Safe or Sorry: Sterilizing Your Water Supply
Jun 13th, 2011 | By Samara | Category: Food, Water | Print This Article
Your water storage has run out, you have found another source of water, but it is not safe to drink. What is a prepper to do? Why, sterilize it of course! With a little effort, you can come to the rescue and turn that questionable water into a thirst-quenching and life-giving resource.
Sterilization Techniques
There are several ways to sterilize your water. Which one will work for the situation largely depends on what you have to work with – both in the original water as well as the tools available. Learning all of these methods ahead of time (and having the tools for execution available) can help you avoid mistakes when doing it right is critical.
Boiling
Boiling water is probably the most commonly known method for cleaning up dirty water. And it has a lot of benefits. All you need is a pan and lots of heat and you can kill many of the common waterborne bacteria and get that much closer to safe drinking water.
To be effective, the water must actually be boiling – in other words, a rolling boil with lots of big bubbles breaking the surface of the water very rapidly. Allow this to continue for several minutes.
If boiling is your only option, it is certainly better than nothing. However, boiling does not remove all the possible contaminants from water, and does nothing about sediment or solid particles in the water.
Distillation
Distilling water takes a bit more set up, but is worth it in terms of cleaner water that is sediment free.
In order to distill water, you will need a pan for boiling, a collection tray (and way to suspend it) for the steam, and another pan, pitcher, or other receptacle for the treated water.
While you can certainly buy fancy equipment for your water distillation, you can also create your own system from things you can find at home. For example, using wire, attach a large piece of tin foil to two pans. The foil should be raised above the pans, and sloping downward from the one over the heat source, to the one for collection. Put your water into the pan over the heat source. As the water boils, stem will rise, condense on the tin foil, and then run down into the second pan for collection.
Distillation is not a perfect solution either however, as some contaminants will still get through.
Chlorine
When it comes to killing bacteria, treating your water with chlorine bleach is probably your best option. Use 8 drops of bleach per gallon of water, stir, and then allow the water to sit (covered) with the chlorine for at least one hour.
This method may leave a slight taste, but if you are at all used to drinking water from your city tap it will probably be about the same.
Of course, the downside to this treatment option is that you have to have chlorine. Though like any liquid it is somewhat heavy, carrying a gallon of bleach in your trunk is probably a worthwhile use of space. You can even fill a small flask or bottle of any kind to keep in your purse or grab-and-go backpack. Always make sure any container is tightly closed though, as you don’t want to bleach your clothing, the fabric in your car, or anything else unintentionally.
Make sure that the chlorine bleach that you have for water treatment is the plain and unscented kind so that you don’t end up drinking unwanted chemicals.
Another possibility is to use iodine. You want to make sure to use actual iodine, and not any of a multitude of over-the-counter antiseptics or mixtures that contain iodine.
Like using chlorine bleach, simply add the iodine and wait for at least one hour to let it do its magic. You will need to use one tablet per quart of water.
Store bought filtration
Safe water is a big deal, and as a result it is also big business. There are a whole multitude of water filtration systems on the market that cleanse your water of a whole variety of things. They even have water filtration “straws” for backpackers and others who may need to filter water on the move.
When shopping for a water filtration system, make sure to do your research to find the right one.
- What exactly are you getting? Is this a system that will be installed with your plumbing, one that attaches externally, or something to take with you on the go?
- How much water can it filter? When will you need to replace the components of the filter and how much will that cost?
- What is being filtered out? Is this filter really only good for the relatively clean water coming from your faucet, or could you stick it into a muddy swamp and suck up clean water?
Powdered charcoal
If you are in the woods, something you are almost sure to have access to is fire. Not only can that fire provide warmth and cooking power, but the ashes can help purify your water.
Grind up clean ashes from the fire. In other words, ashes that are from untreated wood (no plastic or anything crazy like that either) that have just recently been burned and not sitting around for a long time. Place the ashes in a strainer (the smaller the holes the better), place the strainer atop a funnel, and pour the water through.
While this method alone will probably not be sufficient, it serves as a great backup to boiling, distilling, or bleaching your water. Once you have done one of those things first, the charcoal may get some of the contaminants in the water that the first method may have left behind.
