So I ran into the same problem. The shipping on these things is crazy. Im in Long Island... What I did was pack up the family and make a day out of driving up around the West Point area... Went to tractor supply warehouse and got my barrels. They have every size imaginable. And if they dont have your size in stock, they can order it. Being that you're in the Westchester area, its a much shorter ride. There are several up that way.
Sorry for the simple question but how do you get water out of those tanks? I see your RODI input line, do you just take those black circles on the top off? Looking to upgrade my water storage container also and I like those. Thanks