Emergency water purification for family

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

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davidcole

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Reply # 1919140 13-Dec-2017 15:54

timmmay:

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.

So about the only method that does it properly is uv treatment

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Reply # 1919160 13-Dec-2017 16:13

We live on a farm in the country and our drinking water comes from a pure spring. I think it must be the best water in New Zealand. We also have a rooftop system for hot water because of the high mineral content. We have big buffer tanks and a stream down below. For these reasons I have put aside only a small supply in the emergency kit, just enough for coffee and tea to get over the initial shock of whatever has made that necessary.

A major earthquake could rearrange the long feed line from the spring and tip over the tanks. Our final fallback is the stream. The very one the sheep and cows on the hills have been crapping into for decades. The one now devoid of aquatic life. The one filled with chemicals from runoff fertilisers and pesticides and god knows what else. The one that no amount of boiling, purification, iodine and bleach can ever make clean again. The one we would only drink from as the very lastest of last resorts, and then only after subjecting it to every form of cleansing imaginable, bar one: We do not have a condensation system. Maybe we should.

Compared to that stream, drinking out of the gutter supplying the hot water tank would seem relatively pristine. At least bird crap can be neutralised with purification tablets. At least, I think it can.

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fishandchips

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Reply # 1919582 14-Dec-2017 14:32

Bleach is all you need to make it safe to drink. I bleach my water tanks every 3 months or so, feed is off our roof. We run two particle filters before it reaches the house as well, for leaves and what not.

In an emergency, bleach and a filter cloth (for particulates) will be all you need. As an idea of how much bleach check out this website, http://www.hurunui.govt.nz/assets/DrinkWaterFAQDisinfectingStorageTanks.pdf or here is a screen grab of the PDF.

Last time I bleached the tanks I used Chlorax (spelling), Budget Bleach works as well.

timmmay

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Reply # 1919643 14-Dec-2017 15:56

Thanks everyone for trying to help. Appreciate the thoughts, I know all this already, but like the Irish say "to be sure to be sure".

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MikeB4

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Reply # 1919646 14-Dec-2017 16:05

My sons were in the Army and they used purification tablets, they say they worked great and they never got sick even with pretty dodgy looking water. They did say however it tasted like poop ( I cleaned their actual words) but they would add some flavouring to the water. We have the tabs in our emergency kit and two 200L tanks.

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timmmay

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Reply # 1919654 14-Dec-2017 16:19

Filtration is to appease wife.

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MikeB4

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Reply # 1919669 14-Dec-2017 16:51

timmmay: Filtration is to appease wife.

I can absolutely agree with her, purification tablets do not remove chunks (god that sounds horrible) which can cause chunks.

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kiwipawl

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Reply # 1920304 15-Dec-2017 17:27

One person supports this post

Rikkitic:

We live on a farm in the country and our drinking water comes from a pure spring. I think it must be the best water in New Zealand. We also have a rooftop system for hot water because of the high mineral content. We have big buffer tanks and a stream down below. For these reasons I have put aside only a small supply in the emergency kit, just enough for coffee and tea to get over the initial shock of whatever has made that necessary.

A major earthquake could rearrange the long feed line from the spring and tip over the tanks. Our final fallback is the stream. The very one the sheep and cows on the hills have been crapping into for decades. The one now devoid of aquatic life. The one filled with chemicals from runoff fertilisers and pesticides and god knows what else. The one that no amount of boiling, purification, iodine and bleach can ever make clean again. The one we would only drink from as the very lastest of last resorts, and then only after subjecting it to every form of cleansing imaginable, bar one: We do not have a condensation system. Maybe we should.

Compared to that stream, drinking out of the gutter supplying the hot water tank would seem relatively pristine. At least bird crap can be neutralised with purification tablets. At least, I think it can.

https://www.seychelle.com/pump-2-pure

check these out.

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