's more than sufficiently thick for 2.5 gallons, and maybe only just a LITTLE thinner than its bigger brother. Second --- and more to the point --- OF COURSE it's not going to be as thick as the larger models --- that would be overkill. A 7 gallon tank has to carry 58 pounds, while the 2.5 just 21 pounds! PLASTIC IS PLENTY THICKIn summary, this is a good value and I highly recommend it.

OK... I've had a string of poorly-made gas and water containers... weeping at the seams, cheap caps (bordering on criminal... I mean REALLY! How hard is it to do?)I was very surprised at this water container!A few impressive things:1) The cap is beefy with a nice o-ring on the seating surface. It tightens down by hand snugly and has lots of threads, so I didn't feel like I was going to strip the threads.2) The spout is a simple affair, but is of the same sturdy material as the cap and it screws on to the inside of the cap for storage (so the cap is flush as pictured, for storage). You would think that this would be a simple idea, but I've got 2 CARB gas tanks in my garage that actually pump gas out of the tank if you try and store them pointing inside the tank!3) The tops and bottoms are molded so that other Aqua Paks of the same size can lock in. They stack on top of each other nicely. I'm planning to stack them 2 deep and 2 high.4) The material is BPA free (big, round stickers advertising this)5) The material is a nice blue color that makes it very easy to see the water level inside.6) The tops were mounted so that, if you store them with the cap facing up, the caps aren't underwater (less chance for leaking)7) The material is thick and doesn't deform or bloat out at the middle when standing on its own. I stacked them 3 high when full (that's 40 lbs of water PER CONTAINER) and I saw a bit of bowing out in the middle of the lowest one. I'm not sure if I'd want that much stress on the lower container if I were storing it in a carpeted closet. The tower of 3 containers was also a bit tippy when standing on it's own (no support on any side) as the material does have some flex in it with that amount of weight stacked up. I'm not concerned at all about stacking 'em 2 high, but I don't think I'd go any higher.OK. So I bought these primarily for Earthquake / Disaster preparedness (keeping a 36 hour minimum supply of food/water on hand for the household - estimate 1 gal per person per day).Here's how I got 'em ready:1) Fill 1/3 full with hot water and some Dawn dishwashing liquid2) Rotate the valve to the outside (dispensing position) and seal it up. Shake like mad for 10 seconds. Watch the sides bow out as the air in the tank expands. Look quickly for leaks (I found none in my 4) and vent with the valve, running the soapy water out through the spout. Let sit, vented, for 5 minutes. Shake out as much soapy water as you can3) Add 1/4 tank of warm water, shake, vent and drain through the valve. Remove cap and shake out as much water as you can4) Repeat step 3 an additional 3 times.Now the next step depends on where you live. I live in the suburbs in the USA and get my water from a municipal supply (City water pipes). It is already treated with chlorine and all sorts of other things that will make the water safe for 6 months storage with no problems at all, so I simply filled the tanks as high as I could, capped 'em off and put 'em in a cool dark location that wouldn't freeze. If you have well water or have a municipal source that isn't so good, you might want to think about water treatment tablets for storage or using bleach (I think it is 8 drops of un-scented, plain chlorine bleach per gallon for long-term storage of 6 months, but please research that on your own).Don't forget to rotate! Water won't stay safe like this forever. My plan is to dump the water, rinse and refill every 6 months or so. I use the daylight savings time change for other things in our home (ex: New batteries go in to the smoke alarms every spring with the time change), so I'll probably pour the water out on to the flowers with every time change... at least get some use out of the water!My only suggestion for improvement is in the cap. When you put the tap into storage mode (stored facing inside the tank) and you put the cap on the can (again, in storage mode) you can see right down into the pipe leading to the valve. This is a surface that will be touching the water when you set the cap/faucet up for use. If you are storing these long-term in a dusty environment (your garage, for example) this surface is going to collect dust and dirt and it may contaminate your water. I took a piece of painters tape (1.4" wide) and covered this hole to keep out debris. The containers ship with a large sticker over the hole, so someone thought of this, but the sticker is useless after you install the tap the first time for cleaning. I wrote the refill date on the tape w/ a sharpie and stacked 'em up, feeling better that this aspect of our emergency kit was taken care of.