Search Results for: water

Solar Water Disinfection and Pasteurization, by Ariel

This article describes so me simple and practical methods for providing drinkable water in disaster situations. They fit with my motto: “Keep calm, and carry on!” According to the EPA, if you can’t boil water, you can disinfect it using household bleach. Do not use non-chlorine bleach to disinfect water. Typically, [when freshly-purchased] household chlorine bleaches will be 5.25% available chlorine. Bleach will kill some, but not all, types of disease-causing organisms that may be in the water. If the water is cloudy, filter it through clean cloths or allow it to settle, and draw off the clear water for disinfection. Add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops) of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water, stir it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it. Store disinfected water in clean containers with covers. There are two big disadvantages of treating water with chemicals….


Pat’s Product Review: Solarbag Water Purifier

…purifiers/filters on the market, and not all are the same. The local Big Box stores and many sporting goods stores sell some really cheap water filters – and they are not the same as a water purifier – and they are okay, so long as the water source you are using isn’t extremely dirty or contaminated – but how do you know? Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different water filters/purifiers, and some work better than others. Just don’t go thinking that the water pitcher, like Brita or Pur are actually water purifiers – all they do, for the most part is make you water taste a little better – water from the faucet. I wouldn’t dare put water in my Pur from a small stream on my property, and then think that water is safe to drink – it isn’t!   I’ve used the water purification tablets,…


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…


Rocket Water Heater – Part 1, by St. Funogas

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…us, the fuel is free and abundant and will be available long after the grid goes down. When you think of how hot a campfire is, and then think about how much hotter that same fire gets when you blow on it, that same principle is what makes a rocket stove so efficient. By creating its own constant draft, that higher temperature in my RWH will raise the water temperature 25°F in one pass through the heat exchanger. That’s pretty phenomenal. System Description Here’s a quick description of how my RWH works: A small pump (12-v, 3 GPM) takes water out of my regular water heater tank, circulates it through a coil of copper tubing which is located inside the chimney of a rocket stove, then returns the heated water back to the water heater tank. Inline thermometers allow me to monitor water temps so I know when to stop…


Water: PV-Powered Water Pumping and Storage, by A. Haggard H. Rider

All sources of preparedness information stress the importance of water. Without water everything else is put at risk. You cannot drink bullets, beans do not have a lot of moisture and sucking on a bandage will not help. The ideal situation is to have some form of safe running water on your property. But what if you don’t? Hopefully you have a well, but if your electric goes out your pump will not work. A hand pump will work, but it takes a lot of energy to get that water, and then you have the situation of Operational Security (OPSEC) while you are pumping that water and hauling it to the house. About a year ago I started seriously investigating an alternative source of water. I looked at hand pumps but at my age of 70 that did not seem a practical solution. I also looked at windmills. In our…