Emergency water purification for family

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Emergency water purification for family - alternates to lifestraw

timmmay

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#225960 13-Dec-2017 09:37

I was looking in out emergency water tank the other day, the council ones, which I refill each year. The lid isn't that tight, and you get bits and pieces falling in. When I find some reasonably priced I'll get a 200L barrel with a screw lid as well.

I have purification tablets and some ability to boil the water with gas, but they'll only last so long. I wondered if a purification system would work.

The LifeStraw Family 2 looks good, but it's $180. v1 is US$60 at Amazon, which isn't bad.

Does anyone know any good cheaper reliable alternatives to the Lifestraw family?

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#1917884 13-Dec-2017 10:04

The water you are filling with is treated already, so you should simply be able to use purifying tablets if you are really worried

you can Treat 50 litres for $10 bucks

http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/Aquatabs-Water-Purification-1L-Tablets-50.html

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timmmay

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#1917889 13-Dec-2017 10:18

I already have Aquatabs, and yes the water is treated. I think you're still meant to boil it if it's been sitting for a year.

I mostly want to filter out the random things floating in it, and to reduce the need to boil it.

wellygary

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#1918883 13-Dec-2017 10:36

timmmay:

I already have Aquatabs, and yes the water is treated. I think you're still meant to boil it if it's been sitting for a year.

I mostly want to filter out the random things floating in it, and to reduce the need to boil it.

I would use a carbon filter jug, that will get pretty much all of the floatees,

timmmay

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#1918916 13-Dec-2017 10:49

I have one of those. Good option for filtering stored tap water.

Still interested about alternates to lifestraw, for things like filtering water collected from guttering. The gutters are disgusting, bird poo on the roof, etc. Water treatment tablets of course, but I think filtering would make my wife more likely to drink it.

davidcole

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#1918956 13-Dec-2017 11:08

timmmay:

I have one of those. Good option for filtering stored tap water.

Still interested about alternates to lifestraw, for things like filtering water collected from guttering. The gutters are disgusting, bird poo on the roof, etc. Water treatment tablets of course, but I think filtering would make my wife more likely to drink it.

For stormwater from gutters, wouldn't you need a first divert filter ( to get rid of any crap since the last rain poor - why yes I have just been on the marley site), but to drink it, you'd probably want a uv filter (puretec do one with a sediment and carbon filter - the wh30 or 60 - but there's another other that has a uv filter as well, for when you're off town water).

Poss a little excessive for emergency watering.

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wellygary

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#1918960 13-Dec-2017 11:15

timmmay:

I have one of those. Good option for filtering stored tap water.

Still interested about alternates to lifestraw, for things like filtering water collected from guttering. The gutters are disgusting, bird poo on the roof, etc. Water treatment tablets of course, but I think filtering would make my wife more likely to drink it.

I think you are overthinking this,

You are on a treated town supply, simply refill your containers every 6 months, when you change them over use it to water the gardens

Worrying about having to treat gutter water is really not a problem you need to solve, unless you are looking at building a long term off roof supply.....- but buying a bigger tank for tap water will always be a cheaper and easier option....

timmmay

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#1918980 13-Dec-2017 12:18

Really just disaster preparedness. 200L of water won't last all that long, and in a major disaster it may take some time to reestablish water. Chances of needing it, low, but value if needed is high, so no harm in thinking about it and preparing.

The WCC tank has a part that attaches to the downpipe, which I can attach using battery operated power tools if the treated city water runs out. That water would definitely need to be treated to remove debris and kill bacteria / viruses. Might use water treatment tablets, but filtration would be nice to have too.

Might just buy the LifeStraw family v1 from Amazon.

trig42

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#1918983 13-Dec-2017 12:22

What about a tiny amount of bleach? I'm not sure of amounts, but pretty sure a tiny amount into water will kill most things that could harm you, and it will be potable.

I'm on tank water, collected off the roof. No treatment at all. Never got sick yet (40 years+). Understand you'd want to if your gutters are under trees, or you are in a city with smog etc.

timmmay

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#1918987 13-Dec-2017 12:28

We're near a motorway, and the gutter I'd use is under a tree that has plenty of birds on it. Roof has a fair bit of bird poo and the guttering is filthy - yesterday I removed some of the things growing in the guttering. I wouldn't be keen to drink from that unless it'd been filtered and treated. We have a small child as well, he won't have much of an immune system yet.

Bleach is an option, but you have to use plain bleach not janola as janola has things in it you don't want to drink. Countdown doesn't sell any suitable, as far as I can tell, so I have to go to another supermarket one day. That should kill the bugs, but I figure why not filter out as much as I can using Lifestraw or similar before we treat it?

MikeAqua

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#1919009 13-Dec-2017 12:48

I'm not familiar with the council provided tanks, but I would look improve or protect the lid seal in some way.

You can buy bottles of treatment chemicals for roof-tanks. That's what I would use. Treat the whole tank and you should be good for the few days your are on your own.

Mike

Jase2985

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#1919038 13-Dec-2017 13:37

you would want to install some sort of gutter guard to stop debris getting into the guttering in the first place, then a first flush diverter on the downpipe to remove any dust etc on the roof when it rains, then filter the output of the tank. by that stage there should be no big debris in there.

then you would just want to filter out the microorganisms and cysts etc so your lifestraw will work fine after that and not require to much work.

Sam91

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#1919058 13-Dec-2017 14:33

Here's a video for anyone wanting to see a Lifestraw in use, I recommend watching 8:43 onwards

timmmay

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#1919062 13-Dec-2017 14:36

Jase2985:

you would want to install some sort of gutter guard to stop debris getting into the guttering in the first place, then a first flush diverter on the downpipe to remove any dust etc on the roof when it rains, then filter the output of the tank. by that stage there should be no big debris in there.

then you would just want to filter out the microorganisms and cysts etc so your lifestraw will work fine after that and not require to much work.

Have a gutter guard, but it's not very effective. If we got into a disaster scenario I'd have to get up there and give it a clean as much as I could without water, then to use it I'd need basic filtering then getting rid of bugs etc.

MikeAqua

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#1919107 13-Dec-2017 15:09

If you want to get rid of bugs i.e especially viruses microbes you need more than basic filtering. Chemical sterilisation or boiling are the best options.

Mike

timmmay

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#1919139 13-Dec-2017 15:53

MikeAqua:

If you want to get rid of bugs i.e especially viruses microbes you need more than basic filtering. Chemical sterilisation or boiling are the best options.

Hence the lifestraw type device, which claims to filter out almost everything bad. I'd then treat with water treatment tablets to be doubly sure, but I'd rather remove them rather than just kill them before I drink them.

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