Water is life
Never take for granted the easy access to clean water that most of us in the western world enjoy. In other parts of the world they regularly deal with dysentery, illness, and even death because of a lack of clean potable drinking water. Make sure you are not dependent on any on-grid systems to keep this life-giving substance flowing to you, and know how to make sure your family is getting the safest water possible no matter what the circumstances.
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When boiling water it is essential to avoid using an Aluminium pot or pan. Use virtually any other material besides Aluminium, otherwise, one will have to deal with Aluminium toxicity.
We used the chlorine bleach in all water in Vietnam to make it “potable”. I suspect they used probably a little more than needed, as we all had a slight sore throat from the water, the entire 14 months.
We were stationed in Saudi Arabia and used Chlorine Bleach in our water as well. We also have a light that you put in water which kills stuff. My husband has a small one he got when he went on a hiking trip in New Mexico (Philmont with the Boy Scouts) and we have a whole house system which we got after our spring was contaminated with E-coli.
As a licensed Wastewater pro, please remember, like the article reads……purification isn’t the same as sterilization!!! One only removes or reduces pathogens(disease causing organisms). The other removes virtually ALL(98-99%) of all contaminants (pathogens included!) Chlorine kills some BUT NOT ALL pathogens,Iodine does the same. But a sterilized turd is still a turd! Reverse osmosis is the state of the art nowadays, but it’s time,equipment and energy dependent. The info from Regneva above is excellent! Also the concerns about radiation are legit, but if you can secure a covered sorce of water to purify, you SHOULD be ok.
Here’s a link describing dry granular ‘Pool Shock’ which stores much longer than liquid bleach:
http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/better-than-bleach-use-calcium-hypochlorite-to-disinfect-water/
I ordered 1 and a replacement filter and it did not say out of stock, but when I went back to order another for my wife it said out of stock (just seconds after ordering my first one) so I am not sure if that order will be fullfilled? Anyway you can check on this and let me know your eta on the first order and an eta for being in stock again?
Sincerely,
David Langenberg
Also was looking for safe storage units ie 55 gal drums (plastic) if you don’t hav
e them any resource you can point me to for getting some? Or if any readers know of a source. Thanks in advance for all your help.
On another subject, what are your thoughts on a portable a/c unit? Thinking of taking one of my grid since we live in mainly one room of this house. Again any thoughts would be appreciated. You can send direct to my email at usahou@gmail.com
Sincerely,
David Langenberg
Hi David,
in our location, a buddy got a trailer load of blue food grade plastic barrels from the local
craft brewery. They get something like malt dextrose or such in the barrels to use in
brewing the local beers. I got 2 of the barrels from him and plan to use them for water
storage from my downspouts, technically illegal here in Colorado, but if I need the water,
I doubt the local ditch company will be making the rounds of my neighborhood looking
for water ‘diversions’ ….
Check out this web site, http://www.cozerowaste.com/ you will find food grade containers of many sizes for water storage or other needs. You can pick them up from their location in Longmont, CO. Hope this helps.
We have them at Shelf Reliance (foodstorageworkshop.shelfreliance.com), along with some great-tasting food!
Check out Emergency Essentials or Walton Feed. Both sell various sized plastic barrels for storing food/water.
Costco has blue food-grade 55 gallon drums for water storage. They also sell a water treatment to add to the 55 gallons of water called Aquamira.
Emergency Essintials has the water drums and treatments you are looking for
http://beprepared.com
Do not use ash to filter your water, ash is not charcoal. If you filter water through ASH, you will end up with an alkaline solution, rather akin to lye, this is what the pioneers used to make soap with (and rendered fat of course). So, the above directions are not entirely accurate – do not grind up clean ASHES, grind up the BLACK stuff, scrape it from the wood that was not completely burned.
Remember – BLACK is good, GREY is bad for water filtration.
Oak
I saw that and was going to point that out too. Hopefully they’ll correct the article and insert that correction. Otherwise a lot of folks are going to end up getting sick when they drink lye instead of filtered water.
Thank you, you caught it too! Hardwood ash can be made into lye and it can be lethal!!! For filtering purposes take the remaining charcoal (black) from a recent fire, rinse it, dry it and place it in a fine (200 thread count or better) linen and filter the water through it.
