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Water is essential to life. We can go several days without food, but
must have water to survive. Every family should have a store of water for
drinking, even if they don't have the room for utility water.
You should also have at least one means to treat water for drinking.
There are several ways to treat water, but none is perfect. It is sometimes best
to use two methods. Boiling is the safest treatment; none of these (except
distillation) will remove sediment or chemicals. You should try to filter the
water after treatment (I have used coffee filters and they work well, but paper
towels would do in a pinch).
Boiling: bring the water to a rolling boil and boil for 3-5
minutes. Cool. If you pour it back & forth between two containers, you can
incorporate oxygen back into the water and improve it's taste. (This also helps
stored water).
Disinfection with Bleach: use regular household bleach
(unscented with no added cleaners) that contains 5.25 percent sodium
hypochlorite. Add 16 drops per gallon of water (that's 48 drops for a 3-gallon
container) and let stand for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine
smell. If it doesn't, repeat and let stand 15 minutes.
Disinfection with Iodine: not recommended by the Red Cross, but
better than nothing. Use 3 drops of tincture of iodine to each quart of water,
and stir thoroughly.
Distillation: this involves boiling water and collecting the
steam, which will be pure and without salt or chemicals. We have an electric
distiller, but it won't work when the power is off, and pulls too much power to
use with the generator. You can get the same results with a pot of boiling
water and a cup, but the yield will be pretty small. Fill a large pot halfway
with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot's lid, hang the lid upside down
on the pot with the cup hanging upright in the pot. Be sure the cup is not in
the water. Boil for 20 minutes; the water collected from the pot's lid will be
pure water.
Water Treatment Tablets: available at sporting goods stores or
military supply stores, these are inexpensive. They release chlorine to
disinfect the water. If they don't come with instructions, use 1 tablet per
quart of water.
Portable Water Filters: Portable water filters sold for camping
provide another relatively inexpensive means of disinfecting water. They do not
require a heat source like boiling water does; they do not introduce chemicals
into the water; and they can be taken along wherever you go. Also, ceramic
filters also have a very long working life. Be sure to check their abilities
before purchase.
 ION:
this is a product that has none of the side effects of iodine or bleach, and one
$19 bottle will treat 110 gallons of water. It is a stabilized oxygen that
kills all bacteria within a few minutes. It's also handy to take with you when
traveling to an area with questionable water. The only place I've seen it for
sale is here at
PeggyLayton.net.
Fill your sanitized water containers to
the top with the sanitized water. Close the lid without touching the inside of
the lid). Be sure to date the bottle and store in a cool place away from light.
WARNINGS AND ADVICE:
-
While boiling water removes bacteria and
micro-organisms, it cannot remove toxic metals and nonvolatile chemicals (as
in roof run-off)
-
- People with thyroid problems should not drink iodine
treated water because of possible effects on their thyroid condition, nor
should it be used by pregnant or nursing women. Also, iodine may not be
effective against organisms such as Giardia or Cryptosporidium, and should
thus not be used for disinfecting water from surface water sources (lakes,
rivers or springs).
-
It is important to distinguish between
water treatment that makes water quality acceptable for short-term use in an
emergency, and water purification that makes water suitable for long-term
use.
-
Remove as much debris as possible before
treating water, by filtering through a cloth, sieve, sediment filter, or
even a coffee filter.
-
We are not claiming to be experts on the
treatment of water. The information given here has been gathered over the
years and is offered only as a suggestion.
---- Remember, in many emergencies, your computer will be inaccessible, so a hard copy of any Paradise Organized chapters you find especially helpful is
a good thing to have on hand! ----
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Water Treatment Options
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