The most important thing.

For storage it seems that the way to go is with 55 gallon drums, but that just isn't practical for me right now. What I HAVE begun to do is stock up on bottled water and store tap water in empty 2-liter bottles. It seems like a cheap way to store water. How long should this water last before going bad in 2-liter bottles?

For killing bacteria what are the best ways to do it? I know bleach, boiling, iodine, filtering, and other methods work but I really would like a good lesson in this before I feel confident in drinking river water.

I know bleach isn't an option on the go and sometimes boiling isn't either. I plan on buying a portable water filter and some type of water purification tablets to use in combination though I don't know which ones are the best.

For in home use I have a gallon of regular unscented bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and also a PUR water filter for any type of sediment. I'm not sure exactly how many drops per gallon to use though. I also know that bleach won't kill all microorganisms.

I just wanted to start a discussion on purifying water, because I would like to learn about it.