Another respondent mention a light. Yes, UV light of the proper wavelength and intensity will kill bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. You can also use sun light. Fill a clear jug or jar with the water and let the settlement to occur for one or two hours or till the water is clear. Use a tube or hose siphon to draw off the water from the middle of the jar to prevent collection of sediment or suspended debris into another clear jug or jar. The water has to be clear and free of cloudy debris. This water then can be left in the direct cloudless sunlight for eight to 12 hrs. The UV rays of the sun will kill viruses and bacteria.
Will cheese cloth work to wrap the charcoal in?
Use a thumbnail size bit if ash with water (more water better) if you are constipated out there in the world.
Use a pinkie nail sized bit of coke (black charcoal) with water if you have the runs [the more water the better].
I use Emergency Essentials at www.
BePrepared.com for all my supplies – been with them a long time -and have found them to be good to deal with. I also use others but find the above my favorite. There is also Campmore, Major Supply, etc.
Emergency Essentials are OK, other than the 2 mylar bags I purchased (with the box for storage) and the one bag leaked, big time!! The company was very cool, sending me another at no charge. Yes, I’ll deal with them, again.
Sawyer makes the best water filter. You can use the same filter for life, just wash it out from time to time.
Dale
Berkey is excellent. Wash the cylinders every 6 to 8 months, and the water is perfect. We have well water (with high iron content) and that Berkey makes the water so sweet & clear. I wish I had the money to purchase each of my kids a Berkey, being they each live in big cities with flouridated water (ewwww). The flouride filters are outrageous. I got the oldest kid the flouride shower filter, and it lasted for about 6 months.
Hi Vindi–Another question for you….you wash the Berkey filters every 6 to 8 months?? I haven’t even taken mine out of the box yet. Is that in the instructions? How do you “wash” them?? THANKS!
I would NEVER use chlorine but rather I use hydrogen peroxide to keep my stored water safe. http://www.dfwx.com is where I purchase H2O2.
HTH,
Gamma
Gamma, either the link changed or it is not the correct one. I tried to get the info you mentioned but the link goes to a wedding site???. I’m new to this info and have not heard of using Peroxide for water and am interested in that info. Can you please explain the method to use peroxide.
Sawyer makes the best filters and I have searched a lot!
Help! Is Chlorine bleach and Clorox bleach the same?
Sue
Basically y es. Whenever buying bleach, be sure to check the label and look to be sure that it is 6% sodium hypochlorite, NaClO. Bleach can range from 3 to 6%, and you want the strong stuff.
Even generic cheap bleach works fine…it’s the strength that is important.
I use Miracle Mineral Solution and Cholloidal Silver for water purification
Ok smurfy, you do that ! Just remember the blue is permanent.
For many years, missionaries have successfully used the Bis Berka (spelling?) that has ceramic cartridges. They are superior.
Also, you can boil water using solar techniques. There is a device with wax inside a holder that will melt to indicate boiling temperature has been reached. Look into solar.
Also, you can distill human urine and get safe water. Saw this on survival TV.
Good luck.
The WAPI (from Solar Cookers International) is the “wax inside a holder” that melts at the temperature that indicates the water has been heated enough to kill “bugs”.
A solar cooker should be in everyone’s kitchen. Easy to make one, too.
The web address in comment #9 sends you to the Dallas Fortworth Wedding Exchange.
I would NEVER EVER USE CHLORINE in water. It is a petrochemical base. The other ideas are really helpful
Chlorine (Cl2) comes from the salt (NaCl) in salt water. It has nothing to do with petrochemical production.
Well my 2 cents; for a chlorine that has up to a 15 year shelf life get to the swimming pool section and get some of their product called SHOCK, either calcium hypochlorite or Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate . . . . 99%, and 1% inert ingredients, sometimes called dry clorine works as I understand it. from what I have read the later one above will treat a 55 gal barrel with just 1/4 teaspoon of product. A 5 lb box of the second one in a box with 5 1 pound packets cost only a bout 14$ the other day at Lowes . Certainly a low weight and low cost effective way to handle the situation. A couple of boxes divided between several store locations should see you through. Be sure to reseal in a tight air proof container after breaking the seal. Google for water treatment or one of the many synonymsfor it. “survival blog” may have some more info as one of my references came from them.
