WATER PURIFICATION W/ CHOLRINE BLEACH.

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Like many things in life that I once thought that I knew but later forgot due to disuse. What is the proper drop to gallon ratio for purification of water using chlorine beach??? How much is used when simply storing already clean water???? How long do stored unopended jugs of chlorine bleach last????

Thank you for your time in responding. We appreciate it.

-- Zeck Buckner (bph1994@yahoo.com), December 21, 1999

Answers

Chlorox Site

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 21, 1999.


Assuming the water is clear use 8 drops of unscented bleach per gallon or 2 drops per quart. If the water is cloudy double the amounts. Before use let the water set for 30 - to 40 minutes. If chlorine odor is still present pour water back and forth between two bowls or pans. Also, never use any bleach other than unscented.

Regarding how much to use when simply storing is not (for me) an easy answer. What I have discovered from talking to the experts is that there are too many variables such as temperature, cleanliness of storage container, sunlight, etc. to make long term water storage an exact science.

I hope this helps.

Bookworm

-- Bookworm (bookworm_2@hotmail.com), December 21, 1999.


From a link a couple of threads down. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- Y2K EMERGENCY NOTES ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- YOU NEVER MISS THE WATER UNTIL YOUR WELL RUNS DRY. If the water system has been disrupted, assume the water is impure unless announced otherwise. 90% of the surface water on Earth is unsafe to drink without purification. Many life-threatening diseases and parasites can be spread by impure water. Do not take chances with water; always boil or otherwise purify any water suspected of impurities. Here are some places to look for water:

Your household plumbing. (1) close the main shutoff valve. If the gas and electricity are still on, turn off the hot water heater. (2) Open the faucets, one by one, collecting any water that comes out. Do this until all the faucets in the house have been opened and their water drained. (3) Open the drain valve on your main water line. If there is no valve, disconnect a water pipe at the lowest point in your system, and drain the water. To tap the water heater, close the cold water inlet pipe (on top of the heater). Open a hot water tap and let the water run until it stops. Attach a hose to the drain cock in the base of the heater, open the valve and drain into a container. The plumbing of large buildings will contain a lot of water. The building maintenance supervisor would know how to access this water. Waterbed water is not safe to drink due to the toxic anti-algae treatments, but it is a great source for water for flushing toilets. Treated swimming pool water is a judgment call based on what it has been treated with.

Wells. Many cities have artesian wells in parks and other public places. Studies indicate that ground water that has filtered through 2 meters (a little more than six feet) of sand or loam is free of bacteria, parasites, and other water-borne problems, but there could be problems such as a leaky sewer pipe or industrial contamination with the water. Unless announced otherwise, purify the water. Rain. Most houses and buildings have gutters that collect and channel rain to down spouts. When it rains, let the water run for about 10 or 15 minutes, and then catch the runoff from the down spouts in barrels or buckets. (If the roof is in bad repair, cover it with tarps or plastic.) Rainwater can be caught on flat roofs by tarps that channel the water into buckets. Rainwater is very pure, but if the roof or gutters are in bad condition or dirty, purify the water before drinking.

Streams, rivers, lakes. All surface water must be purified before drinking. Just because animals and birds may drink it doesn't make it safe for humans. Water-borne diseases & parasites are grave threats from such water, even if it looks sparkling clean and pure. Snow and ice melt. Fresh, clean, just-fallen snow can be melted and used without further purification. Older snow must be purified. Don't eat snow; you'll have a net water loss due to the energy required to melt the snow. Use a candle, a camp stove, wood stove, or the sun. Two ways to melt snow with the sun are: (1) Pack clear containers (smaller containers, like a 2 liter bottle with the top cut off) with snow. Place them on a black background in full sun. (2) Put two poles in the ground and drape a couple of black trash bags so their ends are in a bucket. Put some snow on the black plastic. Orient this so the snow is exposed to full sun. The melted water trickles down the plastic into the bucket. Rivers. Dig a hole at least 3 feet deep below the level of the water, about 12 feet from the river's edge, in a spot that is only a foot or so above the level of the river. You may need to shore up the sides of this hole to keep it from collapsing. Water will seep into this hole from the river, and will be relatively clean water, but it must be purified before using.

Emergency purification of water

Water to be purified by these methods should be as clear as possible. If the water is cloudy or dirty because of suspended solids, let it sit in buckets for a day or so to allow the solid materials to settle to the bottom. Siphon clear water from the center and middle of the bucket, leaving the solids and the water just above them in the bottom. Put this water through several layers of coffee filters or clean cloth. Then treat it by one of these methods. Make purified water taste better by adding a bit of lemon juice or a powdered drink mix; also, pouring back and forth between two clean containers helps.

Boil for 10 minutes. "Boiled" means a rolling boil, not simmering. At higher altitudes, increase the boiling time to 15 minutes. To improve the taste, add a pinch of salt to each quart of boiled water and pour it back and forth between two containers. Treat with chlorine or iodine. Use plain, old-fashioned chlorine bleach (the label says "sodium hypochlorite at 5.25%", Clorox bleach is this strength, don't use scented or colored bleach). Add 8 drops to each gallon of water. Mix thoroughly and let it stand for 30 minutes. It should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn't, repeat the procedure. To purify with iodine, use "2% U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP) strength" (ordinary household or medicinal iodine). For clear water, add 20 drops per gallon, 40 drops if the water is cloudy. Cover and let it stand for 30 minutes. If you are using water purification tablets; follow the directions on the label. Bleach and iodine kill micro- organisms, if there are chemical pollutants in the water, they will remain. Distillation. Put 3 tuna cans on the bottom of a large pot and place a smaller pot on top of the tuna cans. Put unpurified water in the larger pot (make sure the smaller pot does not float off of the tuna cans.) Turn the lid upside down and place it on the large pot. Bring the pot to a boil. The vapor will condense on the under side of the upside-down lid and flow down the lid to drip into the smaller pot. To hasten the process, you can put a bit of cool water in the lid, but make sure the cool water can't drip through the lid into the water below.



