Water Purification

I've been putting off building a Bugout Bag for quite a while. Mostly it was finances, but partly it seemed like a good idea but not a priority. For the last 6 months or so I've had a growing feeling I needed to build one. (I've learned to listen to this little feeling. it has been right too often & it has been getting stronger recently.) Now that I'm gainfully employed again my bugout bag is priority & got a modest start today. For the forseeable future it has to stay modest. Inexpensive is good, but cheap is not. My life & the life of my little boy could depend on this.

I currently have a change of clothing (w/ extra socks/underwear), some food, bottled water, compass, first aid kit, magnesium firestarter, bug spray, emergency blanket, 2 light sticks, (edited to add: 4 bottles of water) & a couple of disposable ponchos. I'm going to get a better pack (possibly a medium Alice) & a cold steel entrenching tool with scabbard in the near future. Will add flashlights & batteries as I decide what belongs in there. I'm also going to add rope, tape, camo paint, knives/tools, fishing stuff & some sort of machete/hatchet among other things as I come across them & budget for them. When I get a real pack, my little boy will get my current one (small day/book bag) with clothes for him, pullups, wipes & a small share of the food. I'd probably have to carry him, but he can wear the pack on his back.

I'm not sure where I'm going with food in the long run. Have thought about the MRE idea. Am seriously considering a couple of (sam's size) packages of Jerky, a package of snickers, some [font=&quot]Matzos (an idea from a friend. His BOB has it in a sealed container.) to give me some sort of bread, some individual fruit cups & some vitamins. I could live on that food supply for a week if I had too. I wouldn't be happy, but I could live on it.[/font]

In my case there will be guns in my bugout bag, or at least in an associated package in the gun safe. I'm leaning towards including 3 firearms. A 11.5" AR15 pistol, a Glock 19C & a Glock19 frame with a 22 conversion kit. Part of my reasoning here is I'm currently in a situation where I can probably wait out a problem if I am prepared. Should not be any issues with flooding or other natural disaster. (Except tornadoes) If I have to leave it would probably be due to civil unrest. I'd rather have it & not need it than need it & not have it. I already have the guns. It's just a matter of having the means to carry them, magazines & ammo if necessary.

I need to get a couple of recommendations for water purification. Filter & chemical treatment. I also wouldn't mind seeing other people's lists if it is something you feel comfortable sharing. A discussion of what you are prepared for (event/duration) would also be good because it would help me figure out what I want to be prepared for & what to include. With about $40 a month in the budget, what would you add in the next few months?

Hi Andy.

I currently have several water filter systems. I have two by Seychelle, www.seychelle.com. The Survivor is an all in one filter system that come with an emergency blanket, whistle and chlorine tablets if the water has been stagnant. The filter is rated for 100 gallons and is silver impregnated to further kill bugs. It holds about 1 quart or liter of water and is easy to carry around. I also have the Bottoms Up from Seychelle. It is a similar filter system, but holds a bit more water and is a disposable system. I've used both before and can recommend their performance.

I have also the inline filter for my CamelBak. It is a two part filter with a replaceable carbon filter element. Once you use the second filter up, you have to replace the entire filter system. It is a bit pricey at around $80, but it does integrate well with the CamelBak system and requires no pumping and is basically maintenance free.

I finally have the ceramic filter from Katadyn. It is good for hundred of gallons and comes with a cleaning kit and carry bag. It is the type of filter that you have to pump to get the water through, but should filter out all possible contaminants. I haven't had the chance to try it out, but have read many reviews and it is highly rated.

I would recommend getting a filtering system over just the chlorine tablets or other water treatment tablets or liquids. The filters generally will prevent any contaminants from getting through and takes the murkiness out of the water as well. The Seychelle website recommends adding a half a chlorine tablet to their filter bottles if the water has been standing, instead a free flowing water. Their filter will take out the chlorine taste as well as any of the other contaminants.

Whichever filter system you choose, it is a very good idea to have one. Even crystal clear flowing water can be contaminanted and cause you health grief you don't want to deal with in a crisis. Filtering your water is also easier than carrying around bulk water for enough days to ride out a crisis. Good luck, and let us know what you finally decided on.

There are really a few different options here. I like to have at least one filter or purifier and one chemical method. A backup is always good. You can choose from several brands of filters, or step up to a purifier. The purifier works against viruses where the filter will not. At least in general. Most all are of the pump variety. There is one company that has a bag type that you can hang with several gallons of water in it and overnight, it will filter it out. For long term use like in a house, I can see that making sense. Possibly that and a pump style with Polar Pure or Iodine as a chemical backup.

One very interesting idea that I have been considering is describe in http://www.pwgazette.com/gravity.htm - basically, get a little plumbing stuff and the filter elements that are used in the big fancy (expensive) gravity filters and use a siphon arrangement to get gallons per hour of biologically safe water to drink. I've been curious to know how effective some of the "chemical" filters that they sell are at removing the chemicals - wondering if a pass through two filters could clean out both bacteria/viruses/gunk and nasty chemicals.

I have a 2 part setup.

1. msr pump: this gets some chemicals, giardia, NO crpyto
2. uvaquastar: this cleans up crypto

You could always add some iodine/bleach tablets/drops. This will get crypto, but it takes hours.

I'd also include some cash in your B.O.B. You may have to move out in a hurry and power may be out, making ATM's unusable. The cash may come in handy to buy extra supplies in the middle of the disaster.

gold standard for water purification is still boiling.

water contamination from chemicals, New Orleans disaster. Activated charcoal in conjunction with a micron filter would be a start. then I'd dose it with UV aquastar.

used UVaquastar for two weeks at Philmount without getting sick. be sure to take exta cells and carry a backup method of purification like Micropur Purification Tablets. which is what we used at Philmont when fetching water from streams.