Drink up
RD
Wow! Not one mention of Sodium Chlorite? OTG-ers really need to start researching Master Mineral Solution. I no longer buy it online, I just make it myself and we’ve been using it for over 4 years now to sterilize water and detox the body. You can also use it (in smaller quantities) in place of chlorine in your pool water. I have enough to last me 20 years (it doesn’t take much).
Download a free eBook here: http:// http://www.miraclemineral .org/
There is a long list of them so which one has the free e-book?
Tim
How do you make it? I have just learned about MMS, and it is amazing.
ozdeep@yahoo.com
Anyone ever heard of black mica solution/Adya Clarity? It has the power to purify an entire muddy lake with a small quantity, even pure sewage can be rendered fit for human consumption, according to Japanese researchers. Pretty powerful stuff. I’ve been using it in my regular filtered tap water for quite some time.
Where do you purchase this mica solution stuff?
Hi. I saw your comment. I just purchased mine at http://adyawaters.com/index.html. I searched and it is the lowest price out there. Well worth the investment. It is also good if there is radiation in the water. Google youtube and the internet for great information and testimonies. Good luck.
Using colodial silver is OK, say 2 capfulls per every 5 gallons of water stored. Using the 35% food grade peroxide is a great idea. That stuff will purify an entire hottub, using 1/4 cup. No kidding!!! Boy, it’s expensive!!! Be prepared. Garden of Eden sells the food grade peroxide. It sure keeps the internal germs at bay, also. No colds/flu for the past 3 yrs!!! Just 8 drops per every 8 oz of filtered (Berkey) water.
I have a couple of 5 gallon mylar bags (in the box) filled with the storable water, for emergencies. The food grade peroxide will keep it fungus/germ free for a LONG LONG time. Just sharing
Hey Vindi–I bought a Berkey water filer. I thought that if the water (such as pond or river) was filtered through the Berkey then you didn’t need to do anything else to the water. Am I wrong? Appreciate the help!
I have the MMS stuff, haivng never used it. Just wanted it “on hand”, just because. Don’t you hafta mix it with lemon juice/lime juice and let it stand for 3 mintues, something like that? Will someone tell me just exactly how to use that stuff? I use an assortment of natural stuff to stay healthy, and so far, so good. Do you use the MMS just when you start to feel ill, or everyday to fend off anything coming your way? Thank you, and please forgive my ignorance.
1 drop of MMS to 5 drops lemon juice drops. I like making up the citric acid activator instead with 5 Tbs (instead of 1 Tbs) per 9 Tbs of distilled water. That’s so I can make it up with (1)MMS/(1)C.A. drops. Using 5/5 for a gallon, wait 3-5 minutes. Lemon juice tastes less sour. 5/5 per gal won’t taste very sour. It’s wonderful for loosing weight if you need to. You can sterilize sewer water with it. I make the solution up too. Got enough to give away for 10 years. For a little bit o’ cash.
Check out Post #17 from Tim. I just checked it out, very cool stuff!
One thing to note about Chlorine: It is an oxidizer (that’s how it kills the bad things) and when it kills anything that is/was organic (living material, not the food grade) it will change some of it to Tri-Halo methanes which are carcinogenic. Obviously there’s not alot, but it takes quite a bit of them, but they are there. Chlorine is still used in water supplies because we need to keep the water clean from the water treatment plant, through the pipes and into your home. If we didn’t use chlorine to protect the water during transport, there would be more deaths from water-borne sickness than die from cancer. So my suggestion is to filter the water first, even if it is a weak filter, because that will leave less THMs in the water.
A note on filters: they work good on Protozoa and bacteria, not so good on viruses.
UV filter (steripens, etc) are opposite: good on viruses, not so good on protozoa and bacteria.
Charcoal is good for chemical and taste issues.
My personal survival choice is a ceramic & charcoal filter, steripen (UV), and Iodine as a backup. That will handle most problems (radiation is still an issue). If I have to outlast all of the above, I’ll start work on a slow sand filter.
How does radiation on the water work?
I have a supposed airforce manual but it was purchased on the open market so it may not be that accurate.
It stated that the radiation would drop to the bottom of the water, so if there was a threat of radio activity, one would dig next to the water source(creek/river) and allow the whole to fill. water would then be gathered as to not stir the sediment.
