logowill england :: preparedness : water treatment



From misc.survivalism:

DISCLAIMER: Safe and effective water treatment requires attention to detail and proper equipment and ingredients. The author makes no warranties and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the text, or damages resulting from the use or misuse of information contained herein

Quantity

1 gallon per person per day for survival. (desert conditions may take more than twice this amount for drinking and cooking, with no allocation for personal hygiene. Arctic may take less)

4 gallons per person per day will allow personal hygiene, washing of dishes, counter tops, etc.

5 to 12 gallons per day would be needed for a conventional toilet, or 1/2 to two gallons for a pour flush latrine.

40 gallons per person per day would be needed for washing clothing, bathing, stool, and basically not change present routines. (For a more accurate estimate of this, calculate use from last months water bill)

For short term emergencies, it will probably be more practical to store paper plates and utensils, and minimize food preparation, than to attempt to store more water.

Symptoms of Dehydration

Loss of 5 per cent of the body's weight may cause thirst, sleeplessness, flushed skin, and lack of appetite. Loss of 10 per cent may make walking and breathing difficult and cause headache and dizziness.

Loss of 20 per cent may cause delirium, a swollen tongue, inability to swallow, numb and shriveled skin, and finally death.

Symptoms of Salt Deficiency

The symptoms of salt deficiency are very similar to water deficiency. Salt [sodium chloride] is an absolute necessity. Without it, you would die. The initial symptom is an unquenchable thirst. Take a little salt with the water, or better yet, use an electrolyte mix such as "Gatorade". If this quenches your thirst, the problem is salt deficit, not water deficit.

Water Treatment

When dealing with dirty looking water, always remove as much solids as possible. This can be done by pouring it threw a cloth or coffee filter lined strainer or screen to remove the larger particles. Then let it set until the remanding particles settle. Then treat as follows.

Boiling
(Adding a pinch of salt or pouring water from one container to another, after boiling, will improve the taste.)

Water                         Use
---------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   Rolling Boil 1 min.
Looks Dirty                   Boil 2 min.
Mud With Bugs                 Boil 3 min.
Known Chemicals               Will Not Clean.
Heavy Metals                  Will Not Clean
Salt                          Will Not Clean

Distillation (Captured Steam)
(Adding a pinch of salt or pouring water from one container to another, after boiling, will improve the taste.)

Water                         Use
---------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   Will Clean With Standard Use
Looks Dirty                   Will Clean With Standard Use
Mud With Bugs                 Will Clean With Standard Use
Known Chemicals               Will Not Clean.
Heavy Metals                  Will Not Clean
Salt                          Will Clean With Standard Use

Chlorine
(Ordinary household bleach (such as Clorox) in the US contains 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL) and can be used to purify water if it contains no other active ingredients, scents, or colorings)

Water                         Use
--------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   2 drops per quart, let stand 30 min.
Looks Dirty                   3 drops per quart, let stand 1 hour
Mud With Bugs                 5 drops per quart, let stand in sun 1.5 hour
Known Chemicals               Will Not Clean.
Heavy Metals                  Will Not Clean
Salt                          Will Not Clean

Letting your treated water in sun will drive off excessive chlorine and improve taste. Use of a swimming pool test kit will allow you to add chlorine until a reading of at least 5 ppm [parts per million] available chlorine is reached.

Note: Chemical treatment will kill all pathogenic [disease causing] bacteria and viruses in drinking water, but won't kill encysted parasites such as Giardia. If these are present, must filter to remove the cysts, or boil water briefly to kill them.

Chlorine (Swimming Pool / HTH granular pool chlorine)

Water                         Use
---------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   1/2 teaspoon per 100 gal, let set for 2 hr.
Looks Dirty                   1/2 teaspoon per 100 gal, let set for 2 hr
Mud With Bugs                 1/2 teaspoon per 100 gal, let set for 2 hr
Known Chemicals               Will Not Clean.
Heavy Metals                  Will Not Clean
Salt                          Will Not Clean

1/2 tea spoon / 100 gal
1/4 tea spoon / 50 gal
1/8 tea spoon / 25 gal
1/16 tea spoon / 12.5 gal
1/32 tea spoon / 6.25 gal

Put 1/8 tea spoon HTH into a bottle containing 25 table spoons of water.
Use 1 table spoon of this mixture per gal of water to be treated.

Letting your treated water in sun will drive off excessive chlorine and improve taste. Use of a swimming pool test kit will allow you to add chlorine until a reading of at least 5 ppm [parts per million] available chlorine is reached.

Note: Chemical treatment will kill all pathogenic [disease causing] bacteria and viruses in drinking water, but won't kill encysted parasites such as Giardia. If these are present, must filter to remove the cysts, or boil water briefly to kill them.

Tincture of Iodine (USP tincture of iodine contains 2% iodine and 2.4% sodium iodide dissolved in 50% ethyl alcohol)

Water                         Use
-----------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   8 drops per ltr, let stand 30 min.
Looks Dirty                   9 drops per ltr, let stand 45 min.
Mud With Bugs                 10 drops per ltr, let stand 1 hour
Known Chemicals               Will Not Clean.
Heavy Metals                  Will Not Clean
Salt                          Will Not Clean

Note: Chemical treatment will kill all pathogenic [disease causing] bacteria and viruses in drinking water, but won't kill encysted parasites such as Giardia. If these are present, must filter to remove the cysts, or boil water briefly to kill them.

Filters

Water                         Use
------------------------------------------
Looks Clean                   Absolute pore size of 1 um or less
Looks Dirty                   Sand and cloth for the mud, Then absolute pore size
                                of 1 um or less for the pathogens
Mud With Bugs                 Screen or cloth filter for the Bugs, Then sand and
                                cloth for the mud, Then absolute pore size of
                                1 um or less for the pathogens

Measurements

60 drops = 1 teaspoon
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
16 tablespoons = 1 cup
2 cups = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon

Electrolyte fluid replacement: (Gatorade)

1 tsp. Lite Salt (Morton's, comes in a small lite blue container)
10 tsp. sugar, syrup, or honey
1/3 tsp. baking soda
1 qt water

Add a bit of koolaid and you have a Gatorade equiv.  

The usual suspects

[ Now -- Main -- Humor -- Art -- Food ]
[ seti@home -- Shooting -- Motorcycle -- Blog ]

Disclaimer: Anything I have to say is mine, dammnit! My employers, clients nor anyone else can take credit (or be blamed) for it.

Author: Will England (will@mylanders.com) Complaints? /dev/null

Like what you found? Kick a buck or two my way via Paypal... Send $ via PayPal

This page is a Y to K complaint.

Mostly compliant with Valid HTML 4.0! Valid CSS!

Created December 13, 2002      ::      Updated Thursday, September 06 2018 @ 01:18am