moonshot
07-05-11, 00:31
I will again be replacing the water stored in my water barrels. I use city tap water - filtered and purified by the municipal treatment plant. I ever needed to use it, my plan was to purify again with my MIOX system.
Further research has indicated I should treat the water when I first put it into the storage drums as well as when I take it our for consumption.
There are a couple of methods available to treat water when it is placed into storage.
Adding chlorine bleach is cheap and easy - but I've read that bleach has a limited shelf life - perhaps 6 months or less - before it breaks down and should be replaced. Chlorine bleach bottles do not show a "use by" date, so how does one determine if the bleach they buy at the store is still potent enough to use to purify water?
Also, the bleach method only allows the water to remain safe for a year or so.
Adding this...
http://survivalkitsonline.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=survivalkitsonline&Product_Code=Water9006&Category_Code=Water_Storage
supposedly treats water for 5 years. Is this true, or is it another internet gimmick?
Finally, in researching methods of treating water, I found this link...
http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/safe_water/personal.html#containers
and read this...
If you don’t have clean, safe, bottled water and if boiling is not possible, you often can make water safer to drink by using a disinfectant, such as unscented household chlorine bleach, iodine, or chlorine dioxide tablets. These can kill most harmful organisms, such as viruses and bacteria. However, only chlorine dioxide tablets are effective in controlling more resistant organisms, such as the parasite chryptosporidium.
The last sentence - if true - tells me that bleach alone is not good enough. I may need to use my MIOX system at the start and at the end.
Is this overkill, or do you all treat your tap water when you place it into storage?
PS - I've had a waterborn bug get me, and it was NOT fun. I sure wouldn't want that again when medical services were restricted or non-existant.
Further research has indicated I should treat the water when I first put it into the storage drums as well as when I take it our for consumption.
There are a couple of methods available to treat water when it is placed into storage.
Adding chlorine bleach is cheap and easy - but I've read that bleach has a limited shelf life - perhaps 6 months or less - before it breaks down and should be replaced. Chlorine bleach bottles do not show a "use by" date, so how does one determine if the bleach they buy at the store is still potent enough to use to purify water?
Also, the bleach method only allows the water to remain safe for a year or so.
Adding this...
http://survivalkitsonline.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=survivalkitsonline&Product_Code=Water9006&Category_Code=Water_Storage
supposedly treats water for 5 years. Is this true, or is it another internet gimmick?
Finally, in researching methods of treating water, I found this link...
http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/safe_water/personal.html#containers
and read this...
If you don’t have clean, safe, bottled water and if boiling is not possible, you often can make water safer to drink by using a disinfectant, such as unscented household chlorine bleach, iodine, or chlorine dioxide tablets. These can kill most harmful organisms, such as viruses and bacteria. However, only chlorine dioxide tablets are effective in controlling more resistant organisms, such as the parasite chryptosporidium.
The last sentence - if true - tells me that bleach alone is not good enough. I may need to use my MIOX system at the start and at the end.
Is this overkill, or do you all treat your tap water when you place it into storage?
PS - I've had a waterborn bug get me, and it was NOT fun. I sure wouldn't want that again when medical services were restricted or non-existant.