SHTF water filtration

[Heavy Metal]

http://www.survivalgrounds.com/boiling_water.php

Plenty of other sources of that info.

How long do you have to stick your hand in boiling water before skin cells start dying?

[juliomorris]

I have been backpacking for most of my life and i have had to carry out several other hikers who didn't boil water long enough. I have also spent quality time in several third world countries that do not practice water treatment of any kind including youth full trips to Mexico. Montazumas revenge is not fun.

By the time the water warms enough to boil, boils and cools to drinking temp, it will have been hot enough long enough to kill all pathogens, even at altitude.

Boiling:
In an emergency, boiling is the best way to disinfect water that is unsafe because of the presence of protozoan parasites or bacteria.
If the water is cloudy, it should be filtered before boiling. Filters designed for use when camping, coffee filters, towels (paper or cotton), cheesecloth, or a cotton plug in a funnel are effective ways to filter cloudy water.

Place the water in a clean container and bring it to a full boil and continue boiling for at least 3 minutes (covering the container will help reduce evaporation). If you are more than 5,000 feet above sea level, you must increase the boiling time to at least 5 minutes (plus about a minute for every additional 1,000 feet). Boiled water should be kept covered while cooling. From Drinking Water for Emergency Use (pdf file). You can also look at recommendations of the EPA.

http://www.cyber-nook.com/water/Solutions.html#boiling

[juliomorris]

Not all diseases are killed by boiling we were warned about Hep c in the P.I. it can even withstand freezing.

Hepatitis C virus is difficult to kill, it appears to be heat resistant and cannot be killed by boiling. It can exist for up to 30 days outside the body and does not appear to be killed by chemicals like bleach or isopropyl alcohol.

For this reason bleaching or boiling used needles and syringes will not kill this virus. The only way to avoid infection is to use a new fit every time you inject and not to share fits between users.

http://www.needle.co.nz/fastpage/fpe.../templateid/34

[TriviaMonster]

You may take a look at the MSR miox. It uses salt to create a mix of antioxidants to purify water. It's a neat little deal. I believe it was actually created for military purposes because it is capable of purifying large amounts of water very easily. It will kill more things than iodine according to MSR's website. It is not a particulate nor chemical filter, but it definately serves a purpose. There is a waiting time of a few hours after you treat it, but its a good unit for groups or families.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

[Icculus]

Has anyone had any experiance with the Steripen Journey Water Purifier System ( http://www.rei.com/product/784448/st...urifier-system )? I picked up a couple of these new for pretty cheap on ebay and they fit with my trying to stay light weight, mobile and using the cr123 batteries that I've tried to standardize on (eotech, flashlights, ect.).

I have one but I haven't tried it yet. Usually just use the Miniworx if I have need of a filter but picked one of the Steripen's from REI a while back with my member dividend. Figured it couldn't hurt to have one more method. Like you I also picked up the cr123 version since I have batteries stored for my flashlights.

Would also like to hear from people who have experience using it though.

[Redmanfms]

Katadyn Pocket is the gold-standard for an individual water filter. I've filtered turbid swamp water using one and experienced no ill effects.

I've used a Berkey Crown gravity filter as a base-camp filter in the past and it works quite well. With all the elements installed it has a huge filtration rate (something on the order of 25-30 gallons per hour). Used in a primitive site and experienced no ill effects.

[DeltaSierra]

Katadyn Pocket is the gold-standard for an individual water filter. I've filtered turbid swamp water using one and experienced no ill effects.

I've used a Berkey Crown gravity filter as a base-camp filter in the past and it works quite well. With all the elements installed it has a huge filtration rate (something on the order of 25-30 gallons per hour). Used in a primitive site and experienced no ill effects.

Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea how many gallons you have put through your Katadyn?

[Irish]

Disposable coffee filters work as a good pre-filter to remove sediment as well. Will definitely help your filters last a lot longer.

[Redmanfms]

Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea how many gallons you have put through your Katadyn?

I don't know exactly, but several hundred gallons, perhaps a thousand.

[Redmanfms]

Well, for starters the stuff is carcinogenic....

"Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine."
U.S. Council of Environmental Quality

http://www.cleanwateramerica.com/inf...utchlorine.cfm


I won't use carcinogenic chemicals, where simple techniques that have been used for thousands of years will safely take care of the original problem of waterborne disease.

Before widespread use of chemical treatment illness and death from waterborne critters was common and it's still common in the 3rd world so I have to question the efficacy of the "simple techniques that have been used for thousands of years."

Getting dysentery from sand-filtered water is no fun at all. You don't want to find that out.