Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Water Purification

For awhile, I tried storing bottles of chlorine bleach to have on hand for water purification. Then, when IT kept not happening, and the years kept going by, and the bottles started to leak, I looked around to see if there were other alternatives. Thankfully, there is one that seems to make really good sense. Today I came across an article which talks about it. Read the article, then stay tuned for a few follow up comments at the end.


Hold the Chlorine
by Aaron Mackley

Anyone who has been working on emergency preparedness for very long knows he has to acquire an adequate amount of water. We publish a lot of information in this Water Purification series. You are probably already familiar that you should have a minimum of 1 gallon of water per person per day for two weeks. Or 14-gallons per person in your household. But that’s a minimum.

And you have probably learned how to use two drops of household bleach per quart or liter of water. You know to stir it in and then let it sit for 30 minutes. And of course, you are probably quite aware that you should filter your water BEFORE you try to purify it. See our water filter here and our other videos in the series.

But wait. The household bleach is only good if it is fresh. Clorox or other unscented household bleach will begin to lose its potency after only 6 months. It will degrade 20% each year until is is totally degraded to salt and water. That won’t purify your water.

How long has your bleach been waiting?

There is a better solution.
Use Calcium Hypochlorite to Disinfect Water.

Calcium hypochlorite is a very effective disinfectant for water. It will destroy a variety of disease causing organisms including bacteria, yeast, fungus, spores, and viruses. It is better than household bleach by a long shot because it retains its potency. A 1 lb bag of calcium hypochlorite will treat up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water.
What is Calcium Hypochlorite?

Calcium Hypochlorite is commonly known as “pool shock.” You can get it at any swimming pool supply store.
How to Disinfect Water Using Calcium Hyprochlorite

Before disinfecting any water, regardless of the method, you should always clarify the water through a filter. We recommend that you build a water purification kit and include one (plus a backup) 1-micron industrial filter bag. Pazumpa.com buys these filters from industrial suppliers and makes them available to buy one or more at a time.

After you clarify (filter) your water, disinfecting the water is a two step process:

1. 1) Making the chlorine solution.
2. 2) Using the correct amount of chlorine solution to disinfect the water.

Step 1: Making the chlorine solution.

* Remember. This step makes the solution. This is not to drink. To make your supply of chlorine solution, dissolve 1 teaspoon of high-test (78%) granular calcium hypochlorite for EACH two gallons of water.
* This solution is comparable to bleach. This is the solution you will use to add to water.

Step 2: Disinfect the water.

* This solution requires one part chlorine solution to 100 parts water to be treated.
* Stir in the solution.
* Let the solution stand for an hour.
* 1 part solution to 100 parts water

A 55 gallon drum of water would require 1/2 gallon of chlorine solution.  [Also, for other uses, you would put about 2 1/2 T. of chlorine solution per gallon.]
Some other things to know.

1) It is best to make only as much chlorine solution as you will need. Remember, the crystals will retain their potency. The liquid solution will not.

2) The industrial filter bag will filter thousands of gallons of water. Likewise, the calcium hypochlorite solution will also disinfect thousands of gallons of water. Together, they can remain a viable water purification solution.

3) Once you have purified your water, you may want to pour the water back and forth between clean buckets or containers. This will allow the chlorine to evaporate and the chlorine taste will disappear. It will also aerate the water which helps the taste.

4) It is best to make only as much chlorine solution as you will need.

Source: http://www.pazumpa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=782&utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Hold%20the%20Bleach!%20plus%202%20Gun%20Rights%20Articles.&utm_campaign=pazumpa

[End of article]

One thing I have read, is that the container of hypochlorite granules emits something out into the air that can affect certain things within close proximity. You might want to put it in a bag, and then put the bag in a box for storage. I'll look for the specifics of that, and post them here when I find them. This is so much more convenient that trying to store bottles of bleach. Just go the pool & spa store and pick up a container. I actually typed up the instructions and put them on a paper that I taped to the outside of the container, so I'll have them when I need them. As long as I can remember where I put the container, whenever it is I need it, I'll be in good shape.

[Later. . .]

Okay, I found the information on storing the stuff. Here it is:

Liquid chlorine bleach, however, is inconvenient to store. Only about 5.25% - 7.5% of each eight pound gallon is active sodium (or calcium) hypochlorite; the rest is just water. Yet because of the potency of its active ingredient, and the flimsiness of typical plastic bleach bottles, it poses a constant risk to everything stored near it.

One potential solution is to store concentrated dry chlorine granules; commonly available as swimming pool shock treatment. Available in a wide variety of sizes, swimming pool shock treatment typically contains from 50% - 60% active calcium hypochlorite, making it much lighter in weight and 10 times as concentrated as liquid bleach, but not susceptible to spilling and leaking risks. Theoretically, it should be possible to make your own chlorine bleach by simply combining the proper amount of water and dry granules.

I quickly discovered, however, that storing dry chlorine poses hazards of its own. Initially, I purchased two 1 pound plastic bags of swimming pool shock treatment and stored them in a small closet along with a variety of other preparedness items. The granules generated a strong chlorine smell in the closet, but when access was needed, opening the door for a minute or two would reduce the small to a tolerable level.

About a year later, however, I went to reorganize the closet, and was startled to find many things badly corroded by fumes from the granules. Several storage tins were badly rusted, some 200-hour emergency candles in tins were nearly rusted clear through, and the steel ends of some batteries were also corroded.

Surprisingly, even some lightweight cardboard boxes were so badly degraded that they virtually disintegrated when handled, and a 10-page document (about emergency water) which had been printed on our computer's inkjet printer was virtually erased!

To combat these problems, I bought a fresh supply of (HTH brand $3.35/lb. at Wal-Mart) chlorine granules and stored them in an all-glass canister with a glass top, rubber ring, and spring wire snap latch ($4.44 at Wal-Mart) . That has solved my storage problem.


Source:  This came from an article on survivalblog.com several years ago.

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