Search Results for: water filters

Home Water Storage on a Budget, by KC Seven

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…system for ~only bathing and showers, could also promote Legionnaires’ disease, which obviously creates an unacceptable risk. The bacteria enters the person through the lungs in fine drops of contaminated water. Do your research first. Two links to >start: 1. Legionella (Legionnaires’ Disease and Pontiac Fever) from CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2. Wikipedia article about: Legionnaires’ disease. ********** Water systems treat water for a reason; there are more risks than just Legionnaires’ Disease. … Where I live the tap water is polluted with farm chemicals. [I use a gravity fed water filter system kept in the refrigerator.] KC Seven I used to be a radio announcer… Telesilla of Argos Water! Water! Water! Such an important topic, and an excellent article too. We have stored water in Aqua-Tainers, and those have worked really well. They’re “squared off” and so easy to tuck into corners or along a back…


Building a Backyard Water Treatment Plant, by J.S.M.

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Clean drinking water is critical to your survival, because without potable water you will die within a few days. I don’t intend to hammer away on this point, because everyone who visits this blog generally knows how important it is to have access to clean water, and this subject has been covered many times from many different angles. Many of us have several hundred gallons of water stored away in containers, some more portable than others. Some plan to rely solely on a Berkey water filtration system to filter surface water collected from ponds or rain catchment barrels. While the Berkey filters are excellent and water storage is a must, having these will not be good enough in a prolonged grid-down scenario. Your water storage may run dry, and your Berkey filters have a limited lifetime and may not be able to handle long-term filtering. The Lord handed us a…


Retreat Owner Profiles

…stocking powder, primers and bullets when I could just buy more cartridges. I realize everyone doesn’t think this way. Comm: Full HF setup (General class operator), can listen to virtually any freq. Duplicity in all types of comm. TA-1s and 312s Fuel and power: Off grid since late 1999. 1,680 watt solar array with 12KW diesel genset backup. 20 Trojan L16’s for my battery bank, Trace 4024 Inverter. Elevated water tank for water pressure holds 4-6 days water before it must be re-filled. Well pump can be powered from battery bank or from genset. Passive solar does most of the heating needed during winter days. Waterford stove used for supplemental wood heating. 5 cords kept on hand at all times (takes less than 1 per year to heat down here). LP provides gas for oven and water heater. Over did it on fuel storage for genset. Some may spoil by…


Emergency Water Treatment On The Move, by Tom K.

…versions but if water is plentiful this is by far the easiest way to replenish on the move. Drink your fill and then top off your spare water containers with water and treat with the chemical of your choice (see below). If you use your filters for hiking and camping it is important to properly clean them before storage. Simply add 4-6 drop of chlorine bleach to a quart of water and filter it through the system. Remove the filter element and allow all the parts to dry thoroughly before putting them away. Whether you use pump filters, bottle filters or UV light systems to filter your water you must always have a back up for when these devices fail; and fail they will. Filters are very prone to clogging and of course being mechanical can also break when you least expect them to. The Steripen requires batteries and even…


Making Your Water Filter Last, by F.J.B.

…did have a water emergency while on their trip. We have all read the incredible things our water filters can do. They are truly a great accomplishment of modern man. The instructions on my Katadyn Micro filter state, “ Suitable for turbid and extremely turbid surface water. Makes the water clear (particles will be removed). Suitable for questionable tap water. Suitable for safe tap water (drinking water quality).“ I am certain that all of these statements are true.  All of the instructions for my other various countertop gravity water filters were the same or similar. Lake water, river water, water from a creek, rain water, water from a small puddle in a depression in a rock; all are acceptable sources for drinking water through our filters. It was nearly 10 years ago that I first purchased a Berkey countertop gravity-feed water filter. At the time, I had no practical experience…


Pat’s Product Review: Clearly Filtered Water Filters

…if you’ll go to the Clearly Filtered web site, you’ll find many more of their water filters that you might want to consider purchasing. In my neck of the woods, a store-bought bottle of water is about a buck or more – and that’s a lot of money in my book. To be honest, I’ve rarely drank bottled water – I don’t see any sense in paying that kind of money for water – when I can get it for free at home from my tap. If you purchased the Athlete or Canteen filters, you could drink 100-gallons of fresh, clean water for $34.99 – that would be about $400 in bottled water, and odds are, that bottled water came from a water tap, just like you have at home – so you aren’t gaining much in the way of “safe” drinking water. With a Clearly Filtered product, you know…


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Sawyer Mini Water Filter

…capable of filtering up to 100,000 gallons of water. Huh? What? Yes, you read that correctly. It can filter up to 100,000 gallons of water. This particular filter is meant for filtering water from a fresh water source– a fresh water lake, stream, or creek. It is not designed to filter sewer water or other “dirty” sources of water that may contain viruses. It is a very rare case for fresh water sources to contain a virus. So, please keep this in mind. This filter is for making water safe to drink from a fresh water source. The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is one of the smallest types of water filters you can find. It is easy to store in your bug out bag or the glove box of your vehicle. It weighs only a few ounces. You get the filter itself, a water storage collection bag that holds 16…


