Scrutineer Country

When you think of water purification what do you think of? If you’ve seen the movie “In the Army Now,” you know that water purification is a necessity for your drinking water. Movies like “Waterworld” and “In the Army Now” have even shown that you can purify murky, sludgy water as drinking water. The purification process starts at your local water treatment plant, but what happens in a disaster, emergency or if you’re unable to receive already treated water? There are even systems that you can purchase or create to further clean your water at home to ensure the cleanest, purist water for your consumption. There are several ways you can create safe drinking water at home.

Filtering

Filtering your water will remove any particles from the water. You can use prepackaged activated carbon filters. There are several on the market that you can pick up at your local grocery, drug, or department store. You can also use simple household items such as clean cotton cloth or silk to filter your water through.

Boiling

Boiling your consumable drinking water will help eradicate any bacteria that may be in your water supply. Use a food grade thermometer to check that the temperature of the water is above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Boil water for one to three minutes (higher altitudes should boil water a few extra minutes due to water’s boiling point being lower.) Boiling as a method of water purification is the absolute least that you would want to do to create a safe ad consumable water supply.

Chemical Treatment

There are several methods to chemically treat your water. You would want to chemically treat your water, in addition to filtering and/or boiling your water to keep your water supply safe while it is being stored. The most common method is to add a few drops (roughly eight to ten) of unscented, household chlorine bleach to each gallon of water. You can also use about five drops of iodine to each quart of your water supply. If you’re preparing an emergency preparedness kit, you can purchase chlorine or iodine tablets for your kit. Chemical treatment of water will continue to work in your supply, even after the initial treatment of the water.