Water purification

[tesla]

As anybody got advice on water purification techniques & products.?

Yes I googled. LoL

I cba to sift through the BS sites. I want direct knowledgeable info, to help me prepare for any future shortage..

I reckon there must be a few people @ this site that could help me.

I've got up to £70 spare for such contraption..

Your help is grateful guys

[jonas parker]

Sometimes the answer is as simple as "free". Check this site out:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/24/lowtech_solar_water_purification_it_works.htm

and this site:
http://www.sodis.ch/

Tincture of iodine and unscented chlorine laundry bleach also work, as does boiling.

Save your money on this one and go "low-tech", then add £70 to your food preps instead!

[cruise4]

Bleach, MMS, silver, berkey's... all have their time and place.

[the norseman]

Tesla,

If I were you, I would save that money and put it towards a Berkey water filter. There is a tremendous amount on the web regarding these filters and I have owned one for a number of years and they are excellent.

Water is very important, it is estimated that a minimum daily requirement for an adult is 5 litres of conditioned water, this is for cooking, drinking, and sanitation. In order to easily condition that amount of water and in order to cater for a long term scenerio, gravity filtration is the best and least intensive method.

Boiling water is fuel intensive. Fuel may not be available and / or may not be usuable - you may not want to highlight your position / prep status. The water may need to be filtered first to remove sediment / algae.

Chemical water treatments such as bleach, idodine and chlorine do not last nearly as long as a filter would. Litre for litre they will be infinately more expensive to buy based on a long term need for your own method.

Unscented additive free household bleach is not too stable and does not store well long term.

Iodine tablets treat water but can have negative affects long term and the water tastes rank so you will need to add vitamin C powder or something along those lines to make the water palatable.

If your preps are based on family preparation / multiple person then you will have a difficult time long term conditioning the amount of water that you will need using boiling or a chemical method.

A portable stand alone system is honestly the best bet.

I would make sure that you have redundancy built into your water preps, as they are vital:

1) A first class, stand alone, ceramic water filter, like the Berkey.
2) Chemical tablets such as chlorine or iodine.
3) House hold unscented, additive free bleach.
4) A method to boil water should you be seperated from the above.

Personally I have:

1) A big Berkey - 4 x ceramic filters.
2) A Katadyn Pocket filter for when on the move.
3) Chlorine purification tablets and a coffee filter to remove sediment.
4) A means of boiling water.
5) Household bleach should all the above fail and this would be my last resort.


The Norseman.

[margaretr]

A system that needs an electricity supply to work will be useless when the s**t hits the fan.
Water from natural sources may well be the only source
I have a stockpile of Miracle Mineral Supplement.
It has anti viral medicinal uses too.
Just google it, and watch the video about Jim Humble on The Concious Media Network

[void]

I've always kept a small bottle liquid Iodine to hand when trekking in himalayas and in rainforests and that sort of thing. Most people here I'm sure now that water can carry Amoebas from wildlife contamination further up stream, and if you are not in a situation where you can boil water easily (which is always my first choice,with planning ahead for needl), then this is a great little thing to carry about with a small dropper attached to the bottle with an elastic band. Indeed the treated water can taste like you're drinking fuel, but in tough situations this will be the last of your concerns to be honest. You can add different things to help neutralise some of the taste.

It is 'said' that doing this long term (as in day in day out) is a risk to thyroid. Probably. I used this method a lot in South America over months, but admittedly it wasn't every day so it's difficult to say how much of an issue this is. I tend to see the Iodine as a backup anyway. Not continous use.

When I first set out travelling, I'd go the whole hog and also filter the water with one of those filtering bags, because if there is organic matter in the water you're treating then this can affect the effectiveness of the purification. But to be honest, water that full of bits is fairly rare and it's best not to go for stagnant pools of water anyway. Time is the problem with this bag filtering. It takes ages,and then the time it takes for the Iodine purification on top. I've not used the special hand held filter pumps that are popular. I've met people with them on the road, and they seem to sweat more liquid just pumping the bloody thing just to get a small amount of water.

Another issue with them is that the filters do need replacing 'eventually', as the effectivness of them does diminish with time, and these tend to be available from the makers of the device itself. Back to basics, I guess. The Iodine is my convenietn backup in cases where I can't boil water vigorously.

Plus it doubles as a medical item for infections and that sort of thing.

The very basic "Puritabs" things in chemist are pretty useless in terms of killing of parasites that cause Amoebic dysentry, so it's a bit of a gamble to use those. The 'solar' based water purification that Jonas linked to is fine if you're in a very hot country in the first place. Not ideal for Northern Europe.

[measle_weasel]

As anybody got advice on water purification techniques & products.?

Yes I googled. LoL

I cba to sift through the BS sites. I want direct knowledgeable info, to help me prepare for any future shortage..

I reckon there must be a few people @ this site that could help me.

I've got up to £70 spare for such contraption..

Your help is grateful guys

A great way to purify water is to take household bleach that uses 5% sodium hypochlorite, and dilute the bleach into water in a ratio of 1 unit bleach, to 10,000 units water. Doing so will give you a chlorine PPM of 5, which is safe to drink, and very deadly to the overwhelming majority of micro-organisms.