Understanding Water Filtration, by Old Soldier

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…filters contain fine grains of activated carbon. They are typically less effective than carbon block filters because they have a smaller surface area of activated carbon. Their effectiveness also depends on how quickly water flows through. Ceramic Filters Ceramic filters have very small holes throughout the material. These holes allow water through but block solid contaminants, such as cysts and sediments. They do not remove chemical contaminants. Deionization These filters use an ion exchange process that removes mineral salts and other electrically charged molecules (ions) from water. The process cannot remove non-ionic contaminants (including trihalomethanes and other common volatile organic compounds) or microorganisms. Distillation This technology heats water enough to vaporize it and then condenses the steam back into water. The process removes minerals, many bacteria and viruses, and chemicals that have a higher boiling point than water. It cannot remove chlorine, trihalomethanes or volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Distillation is…


Making Water Safe to Drink, by Paratrooper John

…the ground naturally filters water. Detailed Descriptions of Methods: Boiling: Boiling water is probably the most effective and reliable method of disinfecting water.  To make water safe to drink by boiling the water needs to be at a rolling boil for at least one minute.  Some sources may mention five or more minutes as the minimum but the extra time doesn’t provide any extra benefit and uses up more fuel.  An exception to the time for the boiling would be in high elevations where three minutes is recommended. Ensure the container has not been previously used to store dangerous substances.  Metal containers are ideal for boiling water but other containers such as clay and plastic can be used as well. A plastic container can also be used for boiling water.  Place the full container as close to a heat source as possible without coming into direct contact.  Keep it there…


Scot’s Product Review: Katadyn Pocket Water Filter

…water, which is disconcerting at best. Things that make water unclear can also make it unpalatable, and that’s where filters come in. I am also a firm believer in redundancy and have become convinced that if one can double treat water, you are probably a lot better off. That meant I wanted something more for our water needs, so I began looking at water filters. The gold standards for base camp use are the Berkey and Katadyn gravity filters. You pour water in a tank, and it trickles through ceramic filters with tiny little pores small enough to keep out everything but some viruses. You can also add activated charcoal elements that remove many chemicals including the chlorine I dislike so much. The problem here is the phrase “base use”. I wanted something that we could easily carry if we had to evacuate. The additional use for camping came to…


Coronavirus: More Thoughts on N95 Masks, by Survivormann99

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…have to guess and hope for the best I cannot imagine, however, that a military gas mask with NATO filters will not stop the coronavirus. If they can stop anthrax spores (admittedly larger than viruses) and Soviet VX gas, I have to think that stopping coronaviruses would be a “walk in the park.” I also cannot imagine how the filters could ever become so clogged by microscopic viruses (rather than by particulate matter) that they would stop working, but what do I know? Of course, even military gas mask filters have expiration dates. Yet, does this expiration date have anything to do with the effectiveness of the filters in blocking coronaviruses, or is this something that is only of concern, for example, with Russian nerve agents? For what it is worth–and it may not be worth much–I have seen recent comments on web sites saying that heat at low temperatures…


Building a Super Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter System, by Pretty in a Blue State

…water bladder. Replace the Sawyer dirty water bladders with a stronger design. Platypus water bladders fit the Sawyer Squeeze (others have written the Soft Bottle style are harder to seal without replacing the Sawyer white washer with a thinner washer). EverNew bladders are described as more durable but they are difficult to find.  I am using the 2 liter Platypus Hoser bladder with a replacement solid cap. Because there is the chance of confusion, label the bladders you’re using for dirty or clean water and don’t mix them up. And make sure the dirty water end fittings are tight and don’t leak contaminated water onto the clean end of the filter or clean water containers. Pour dirty water into a bladder or bottle using a cup, a folding bowl, or one of the smaller Sawyer bladders with the top cut off. Still another useful idea is to use a flexible…


Freeze Dried Friday

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…of the filtered oil accumulated we recycle instead of adding new oil. I find that there is less oil wasted with the freezer method than pouring non-frozen oil and hoping to stop the water before it pours out. Also, making the homemade filters saves money instead of buying engine filters. Jack You might try heating the oil to evaporate the water. I have successfully used a light bulb to remove water from a water oil mix. Grizz Instead of an automotive oil filter check out Semi-tractor diesel fuel filters. Some have a water separator spigot on the bottom. Fuel (oil) floats on top in the filter, water can then be drained out the bottom. Dataware That’s what I would do. Slow low heat will completely remove all water but it may take awhile dependent on the amount of water. I use a centrifuge to remove water from waste vegetable oil…


Letter Re: The Water Filter Quest

…got back from the pig pen or chicken house you don’t do it either.  Water treatment should be handled cleanly and carefully.    Ceramic filters allow faster filtration but do not replace charcoal or finishing with chlorine.  If you have a really clean surface water supply you can simply use sand filters and forget the chlorine and the charcoal.  Yes people will disagree but if you have a long term or grid down supply problem you will be learning to build the old rain barrel filter used commonly a hundred years ago and described here recently.  Then advance your learning to build a better sand filter treatment system in some plastic drums with two or three filters in a row.     For your backpack filters in the wilderness do not use glaciated water for your supply, it will jam your filter in a few draws of water.  Watch for nasty precipitates on the rocks before you…


Drinking Water Disinfection by Jim Mc.

…heaping teaspoon) for each two gallons of water. To disinfect water, add the above developed stock (bleach replacement) chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 oz.) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons (1,600 oz) of clear water to be disinfected. It is usually recommend that a three step approach to treating water from open sources be followed: Pre-filtering. This removes particulate matter. Pouring water though a couple of thickness of t-shirts or tightly-woven bath towels or coffee filters works fine. The water that comes through may still look like tea, but at least you have removed the crud and larger particles. By pre-filtering, you will also extend the life of your water filter. (You avoid clogging the microscopic pores in the filter media.) Chlorinating. (Iodine – Hydrogen…