Water Filtration Sytems, Purification & Sanitation - Emergency Prep Class 1 - Part 1

Several years ago, I taught emergency preparedness classes in our area. I did lots of research for the classes. HOWEVER, I am NOT and expert. This is informational only and was what I learned for the classes and for my family through taking classes from professionals and doing extensive research. This is NOT meant to be a guide for you, it is informational and you should do your own research and seek professional experts if you are going to do any survival living. For me, it is for emergency information and I pray that you and I will NEVER need it! I assume no responsibility for your choices and actions in using any information provided. 

At the end of this video, it starts into sanitation but is cut off. I have no way to edit the videos so they go online as they do in sections. Part one of class one is water purification. Part 2 of class one will go up tomorrow for Sanitation. Part three will go up the next day but it is only about 8 minutes long and




has a few minutes of questions regarding both sanitation and water purification. I suggest watching all three sections.   

Here is a link to a backpackers field manual by Rick Curtis that was very informative in helping with the out of home water situation. 

I do suggest a few outdoor filters in the "filter" section below. His section is good for "on the go" water treatment but I didn't have time to go into detail in each area.

Much of the information below is from Clorox website or the Red Cross. 

I share most of this information on my video but here it is in written form if needed. 

WATER STORAGE, PURIFICATION    

It is recommended that you store 2 gallons of water per person per day:  1 for drinking and cooking and 1 for washing and sanitation.  This would be about 28 gal. per person for a 2 week supply.  According to the  Water Dept., it is best not to add bleach to your water storage since our city water supply is already chlorinated, but rotate your water storage yearly.  If you believe your water might not be pure enough at the time you are going to drink it, you can purify it by one of the methods below. 

Have more than one source of water storage because in an earthquake, if your 55 gallon drum cracks, you have no water. Also, if you have to leave, you can't haul a 55 gallon drum with you. Have some 55-gallon barrels, some 5-gallon jugs, and juice or soda bottles.  Have some water storage indoors in case you have to shelter in-place for an extended period of time.  Also be sure to have some sort of siphon pump or short hose for use with your large barrels.
 
PURIFYING WATER
Water purification has three facets: 1) filtering out particles of dirt, debris, and micro-organisms which are large enough to be filtered out (this includes parasites and bacteria -- Giardia is a parasite);  2) purifying the water by killing any micro-organisms which are too small to be filtered out (this includes viruses);  3)  absorbing any harmful chemicals which have dissolved into or entered the water.
 
The filtering part of this is quite easy and most water in non-disaster circumstances only needs this. 

If viruses have contaminated your water supply, you must either boil the water, or treat it with bleach, iodine, or some other substance known to kill viruses.  Many camping filters are not equipped to do this step, although some have iodine in them for this purpose.  The problem here is that iodine has a shelf life of 3 years, and so if your water filter is old enough, the iodine in it won’t be effective.  Also, will the iodine in a camping filter really kill viruses with less than 1 second of exposure as they pass through the filter? Bleach has a shelf life of 3 months. Also, never used the fresh scent or lemon fresh scented bleaches to purify, only regular Clorox is safe.
   
Getting out harmful chemicals is very tricky -- activated charcoal will take out some, but all --?
 The best thing to do is to filter any water that has dirt and debris in it; then if you suspect exposure to viruses -- boil or treat the water.  If you suspect chemical contamination, either don’t use that water, or filter it with activated charcoal and hope for the best!  (We don't recommend using water that you suspect has been chemically contaminated.  It's too risky.)  (NOTE:  Activated charcoal has a shelf life of 5 years.)

Boiling:   according to the Red Cross, boiling is the safest method of purifying water.  Boil for 8-10 min. at altitudes of about 4,500 ft. 

Disinfecting: Again, according to the Red Cross, “The only agent used to purify water should be household liquid bleach.  Add 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water if the water is cloudy, stir and let stand for 30 minutes. (If it’s clear, only add 8 drops.)  If the water does not have a slight bleach odor [after 30 minutes], repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes.”  Use household bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite as its only active ingredient).

How much bleach to use for purifying water (according to the Red Cross):

amount of water	clear water	cloudy water
1 quart	2 drops	4 drops
1 gallon	8 drops	16 drops
5 gallons	1/2 teaspoon	1 teaspoon
55 gallons	5 1/2 teaspoons	11 teaspoons

 Tincture of Iodine:  Common household iodine from the medicine chest may be used to disinfect water.  Add 5 drops of 2% U.S.P. Iodine to each quart of clear water.  For cloudy water, add 10 drops, and let the solution stand for at least 30 minutes. Use caution with people who have shell fish allergies, pregnant women or women over 50 with this method. Also, Military studies in 2005 show that iodine doesn't always work on every organism. (See: Military medicine. Jan 2005 by Starke, Jeffery A. and others.)
 

 Filters:  You can buy a good water filter or purifier. In the video I share why I like the Aqurain filters. It has four ceramic filters but can be used with only one if you give the others away or they brake. It is gravity fed which means no pumping. The ceramic can be cleaned over and over. This isn't for "on the road" filtering but in home. Here is a link to Aquarain site. (Top two pictures are Aquarain) Berkey also has a good filter and here is a link to their official site. (Last two pictures are Berkey) For use while hiking, Sweetwater pump was the easiest I could find and I know several people who have actually used it and in the video, he shares how he modified it to make it more user friendly. Here is a link to their site, the company is Cascade Design. (Middle picture is sweetwater) Here is one with an "in-line" filter for those wanting to scoop and drink using a water bladder. It is called the "Hydrastorm" here is a link to that website.
  
Large Quantity Home-made filter:   I have a friend who taught nuclear in home sheltering and this is the home made version he suggests that is cheapest and easiest to make that will take out everything. I never made one as I figured I have several other types and a water softener which will also take out the nuclear particles. I do have all the items to make this if needed however. There are many "Do it Yourself" videos and websites showing how to make several different types of this filter. If you want to make one, I would suggest watching several of the videos and get an idea if they have actually used and tested them before making one. Here are some basic instructions. 

You can also make a wonderful and inexpensive filter yourself that will filter about 1000 gallons of water.  Get a 4-6 gal. bucket and cut a hole in the side as shown below.  Place a piece of cheesecloth or a piece of clean bed sheet over the top with a dip in the center.   Tie a cotton rope (cotton clothesline works great) around the top of the bucket under one of the ridges to hold the material in place.  Layer sand and activated charcoal in the bucket = 7 layers, 1/2” thick each.  Place a bowl or pan inside the bucket under the material to catch water.  Pour water into the bucket over the sand and charcoal layers.  Let the water filter through to the collecting pan underneath.   Empty the bowl occasionally.  This device will filter about 7-8 gallons per day.
    
The finer the sand, the better:  (Lowe’s, Home Depot);  and you can get activated charcoal at Pet Smart in the aquarium section.  You’ll need about a quart of charcoal and about a gallon of sand.  (Charcoal = about $4-9/ quart, and sand = about $4-6 for 100 lbs! -- it’s “dirt” cheap!)
**Note:  radioactive fallout can be filtered out of water.  NEVER boil water with fallout in it before filtering. 

Check in tomorrow for the sanitation portion.....