How do you treat water?/clothes water

Don't want this to slip too far down the list. Can some people answers these
questions...all good ones. Rocky

I have stored all of my water in 2 litre pop bottles(recycle)lol...and I add couple of drops of REGULAR household bleach into them...last for long time...I poured them out a month ago and the water I had stored from 2-3 years ago was fine..buy yourself as much REGULAR bleach as you can(do not buy colourfast bleaches different chemicals and it can kill you)...I will get back to this post later there are survival sites you can go to that will help...

you are all mentioning using regular household bleach-but surely you cannot put that in water you may want to DRINK?

this is what i am trying to find out.

WHAT do i put in water i may want to DRINK but have to store for months? do i buy special PURIFYING TABLETS? or what?

thanks

thanks crystal.So you mean that stinky,horrible stuff used for disinifecting and whitening clothes,sticking down drains etc etc? jee whizz.

so,if i had a water butt holding 55 gallons,how many drops would i put in? and how do you determine a "drop"?

are you sure this is medically safe?

do you have a link to any sites about it?

how long will the water then keep?(weeks/months)

thanks in advance :)

hi Auntbones

I live in the UK and intend to fill my butts with tap water too,but how long will it last in the butts and be safe to drink? water tastes so stale after just a DAY.I guess I'd be using it for cooking food and making tea/coffee.why is nearly everyone on about putting bleach into the water then?i presume all these people will also use tap water so why treat with bleach if it's already ok straight from the tap?I'm a tad confused.

haha,was just about to eat my lunch when the door went and my water buttes were delivered! I have 6 HUGE 55L butts now lined up in my narrow hallway ready to go in my tiny garden and i just had to laugh at how silly it all feels on none hand.My partner said we could always use them to make and store beer if not for bird flu water.typical.

brush your teeth with mouthwash? isn't that a tad extreme,you would only need an egg cup full of water to brush/rinse.I', buying tooth paste personally.Got tonnes of baby wipes though :)

 

NOTE: water stored in soda bottles or any other container that is re -filled must be rotated every six months. Pour the water out ,clean the container with hot soapy water, let it dry completely  and refill all the way to the top.  You should not leave any space for air because this contributes to condensation which can result in organism growth.

You should also add 16 drops non scented liquid bleach per gallon to help preserve it before storing. This is done to prevent organisms from growing in the water after it is stored.

Tincture of Iodine(not the pink kind get the white) can also be used for disinfecting water. The ratio is 10 drops per gallon,mix well, let stand for 1/2 an hour.

The average soda bottle holds one half gallon.

To get rid of the flat taste of stored water pour the water from one container to another to re- airiate the water.

You can also use Kool Aid Tang or any other drink mix to kill the bleach/flat taste.

Store water in a dry, dark, cool location. Do not permit water to freeze as it will burst the bottle when it expands.

From personal experience, empty milk jugs and commerically filled gallon jugs are a bad choice. They don't stand up well for long term storage and have a tendancy to spring leaks. On your carpet. Right before company arrives.

Hi- C containers and Juice containers work very well as they are constructed of a more rigid Plastic.

Any container you plan to use must be washed well and allowed to air dry completely before re-filling.

Wal Mart sells a Hard plastic  Container that is excellent. The Brand name is "Ozark Trail" Desert Patrol Water container 6 gallon size. It has an easy pour spout that retracts and is easy to store because of it's slim dimensions. The container costs about 6 bucks.

Water from catch barrels should be strained ,(pantyhose in queen size work well to catch the big stuff) then boiled for three minutes before drinking or utility use. You can't just add bleach.

If you see algae or mold in your catch barrel IMO you should use that water for plants and clean it out when it is empty.

For laundry I think you are safe enough, if you are using bleach and hot water for your underclothes.

Hope this helps.

Hi All, I've been looking at water purifiers, can anyone give me advice on which one to go for? Thanks.

From my Y2K notes:

Bleach to Water Ratio

Here are the ratios for mixing Water and Chlorine Bleach.

