Water · Gear Review
Best 55-Gallon Water Barrel. What actually matters before you buy one.
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
The top pick, and what matters more than brand.
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
Augason Farms 55-Gallon Water Storage Barrel
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
Bushman 55-Gallon Stackable Drum
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
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Before you buy
Four things to know before the barrel arrives.
It weighs 460 pounds when full. Choose the spot first.
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.
Do not place it directly on concrete.
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.
You need a pump and a bung wrench. Budget for both.
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.
New barrels only. Never use a reconditioned barrel for drinking water.
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
What separates good barrels from bad ones.
Food-grade HDPE, new
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 vs. open-top
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.
Wall thickness and construction
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
Three barrels, each right for a different situation.
Best overall — kit with accessories included
Augason Farms 55-Gallon Water Storage Barrel
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
HOANK 55-Gallon Water Storage Barrel
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
Bushman 55-Gallon Stackable Tight Head Drum
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
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What not to buy
Three things to skip and why.
Reconditioned or used barrels
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.
Barrels without bung wrench access
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.
Barrels without a pump or siphon
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
From delivery to full and ready.
Step 1
Place on pallet or mat
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
Sanitize before filling
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 and treat
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
Label and log
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
A barrel is one part of a complete water system.
Water Preserver Concentrate
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 →
Best Water Storage Containers
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 →
Water Domain Hub
Storage is one layer. The water hub covers treatment, collection, conservation, and resupply — the complete picture.
Explore water →