Some viruses and parasites can be somewhat resistant to chlorine, so if you are not just about to die from dehydration, you should let your water with the bleach sit inside a sealed, opaque container (to prevent burn off from the sun) for at least a couple minutes before drinking the water.

You could actually probably get away with diluting your 1 unit bleach into 50,000 units water, but chlorine at 1 PPM can take a very long time to kill certain things that could give you the runs for a week or two, which could be deadly in a survival situation.

[mystic nomad]

After taking out the solids with wire mesh and coffee filter paper, I use a small amount of Milton's sterilising fluid then boil it.

Here's a couple of good ideas-

http://www.kellykettle.com/homepage

http://www.watercone.com/product.html

I'm on a 12volt system and have found some 12v antibacterial UV tubes made by GEC. I shall search out the link.

[jimmi]

This thread should be a sticky in my opinion, safe drinking water is the first and most necessary of our needs, the beginning and end for our lives.

I've come to this section because there was another thread about water on here but that was a while ago and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it now.

I am specifically looking for a diagram and explanation of using the big , garden type water butts, I can't remember exactly but you fill to a certain depth with stones then sand along with other stuff which then produces enough to supply a small family.

If I find it I'll try to link back here.

[jimmi]

This is close to what I was looking for

http://www.cawst.org/index.php?id=128#BSF

[danster82]

people are actually recommend using chlorine to purify? Chlorine is what I want removed. Its a deadly chemical.

I was thinking would this work

http://www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-18549-waterlife-haloex-dechlorinator-treatment-1350-ltr-60ml.aspx

[xpleet]

people are actually recommend using chlorine to purify? Chlorine is what I want removed. Its a deadly chemical.

I was thinking would this work

http://www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-18549-waterlife-haloex-dechlorinator-treatment-1350-ltr-60ml.aspx

You might want to consider chlorine dioxide, which is not chlorine by the way. It's like comparing carbon dioxide with carbon monoxide.

Chlorine dioxide, is basically also the cure for AIDS, cancer etc. every pathogenic disease. It was developed for that purpose by Jim Humble, in a solution of 28% sodium chlorite, then added citric acid to release CLO² and it's called Miracle Mineral Supplement.

It has shown not only to remove bacteria and viruses from our system, but also mercury, all in the simple process of chemical oxidization. However, MMS is not strong enough to damage blood cells.

Hence, MMS also has the ability to purifie water.


But fluoride, so I heard is only really removable by reverse osmosis or steam distilation.

[bluegrazz]

There is a whole lot of really good info here- REALLY GOOD.

Listen to what these people have said regarding purification and avoid the "Water Filter" Gimmick.

[ownoiz]

The Solar Water Purifier uses direct sunlight to convert any source of contaminated water – seawater, bore water, effluent, wine – into drinkable water. It uses no filters, no electronics, has no moving parts, rarely needs cleaning, and gives a greater yield than existing solar purifiers.


http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1794038.htm (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1794038.htm)

http://www.sunsurewater.com/ (http://www.sunsurewater.com/)
.

[measle_weasel]

people are actually recommend using chlorine to purify? Chlorine is what I want removed. Its a deadly chemical.

I was thinking would this work

http://www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-18549-waterlife-haloex-dechlorinator-treatment-1350-ltr-60ml.aspx

Chlorine is one of the best ways to purify highly suspect water in the field.

Though to remove chemicals from sources like the tap, a reverse osmosis filter is quite handy. www.freedrinkingwater.com has some nice options for around $330. Though atmospheric water generation run through filters then mineralized, is about as good as you can possibly get. Things like the Ecoloblue which do this, will cost you $1350 though.

[danster82]

Chlorine is one of the best ways to purify highly suspect water in the field.

Though to remove chemicals from sources like the tap, a reverse osmosis filter is quite handy. www.freedrinkingwater.com has some nice options for around $330. Though atmospheric water generation run through filters then mineralized, is about as good as you can possibly get. Things like the Ecoloblue which do this, will cost you $1350 though.

Chlorine may be the best way to purify bacteria and algae but chlorine itself is a chemical poison, which is why its used in bio weapons, or in gas form in the world wars. Now purifying water with chlorine would be ok as a temporary thing but to constantly be taking a small dose of chlorine is the cause of cancer and all sorts of problems.

[suicidal_martyr]

Chlorine may be the best way to purify bacteria and algae but chlorine itself is a chemical poison, which is why its used in bio weapons, or in gas form in the world wars. Now purifying water with chlorine would be ok as a temporary thing but to constantly be taking a small dose of chlorine is the cause of cancer and all sorts of problems.

Yup, corrosive as well.

[margaretr]

I have a stockpile of Miracle mineral solution ready for when the SHTF, but I have recently become aware that there are such things as
'Water Ozonators'
- has anyone here used one, and ? effectiveness?

[wakeup2nwo]

I have a stockpile of Miracle mineral solution ready for when the SHTF, but I have recently become aware that there are such things as
'Water Ozonators'
- has anyone here used one, and ? effectiveness?

Ive been thinking of getting one of these...

http://www.stoptherobbery.com/Ozone.html

[margaretr]

Ive been thinking of getting one of these...

http://www.stoptherobbery.com/Ozone.html

Thank you for that link - I have ordered one - that one is the most reasonably priced one I have seen