• Two-liter bottle of water: Use 4 drops of regular liquid bleach.
• One quart of water: Use 4 drops of regular liquid bleach.
• One gallon of water: Use 16 drops of regular liquid bleach.
• One gallon of water: Use 1/4 teaspoon (about 16 drops) of liquid bleach.
• 5-gallons of water: Use 1 teaspoon of regular liquid bleach.

For you non-metrics:

          Water                 Bleach

•  1 gal. (    4.5 liters), 3 drops (0.18 mL)
•  2½ gal.( 10 liters),   5 drops (0.4 mL)
•  5 gal. (   23 liters), 11 drops (0.9 mL)
•  10 gal. (   45 liters), 22 drops (1.8 mL)

 22 gal. ( 100 liters), 3/4 teaspoon (4 mL)

45 gal. ( 205 liters),  1oz+1/2 tsp (8 mL)

50 gal. ( 230 liters),  1oz+3/4 tsp (9 mL)

100 gal. ( 450 liters),  3oz+1/2 tsp (18 mL)

220 gal. (1000 liters), 8 tsp (40 mL)

500 gal. (2200 liters), 6 tbs (90 mL)

1000 gal.(4550 liters),6½oz/12tbs(180mL)

 

Mix well; wait 30 minutes. Water should have a slight bleach odor. If not, repeat and wait 15 more minutes. Disinfecting using bleach works best with warm water.

 

The disinfecting action of bleach depends as much on the waiting time after mixing as to the amount used. The longer the water is left to stand after adding bleach, the more effective the disinfection process will be.

 

CAUTION: Bleach does not work well in killing off beaver fever (Giardia) or Cryptosporidium parasites. When the water is not heavily polluted, or when beaver fever (Giardia) or cryptosporidiosis are not a concern the use of unscented household bleach (5.25% chlorine) is recommended. The amount of bleach needed to kill these other parasites makes the water almost impossible to drink. If beaver fever (Giardia) or Cryptosporidium are in your water, boiling is the best way to ensure safe drinking water.

 

CAUTION: If you are treating water from a lake, stream, or shallow well, use twice as much household (5.25%) bleach as indicated in the chart and wait twice as long before drinking. These types of waters are more likely to contain chlorine-resistant parasites from animal droppings. Let the water stand for at least an hour after adding the bleach before you start drinking it.

 

CAUTION: If the water is colder than 10°C or has a pH higher than 8, let the water stand for at least two hours before drinking.

 

CAUTION: If bleach is more than one year old, it loses approximately 50% strength. In this case, the amount of bleach should be doubled. After treating with 5.25% chlorine bleach, mix well, and allow water to stand 30 minutes before using. Clearly mark an eyedropper and use the eyedropper for no other purpose than to measure bleach. If the bleach is not dated, at time of purchase, note the purchase date on the bottle with a permanent marker.

thanks for the indepth replies.

one more question-i plan to use ordinary tap water and store it in water butts.Do i still need to treat it with bleach and if so,you are definately sure it will be ok to drink it?

many thanks guys!

cosmicpixie, you are asking all of the right questions. I have never seen non smelling bleach and never heard of anyone drinking water with bleach in. We are also trying to sort out how to store water. The off the shlef bottles at my local Tesco only have a shelf life until June this year.

So I will be watching this thread closley. I will also try and find out any more information from our local camping shop.

 

Here is what I got off the EPA website (Environmental Protection Agency) for making water safe to drink in an emergency. Depends on the % of the bleach also. So check your bleach container for the % amount.

Chlorine%      drops per quart of clear water

1%         10 drops

4-6%          2 drops

7-10%        1 drop

If the water is cloudy or colored then double the amounts. Let stand 30 minutes before drinking. Regular household bleach like Clorox is 6%, I just checked my container to be sure.  www.epa.gov/safewater   scrolldown to bottom of page click on Emergency disinfection of drinking water

If you have some availability of water, either by well or nearby lake or stream, a slow sand filter will kill most bacterial and viral organisms as well as Giarda and Cryptosporidium, as well as reduce nitrates, some metals, and various impurities without added chemicals (you could still chlorinate for drinking if desired).  Its good to have plenty of storage because these filters take a week or so of being filled with water to really develop the biologically active layer that does the purifying work if the filter goes dry or when you backwash it to clear debris.  This water will many city water supplies without the use of chemicals.

