Water purification method?

[Home Maker]

I am trying to prepare for the possibility of being without water for an extended period of time. After Hurricane Ivan, we were without power and, therefore, water for 80 hours. At that time we were on well water (electric pump), but we are now on county water, which is more reliable. Nevertheless, if we have some sort of major disaster, I'd like to be able to have a safe source of drinking water. We live on a lake, and I am interested in finding a system or method for purifying this water without using heat. Could someone share information about the methods available?

 

[Wifezilla]

Wow, I wish I would have saved my notes from high school science. We did a unit on water purification.

Our group did a multi-phase filtering method. One thing used was activated charcoal. I don't remember the rest.

 

[miss_thenorth]

There's reverse osmosis, but I would think you'd need electricity for that. I think survivorman used some type of tablet, and then there's always chlorine

 

[Home Maker]

I had wondered if just plain chlorine would work. We have an in-line reverse osmosis filter under the sink, but we couldn't get lake water into it very easily. Thanks for the ideas so far.

 

[patandchickens]

If you have electricity (like from a generator), a UV purification unit plus sediment filter will do it for you.

If you don't have electricity, look into backpacker type systems. There are various types and I don't know enough to speak to the pros and cons. Iodine is not considered a good idea for more than very, very occasional use; drinking extremely heavily chlorinated water (raw water needs a LOT more chlorination than tapwater gets, esp. if it is silty) may be better than dying of cholera but is still not such a good thing for you, especially done over some protracted period.

What is wrong with filtering and then old-fashioned boiling, though? Heat can come from a wood fire or etc.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

How about the tablets used by backpackers, or the hand-pumped filtration systems used by the same? They are VERY slow, but it's quite probable that they're making them better than when I last used one about 14 years ago.

The only problem with boiling is that, while it kills some things, it further condenses others (like nitrates, for example). I guess you'd want to know exactly what you're trying to get rid of. Without a current water sample (as in the moment of disaster), it might be hard to know...

 

[Home Maker]

Thanks for the answers, y'all. I am looking at these:

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/be...lter_british_berkefeld_portable_purifier.aspx

 

[MorelCabin]

If you are on a deep enough lake, the water is pure as long as it is aquired from 15 ft below the surface. Any hand pump set up on shore with a hose attached to reach a 15 ft depth should suffice

 

[Mackay]

I keep three things around that will purify water.

The most common is chlorine bleach, and you want
regular clorox for this. We used it to purify our water when
we traveled in Mexico for several months with a camper.
The camper held about 20 gallons and I don't remember exactly how
much we put in but it was a teaspoon or less.

Chlorine will pass off it you pour it into a picture and let it sit for a
few hours. We ran ours through a carbon filter under the sink.

Iodine will purify water and you have to have the real stuff
called lugols found in stores that sell aquarium products. They use
it all the time in fish tanks.

And then Sodium Chlorite will do it and I have it in a product called MMS.
A couple of drops to a quart of water does it. Many municiple water companies use this to purify water and what my kids use when they go back packing...there is a lot of garidia in the streams around here and this product works well.

I'd have to look up the doses on all of these, since I don't use these products
for these purposes...I got it written down somewhere

carbon filters are not safe to purify water. Clorox it first. Then run it through the filter. You don't need the filter with iodine or sodium chlorite.

 

[Home Maker]

Thanks for the additional info. The lake is about 18 feet deep at the deepest, DH thinks.

I will look into the sodium chlorite also.