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Sanitary water may be found in closed containers (C) Daniel FriedmanHow to Purify or Sterilize Drinking Water
Emergency Water Supply After a Flood, Fire, or Earthquake Disaster

Emergency drinking water supply:

This article series lists & describes the various methods to purify or sanitize drinking water in an emergency following a disaster such as an earthquake, flood, or hurricane.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

How to Treat or Purify Water to Sanitize it For Drinking

Home water distiller for emergency use if power is available (C) Daniel Friedman Below we list all known sources & methods for obtaining drinking water in an emergency, comparing the availability, ease of use, methods of use, cost and effectiveness of each method.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Watch out: Beware that most advice about purifying water, including many of the emergency drinking water source and purification tips we have collected below, address only biological contaminants in water, such as bacteria.

That may be all that you're concerned about in many drinking water emergencies, but keep in mind the danger of chemical contaminants that are not addressed by such measures.

Article Series Contents

Health Warnings about Effective Drinking Water Purification

List of Principal Methods Used to Purify Drinking Water when Camping or in an Emergency

boiling water on stove top (C) Daniel Friedman

Each of the water purification methods listed below includes a link to more in-depth information including details of how the water purification method is used and comments on its effectiveness.

Drops of Bleach to Be Added to a One Quart Canteen For Emergency Drinking Water
Available Chlorine Drops of Bleach in Clear Water Drops of Bleach in
Cold or Cloudy Water
1%
10
20
4—6%
2
4
7--10%
1
2

Permanent well water chlorination systems are discussed

at CHLORINATORS & CHARCOAL FILTERS.

We provide more details about using disinfectants to purify drinking water

at WATER DISINFECTANT QUANTITY.

If the source water is from a raw water supply such as a stream or pond, the treated water product should have a 5 ppm residual chlorine level after 30 minutes. Under certain conditions, the local medical authority may direct a higher residual of 10 ppm. A chlorine colorimetric test kit is used to test the chlorine level.

When chlorine or iodine are not available, boil water for 5 to 10 minutes. In an emergency, even boiling water for 15 seconds will help. Boiled water must be protected from recontamination. Details about boiling water for drinking water purification are

at BOILING WATER - boil the water to make it suitable for drinking.

Cholrine Dioxide for Additional Water Disinfection of Giardia and Cryptosporidium cysts

Watch out: Bleach will not kill Giardia in typical drinking water disinfection methods such as those discussed here. While chlorine can kill Giardia cysts if used in high enough concentration and for sufficient contact time, typically the chlorine concentration in water necessary for Giardia would be too high for drinking purposes.

The chlorine concentration that one would find in a swimming pool, levels of chlorine not suitable for drinking water consumption would require about 20 minutes to kill a Giardia cyst.

At WATER DISINFECTION LIMITATIONS we report that relying on household bleach as a disinfectant to kill Cryptosporidium cysts is a mistake too. Aquamira ™ and Katadyn ™ (Micropur) provide portable or field-use water treatment kits using chlorine dioxide.

Watch out: while colloidal silver can be effective as a disinfectant in some situations AND when prepared and used properly, it is not always effective and its use can have troubling health effects. Furthermore, not all colloidal silver impregnated filters are effective.

In August 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned colloidal silver sellers from claiming any therapeutic or preventive value for the product, noting that colloidal silver was being marketed for numerous diseases without evidence of safety or effectiveness.

In 2002, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) found that there were no legitimate medical uses for colloidal silver and no evidence to support its marketing claims. Given the associated safety risks, the TGA concluded that "efforts should be made to curb the illegal availability of colloidal silver products, which is a significant public health issue."[26].

Water purification procedures that can be used in an emergency are described in the text above and in individual links to detailed articles about each water purification method - we list these methods and links again in a list just below.

Watch out: If community or private wells are back in operating and providing water after a disaster, do not assume that the water is sanitary and ok to drink until responsible authorities have said so. Even then, local water pipes in a building may be unsanitary and additional cleaning or disinfection may be needed.

 




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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Question: I like colloidal silver for water purification

Colloidal Silver is perfectly safe if you don't use anything but distilled water and pure silver to make it. The FDA paraded blue man argyria idiot drinks huge amounts of the unsafe kind and to this day insists continuing that way. Any colloidal silver with salts or proteins in it will turn you as blue, as you would get, explaining this simple fact to the corrupted FDA. - LL 4/13/2012

Reply: experts point to dubious claims and risks relying on your approach

Thank you for your views, LL. Unfortunately, not only can we assume that preparers around the world use or even have access to distilled water, but worse, colloidal silver is used in some very hostile (bad drinking water source) environments.

Speaking more generally, "harmless" does not mean "helpful". And "not helpful" preparations can actually be harmful if people find themselves relying on an ineffective remedy for a serious problem.

In August 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned colloidal silver sellers from claiming any therapeutic or preventive value for the product, noting that colloidal silver was being marketed for numerous diseases without evidence of safety or effectiveness. The product now has the status of a dietary supplement in the US; it can be promoted with general "structure-function" claims, but cannot be marketed as preventing or treating any illness.

Question: need clear article on buying simple water purification kits for use when there is no municipal supply

A clear article is needed regarding buying simple water purification kits for home use in case the municipal water supply is down for months. The kit should be continually reusable with a reasonable level of maintenance and assuming you cannot purchase any spare parts for it during the ongoing emergency. - John 11/7/2012

Reply: for emergency drinking water supply we recommend a portable water filter, preferably a ceramic water filter for long durability and minimum need for replacement parts or filters

Thanks John, you're quite right.

The article on this page catalogs the various methods for drinking water treatment or purification, explaining what works and what does not.

Among the methods described in this article "Water purifying filters: Use a filter designed for water purification, particularly ceramic filters and silver-ceramic filters.

In the article on this page the text "Water purifying filters" is a link to a class of portable water purification kits, describing each and their properties, capacity, and reliability. From your comment I have revised this and all of the text in our article series on water purification and treatment methods to make the options more readily apparent.

Among all of the water purifying methods for use in an emergency, in my OPINON, the best all around choice is a ceramic filter cartridge type pump system. Ceramic filters will remove just about all contaminants except possibly some dissolved chemicals unlikely to be in emergency water supplies anyway.

Ceramic filters for water purification in emergency or camping use are available in a variety of sizes and capacities, require no electricity, do not require replacement parts, and if/when the filter begins to clog the ceramic cartridge can be cleaned by simple scrubbing its exterior with the cleanest water available nearby. We used a ceramic filter of this type to provide safe drinking water for a group of about 20 people for two weeks with complete reliability.


...

Continue reading at BLEACH DISINFECTANT for DRINKING WATER or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

CERAMIC FILTERS & WATER PURIFICATION

COLIFORM STANDARDS for DRINKING WATER

DRINKING WATER EMERGENCY SOURCES - sources of drinking water that may be useful in emergency conditions.

FILTERS for DRINKING WATER PURIFICATION - home water filters used for sediment, odors, etc."

WATER TANK CLEANING CODES STANDARDS

WELL DISINFECTION PROCEDURE, POST FLOODING

Suggested citation for this web page

DRINKING WATER EMERGENCY PURIFICATION at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS

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