-- Michael (michaelteever@buffalo.com), December 21, 1999.


EPA Guidelines for storing water (taken from the AWWA website)

Q: How do I store water? A: Water that has already been treated (such as water from your public water supplier) does not need to be retreated if you intend to store it. Store all water in clean, tightly-covered, non- corrodible containers. You can store treated water for up to six months. Water that has been boiled can be stored for up to a year. Bring your water to a boil, boil for one full minute (longer if you live at higher altitudes), then allow it to cool to room temperature before storing or using.

Q: How do I treat water if my water supply fails?

A: If you believe you need to disinfect your water, there are several options available to you.

The first method is to boil your water. Bring your water to a boil, boil for one full minute (longer if you live at higher altitudes), then allow it to cool to room temperature before storing or using. EPA recommends that boiled water be stored in non-corrodible containers. The water may be stored for one year.

When boiling is not practical, chemical disinfection should be used. The two chemicals commonly used are chlorine and iodine. Chlorine and iodine are somewhat effective in protecting against exposure to Giardia, but may not be effective in controlling Cryptosporidium . Therefore, use iodine or chlorine only to disinfect well water (as opposed to surface water sources such as rivers, lakes, and springs), because well water is less likely to contain these disease causing organisms. Chlorine is generally more effective than iodine in controlling Giardia , and both disinfectants work much better in warmer water.

You may disinfect with common household chlorine bleach. Common household bleach contains a chlorine compound that will disinfect water. The procedure to be followed is usually written on the label. When the procedure is not given, one should find the percentage of available chlorine on the label and use the information in the following tabulation as a guide: if available chlorine is 1%, add 10 drops to one quart of clear water; add 2 drops if available chlorine is 4-6% and 1 drop if 7-10%. If the strength is unknown, add 10 drops. Double amount of chlorine for colored or cloudy water. The water should be mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand 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 taste is too strong, 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.

Common household iodine from the medicine chest or first aid chest may be used to disinfect water. Add five drops of 2% United States Pharmacopeia (U.S.P.) tincture of iodine to each quart of clear water. For cloudy water add ten drops and let the solution stand for at least 30 minutes.

EPA's Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water factsheet is available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/emerg.html.

Q: How do I filter water?

A: EPA is not specifically recommending that you purchase or use filters in anticipation of Y2K problems. However, if you wish to purchase a filter or filtration unit, there are several organizations you may contact for information.

No one treatment unit is available to remove all of the substances that may be present in your water. The first step towards deciding which unit is best for your situation is to identify which substance (s) you want to remove from your water based on both health-related and/or aesthetic concerns. Second, find a unit that is designed to remove the substance(s).

Two reliable sources of information on treatment units are the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and the Water Quality Association (WQA). NSF is an independent, not-for-profit organization that develops and adopts voluntary, consensus standards and testing programs for a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, including home water treatment units. NSF offers an evaluation of products against NSF standards, other voluntary, consensus standards and government regulations. NSF can be reached at 800-673-8010 or 800- 673-6275, through their web page at: http://www.nsf.org, and through their e-mail address: info@nsf.org.

WQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization that represents firms and individuals engaged in the design, manufacture, production, distribution and sale of equipment, products, supplies and services for providing quality water. WQA's water quality specialists can provide advice on treatment units for specific uses at residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional establishments. WQA can be reached at 630-505-0160, through their web page at: http://www.wqa.org, and through their e-mail address: info@mail.wqa.org.

Q: Does EPA recommend a specific brand of bottled water?

A: EPA does not regulate bottled water nor does it endorse or recommend specific brands. The Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water. You can contact the FDA at 1-888-463- 6332. The International Bottled Water Association certifies some brands of bottled water. The IBWA can be reached at 1-800-WATER11. The website for IBWA is: http://www.bottlewater.org.

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-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 21, 1999.


Chrloine gases out of water, fairly quickly. It gases out even quicker if the water is is aerated (which is one of the reasons why most faucets have aeroraters). To be on the safe side, I DO re-treat water before storing it, but most recommendations you see for the amount of chlorine added, are way to high for previously treated water. 3 to 4 drops per 2 Liter bottle, are sufficient for this purpose.

As far as chlorine taste is concerned, any off-the-shelf department store filter (Britta, Pur) should do the trick. I experimented with treating tap water, then running it thru my Britta, and the water tasted fine.

I haven't tried this on water stored for long periods of time, so I don't know if the filtering process provides sufficient agitation to help with the aeration issue. Once it's filtered, you may still need to pour it back and forth between two containers, to put oxygen back into the water (lack of oxygen is what gives stored water it's flat taste).

-- Bokonon (bok0non@my-Deja.com), December 21, 1999.



What about other types of bleach ? I was planning on using Sodium Carbonate Peroxyhydrate powder. Anyone know the dosage for this ?

-- a question (a@question.com), December 21, 1999.

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