MSR Miox works on the same pricipal of using oxidants to kill virus & cryto. must wait for 30 minutes to kill cryto and back flush threads.

for low budget go with Micropur pills ($18) instead of $129 for MSR Miox. cost per dose is lower with Miox.

You should say what your source of water is before asking how to purify it.

I don't think there's anything that could make NOLA disaster water safe to drink. All kinds of chemicals, dissolved solids, etc,., not just organic stuff. Even distillation might not be enough since the volatile chemicals can boil off and land in the distillate.

http://equipped.org/watrfood.htm has good info on purification of more normal water sources.

paulr said:

You should say what your source of water is before asking how to purify it.

I don't think there's anything that could make NOLA disaster water safe to drink. All kinds of chemicals, dissolved solids, etc,., not just organic stuff. Even distillation might not be enough since the volatile chemicals can boil off and land in the distillate.

http://equipped.org/watrfood.htm has good info on purification of more normal water sources.

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I'm not thinking Katrina levels. I live in Kansas. I am interested in something which I could use from our local ponds/rivers/streams to make the water safe to drink.

I keep a Katadyn Hiker Pro filter in my kit along with the Micropur tablets for purification. One thing to keep in mind is that people allergic to shellfish(iodine) can't tolerate some purifiers that use iodine resin for purification.

A good resource on this subject is Equipped to Survive .

Abraham625 said:

Water Purification Method.
Have a pot or something boil water, have that evaporated water go up into a tube,
then have that tube cooled so the water condenses and you have little tiny droplets of pure water.
The salt and other ions are left behind in the pot.

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Commonly called distillation.

Norm

Quality necro-bump

Abraham625 said:

Have a pot or something boil water

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The most expedient method I know of (if you have fire) is the Big Pot-Little Pot method:

My bug out bag has the Aqamira pro water filter in it. (plus some chlorine dioxide purification tables as well).

+1 for Katadyn ceramic filters. While we have not used their portable filters, we have filtered all of the water we have consumed since 1999 with a Katadyn Drip filter. Even with just the two of us it has paid for itself over and over -- having it for Katrina was a bonus.




I'm actually writing to suggest tossing a couple Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) in your BOB. A WAPI is light weight and tiny and makes a great gift or a desirable item for trade.

Here's the deal, if you are going to use any kind of fuel to render water safe for drinking you need a WAPI. Pasteurization of water only requires about a third of the fuel that sterilization of water by boiling demands.

Google WAPI search:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/btab7ly

Let me be clear that I AM NOT recommending the WAPI for primary use in the worst of the chaos. I'm trying to make the point that they are tiny, light, cheap, trade well, save a great deal of fuel when you're in extremis and have no recourse but to boil and for those reasons a couple of them belong in your BOB. I should also mention that they last forever.

Since Pasteurization occurs at a much lower temperature than boiling, WAPIs make it much easier to treat water using no fuel at all. There is a great deal of info online about using WAPIs in simple impromptu solar solutions to the water dilemma.

Carry WAPIs and be a hero. Besides, when the chips are down, they're babe magnets.

I will add this...

"It's better to know the science behind something, than it is to know how to use it".

Learn the science/art of filtering water...that way you can always improvise if needed. There are many, MANY ways to purify water...don't just rely on your Katdyn. Sand, Charcoal, Little Rocks, Big Rocks. Evaporation/Distilling. UV (which can be done by the sun as well as by artificial UV light. Chemical Treatment.

You can easily filter water hanging a sock, and then layering it with sand, charcoal, pebbles. Coffee filters also make for a good first/second stage filter (plus you can use them for...COFFEE!). Hankerchiefs are good as well. You can distill the water from urine if needed. Learn the science FIRST, then get you commericial versions of at least TWO of the following

1) Chemical Means of filter (tablets)
2) Mechanical Filter (Katdyn)
3) UV Treatment
4) Desalinator (if you're around salt water)

EDIT: Also, here's a link to an indestructible Survival Kit (I have since added a space blanket and water tablets). I built this myself, so please PM any questions you may have:

http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=87349

1) some lifestraws
2) hand-crank steripen


3)
a) brita or other gravity filter to produce clear water

and sterilize it
b) any clear 2 liter soda bottle, filled with filtered water from (a), in the sun for 3 hours will be safe

Hard decision really. Are we talking about bugging out to the mountains or some other place with relatively clean water with some bacteria, are we talking about somewhere where viruses are an issue, or are we talking about a Katrina type event where dangerous chemicals need to be removed from the water?
Scenario 1- bacteria and possible viruses (short term/cheap emergency item): Micropur tablets
Scenario 2- bacteria only: Sawyer Squeeze filter ($60, 3 oz.)
Scenario 3-bacteria and viruses: Sawyer Squeeze filter + Steripen
Scenario 4- dangerous chemicals, possible sewage waste water, bacteria, and viruses: Katadyn Pocket Filter with carbon cartridge+ Steripen

I would add a solar charging solution, like a cotton picker folder.

TEEJ said:

I would add a solar charging solution, like a cotton picker folder.

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That's why I didn't specify which Steripen. They make a solar charging case for the Adventurer, but it takes forever to charge and uses cheap Tenergy batteries. If you want a rechargeable option, it's better to get a 4AA version Steripen so you can run it on 1500 charge Eneloops and one of many reliable solar chargers on the market. If you want light and not rechargeable, there's always the Adventurer and Journey Steripens.