Aerobic oxygen vs. food-grade hydrogen peroxide - same thing?

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OK, I have another question.

I've been thinking about adding aerobic oxygen to our cistern, but it's sooooo expensive!

Someone told me to check out food-grade hydrogen peroxide, but I haven't had much luck finding information.

Are the two items the same thing? Or is one better than the other? I don't know a whole lot about either one, actually. If any of you can tell me whether either one of these is a good thing to add to my cistern, can you also head me in the right direction for the best price?

Since it hasn't rained much since we put the cistern in, I think the only thing in there is probably a little dried mud. If worse comes to worse, I'll fill it with the hose, but I'd still have to treat the water, right?

Thanks in advance!

-- peg (peg@futureandahope.com), November 09, 1999

Answers

Peg, last year I checked with the American Society of Microbiologists about these two products. I was told they were not as efficacious as plain, inexpensive chlorine bleach. I understanhd that after one year bleach has lost one-half of its effectiveness. Obviously, you should then add twice as much! A simple filter, such as those in Brita or Pur pitchers, will remove the bleach taste. Any flat taste can be removed by pouring the water back and forth from glass to glass to oxygenate it. If you look in the food archive of the old forum and search under water, I think you'll find the quantities necessary to sterilize large volumes of water. Incidentally, all the aid agencies recommend bleach for sterilizing water. Any deviation in drops per gallon is likely due to whether the water referred to is filthy flood water, "wild" water from a creek, or tap/well water.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 09, 1999.

Old Git is right. It's much better to use (non-scented) bleach to treat your water. 8 drops to gallon if water is clear, 16 drops if not. Wait at least 30-40 minutes before use.

BTW - Aerobic oxygen is NACLO2. It's the 2 oxygen molecules that supposedly kills bacteria. I wouldn't trust it. It is good for adding days to the shelf life of milk. Available: Aerobic Life Phoenix, AZ 800-798-0707

Hydrogen Peroxide - Food Grade 35% H2O2 is mainly used as a fruit and vegetable wash. I don't know about treating water. It is very caustic and must be diluted down to 3% and then one still has to be careful. Another down side - it needs to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Available: M & A Distributors, Atlanta, GA (404)634-8881

Bookworm

-- bookworm (bookworm_2@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.


Thank you both for the good information - very helpful. It helps a lot to know the chemical formulas (I skipped high school chemistry after never getting the point in physics - what a chicken) - and what they're used for.

I'll use bleach - next thing to do I guess is find out how many drops are in a tablespoon, and how many tablespoons in a cup. I can't remember how many gallons our cistern will hold, but it's several thousand gallons.

Actually, the most important thing to do right now is to pray for rain, or we'll have to use the hose, and our water is extremely hard, which I'd be happy to avoid.

Thanks again!

-- peg (peg@futureandahope.com), November 11, 1999.


I'd like to answer from a natural health perspective. Chlorine is very toxic stuff. If you use it in your water, it'd be good to filter it out again before you drink or cook with the water, which is easily done by running th water through a charcoal filter first. You can make your own filter if you want to save $. Hydrogen peroxide and aerobic oxygen are quite different. Suggest you read the article at www.nutraceuticals2000.com But, the best place to purchase aerobic oxygen is www.goodforyou.ca 1-800-661-8364) Good For You Canada is the only company making aerobic oxygen with only negative ions. The pos. ions in other products will create free radicals in your body. You are right that it is an expensive way to purify water. Better to store pure water in the first place. Or use colloidal silver of your own making, so you know what you have and it is inexpensive. At any rate, drinking water would surely be all you'd need to "treat," not all the water you are storing for other uses.

-- Shivani Arjuna (SArjuna@aol.com), November 15, 1999.

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