Is this true?
To be honest, I’m not sure, but I doubt that would work. In our water treatment class, our extent of treating radioactive water was: ‘find a different water source– it is easier to find a new source than to purify that water.’ I understand that even groundwater can be contaminated by radiation; however, the earth provides a great filter, and it is unlikely that radiation is going to contaminate groundwater more than surface water.
I don’t know how the radiation works on water– I don’t know if water itself becomes radioactive or it carries contaminates that are radioactive. From the coverage of the Japan Meltdowns, I would guess that both are true and that the water isn’t very radioactive, but the contaminates can be much stronger. Another thing to keep in mind with radiation is that at the current time, unless you are drinking this water on a regular basis, I don’t think the radiation would be serious to your health. If we find ourselves in a nuclear war, well, then it would be a serious issue. For an interesting chart on radiation doses, see http://xkcd.com/radiation/
Would placing wine in water, help kill the germs? It’s anti-bacterial, right? If so, I wonder how much to use.
My understanding is that alcohol is anti-bacterial, and that is the main reason for wine in ancient days– wine was more safe to drink than water.
I have no idea how much you would need to use though. Two things to remember here. First, with this kind of treatment (along with Chlorine, Iodine, and Ultra-violet light) you have C*T, or concentration*Time. If you have a higher concentration of treatment (alcohol in this case), it will purify it in less time. Lower concentrations will mean that you will need to wait longer to drink it. Second, if there is sediment or other particles, the bacteria can hide in these particles for protection against the treatment (especially from UV). Typically that means you will need even more time. I don’t know how the grape juice part of wine would affect that variable.
There a couple other ways I’ve heard about to sterlize water. One is to use an ultraviolet light. You place
your water in a pan or clear container and place the light over the pan or container. This is done for about 5-10
minutes.We did this in a microbiology course I took in college. 90% of the bacteria were killed with only 1 minute of exposure and 100% with 5 minutes. You can also use copper tubing to run the water through several times. Copper has a natural antibacterial property. Use 50-100 feet of tubing and a catch pot made
of or lined with copper. The water must be run through several times. You can improve the efficency by taking
copper wire that is used for house wiring, stripping off the insulation and shoving it into the tubing. The water
should be free of sediment. This can be achived by useing disposable coffee filters.
Wow! Thank You to all the useful tips on water purification. I never knew there were so many ways – ingenuity at it’s best. I sure am glad all of you took the time to learn all this stuff and are now sharing it with those like me that never gave any of this a second thought. Who would have ever imagined this in the US?
With all this useful tips the task doesn’t seem too unmaginable. I am ordering a Berkey and will also keep a few other methods on hand just in case.
I AM ALSO VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW THE BEST RATIO OF FOOD GRADE H2O2 FOR STORED WATER. SINCE IT MUST BE STORED IN COOL, DARK, HOW WOULD IT LAST IN WATER CON TAINERS? OR WOULD THAT MATTER AFTER IT PURIFIED THE WATER?
Here is where we get our food grade H2O2 = http://www.dfwx.com/h2o2.htm
Their recommendation is 8 drops of 35% H2O2 per 16 oz H2O = 64 drops per gallon = how many cu.cm’s is that?
H2O2 degrades with UV light, but if kept tight, should stay sweet as long as the container lasts.
Their Jutrian RX is great stuff, as well – apparently one famous bike racer used this to combat cancer and win one of the hardest races on the planet multiple times in the meantime.
I like it because it has everything the body-mind needs, including colloidal gold and silver. Sweet nectar of the Guardians, you’d do well to quaff some daily!
Self-generated Colloidal Silver is also quite useful for use in drinking water. Get yourself a motorcycle battery and two thin rods of pure silver, and you’re set to go to make yourself as much broad spectrum antibiotic as you’ll ever need or use, for pennies a gallon.
If not the most powerful broad spectrum antibiotic known to man, then second… what’s better? …anyone?
Might want to peruse the Essene Gospel of Peace, as it contains several fascinating insights!
Peace and Light, people get ready…
Where do you get Colloidal Silver and 2 thin rods of pure silver? I’ve got a feeling it’s pretty expensive. Also ,what is Jutrian RX? Where can I get info about it. Thanks