Basically, you need a some plumbing fittings and a container (from 5 gallons to 5000) filled with the right size and depth of sand (you can get sand (.15 to .35mm from a gravel outlet) built to a size to provide the quantity you wish (subject to the availability of water, of course). 

Instructions:

http://www.biosandfilter.org/biosandfilter/index.php/item/33 0

Buy kits (not an endorsement of this store - never dealt with them)

http://www.watertiger.net/biosand/about_biosand.html 

cosmic, do you think that the water supply in the UK will go? How much water are you stocking up on just in case including bottled water?

Thanks for the info cosmic, I having a real panic day today.

 

Had you looked in your local council website, in our area they sell half price water butts.

Here's information for chlorine.
CHLORINE METHODS
Chlorine Bleach:
When boiling is not practical, chemical disinfection should be used. Common household bleach contains a chlorine compound that will disinfect water. The procedure to be followed is usually written on the label. When the necessary procedure is not given, find the percentage of available chlorine on the label and use the information in the following tabulation as a guide.
Available Chlorine      Drops per Quart of Clear Water
1%            10
4-6%             2
7-10%             1
(If strength is unknown, add ten drops per quart of water. Double amount of chlorine for cloudy or colored water or water that is extremely cold.)
The treated water should be mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand, preferably covered, for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine odor; if not, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand for an additional 15 minutes. If the treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, it can be made more pleasing by allowing the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or by pouring it from one clean container to another several times.

Granular Calcium Hypochlorite.
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 mg/L, since the calcium hypochlorite has an available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 oz.) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the water as described above.
Chlorine Tablets.Chlorine tablets containing the necessary dosage for drinking water disinfection can be purchased in a commercially prepared form. These tablets are available from drug and sporting goods stores and should be used as stated in the instructions. When instructions are not available, use one tablet for each quart of water to be purified.

On calcium HypoChlorite. A little bit goes a long way.   

You can drink treated water and you won't die. Or get the poops. It tastes like slightly over -chlorinated tap water. I drank some of ours during the 2004 hurricane season to save the stocked store bought water for my kids.  The youngest gets the poops from regular tap water. And slurpees at 7-11. So he doesn't get tap water at all. The dogs drank it too. If you don't like the smell or taste of the treated water you can add a drink mix to it.

After Hurricane Charlie we had no idea if our city supplied water had been compromised so we just didn't use it until we found out for sure. ( there was alot of flooding in some areas) The phones were all out  and there were no local news broadcasts for our specific area. If you've ever tried to get a local official on his cell phone after a major event you know what I'm talking about. Most of the news focused on the larger metro areas. as we had little information for 3 days about the status of our community ,I felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

Use a medicine dropper for the bleach . IMO it's the easiest way to remember how much to use. Some people may prefer the excellent post made here with tsp. measurments.

If you can't find a dropper on the shelf, liquid fever reducers for babies have one, as does liquid vitamins and so forth. Just make sure you clean it well before repurposing.

I treat the tap water I am intending to store with bleach. The extra disinfection won't hurt you and I know my stored water will not grow any bacteria.

I use only non scented bleach. If the lable says "morning fresh scent" or anything else it not the right kind of bleach. "ultra " on the label doesn't mean the bleach is not ok to use. It's a publicity thing the bleach is still regular bleach.

If you have a large quantity of water you want to treat, do it a gallon at a time in empty containers. IMO counting drops is hard enough, don't complicate it.

I plan to use my stored water in the event of Pandemic. All tap water will be treated before using.

I do not trust the idea that someone will be manning the water plant at all times in the event of wide spread illness. Or that there will be adequate chemicals available two weeks in to treat it.

The water plant personel have to identify a problem before they can report it. If no one is there to report it,The public doesn't find out. We don't have state of the art treatment plants here . So I'm not going to trust the idea that the water is safe to drink.

Cosmic:

Yes the taste "boils out" somewhat. Just like tap water. As I drink filtered or bottled water on a regular basis, (flouridation in the water gives me migraines) I notice the chlorine taste in tap water even in a fountain drink. Bleck!