Im confused (again) on some water issues. This is a long post because I want to explain all of the options that I have already considered.

1.My family and I have steam-distilled our own water for years because of how gross our city water tastes and smells, and for health reasons. We had originally thought that we could put steam-distilled water in drums,seal them, and they would be o.k. 2.Then we were told that if even ONE microbe entered the water while pouring it in, that it could breed germs,algae, etc. 3.So then we had to consider putting in an additive. 4. We are not comfortable putting bleach/iodine/hydrogen peroxide in our water. So we bought ion-VERY EXPENSIVE! But we felt that there was no point in scimping when it came to water. We were told that it also had medicinal purposes. It was explained to us that if we used pre-treated tap water, we could cut the amount of ion needed in half.So we decided to just go ahead and use tap water w/ion. 5. But then a Gary North article reminded us of our original reason for distilling our water in the first place-the fact that it is not that safe to drink and it tastes terrible. 6.So now we are back to wanting to use distilled water. But what should we put in it? How long will it last? Help!

-- madeline (runner@bcpl.net), September 26, 1998

Answers

If it means survival, you might have to get over your objection to chemical treatment. One gallon of bleach goes a long way. Here are a couple of URLs that might help:

http://www.lifelink.com/foo dwtr.htm http://www.fema.gov/r-n-r/ waterf.htm

-- Mike (gartner@execpc.com), September 26, 1998.

My choice would be adding a small amount of chlorine bleach to the distilled water for storage. When you take some from a drum for drinking, just let it sit out overnight in an open container, like a cooking pot for instance, and much of the chlorine will dissipate.

Put it in perspective-- if it gets to the point where you have to rely on stored water for months, then a little chlorine will be the least of your troubles.

-- Max Dixon (Ogden, UT) (Max.Dixon@gte.net), September 26, 1998.

madeline, another thing you might want to consider is to buy or build a solar still. This would allow you to:

a. Store water distilled if you want to be certain to remove all tastes. b. Run this drinking water through a solar still before you use it in order to get out any contamination that's been picked up in the storage process.

You can get the plans for the solar still at:

http://www.solardome.com/SolarDome84.html

Can you make the still? Or find someone to make it for you?

There's been a lot said on the Gary North Food Forum about ionized oxygen, with one woman promoting it strongly (she sells it) and another countering by posting all the recommendations from the Red Cross, FEMA, and other emergency organizations ----- none of whom recommend the use of ionized oxygen, plus some medical research that debunks the medical value of the stuff.

That said, the only recommended treatments by these organizations are boiling, bleach, iodine, water purification tablets (usually contian clorine). That's why the solar still might work well, since it serves the place of boiling and won't add a taste. Worth a try.

PS. I'm planning to make a few solar stills to give to neighbors and friends. Also, good barter item.

-- rocky knolls (rknolls@hotmail.com), September 27, 1998.

Darn, thought I closed that italics bracket.

-- joe (joe@blow.com), September 27, 1998.

The italics gave a nice effect! Thanks for the info on stills. I ffound a web-site for them. They said that the EPA was not giving out anymore blueprints for them.

-- madeline (runner@bcpl.net), September 27, 1998.

I'm planning on a little different approach. I've been buying used food-grade plastic 55 gallon drums that were used for soft drink syrup storage. $13 each. I also got spigots for $5 each. I built a saddle type storage rack out of 4x4's so the barrels will lay down and have the spigot available. I clean the barrels out as best I can. Once mounted in the storage rack, I fill them with regular tap water. I use it on a rotating basis, but once the tap water is shut off, that's it. What I will do then is: 1. Since the water will be in the garage, I will drape the barrels in something to block the light. 2. As I use the water, depending on what it's for, I will prepare the water THEN. I have a Katadyne Pocket filter that the water will go through first. 3. After filtering it, I will boil it. After that, I can use it pretty much as I would regular tap water. The trick is to have a plan for the water usage. You want to use the water for cooking or hygiene first, then use that water for secondary uses (toilet, etc.) By using the water as you need it, you don't have the clorine/ peroxide/ etc. problems you have with pre-treated water. Good Luck.

-- Richard Hunden (rhunden1@juno.com), September 27, 1998.

I have been storing water with chlorine bleach too, but was thinking of buying a Katadyn filter until I saw this on solar stills. Will it take out chemicals? Living in big farm country, our groundwater is full of pesticide and herbicide reside, according to county tests. Solar still would agree with me most if anyone has experience with using them? Thanks for that info.

-- Melissa (financed@forbin.com), September 27, 1998.

My plan for water is to use a water purifier. I will be getting a solar generator which I can use to run both AC and DC. I have a well which I will be putting a hand pump on. First I will plug the water purifier into the solar generator. The water purifier, purifies the water using ozone, ultra violet light and a filter-cost, $250. It does a great job. Then I will pump water through the water purifier recieving purified water.

-- Alan Mostert (alanmos@yahoo.com), September 28, 1998.