How to Handle Emergency Water Treatment
Avoid These Water Sources
Methods to Make Water Safe to Consume
Boiling, disinfecting, filtering, purifying, or distilling most water can be used to treat it. Whichever technique you use, be sure the container or containers you use to store and treat your drinking water are clean. The following are detailed instructions on how to do each of these procedures:
Boil Water for No Less Than 60 Seconds
Boiling eliminates pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, making it the most effective way to purify water. If your water is murky or contains particles, make sure you filter it before boiling it. Pouring your water through a paper towel, coffee filter, or clean cloth can do this.
Boiling water may be made to taste better by transferring it between clean containers and letting it sit for a few hours, or by adding a pinch of salt to each quart or liter of boiling water.
Boiling water that you believe may include cyanotoxins from hazardous algal blooms, fuel, heavy metals, lead, or poisonous compounds is not advised. In fact, boiling this water will concentrate the pollutants. Look for another place to get water.
Use a household bleach to disinfect water.
If you don’t have access to safe bottled water and boiling water isn’t an option, you may frequently use unscented home chlorine bleach to make tiny amounts of water safe to drink. The majority of dangerous or disease-causing viruses and bacteria can be eliminated by chemical disinfectants like bleach, but they are less efficient in eradicating more resilient species like the parasites Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
* The kind of bleach you’ll need is available at most supermarket shops. Make sure the liquid bleach you choose is free of soap and fragrances, such as floral or lemon scents. Furthermore, “splashless” bleach isn’t powerful enough to properly disinfect water, so avoid using it. The bleach should include solely sodium hypochlorite as its active component.
To treat water, use iodine or purification pills.
Water can also be purified using iodine and water-purification tablets. Both are available from several internet sellers or at the majority of outdoor retailers. Observe the directions that come with the package or on it. Purification tablets must be changed on a regular basis since they also have expiration dates. Many pills work well to eradicate germs and viruses, but they are useless when it comes to water that has been tainted by cryptosporidium or giardia. You should avoid drinking iodinated water if you are pregnant or suffer from a thyroid condition.
Individual water filters
Personal water filters come in a variety of forms, and some are more effective than others in removing germs like bacteria, viruses, and parasites. If at all feasible, use a filter whose pore size is tiny enough to exclude parasites in addition to bacteria (most don’t remove viruses). Find out more from the CDC about water filters and treatments that can get rid of bacteria, viruses, and parasites like Cryptosporidium.
Whatever filter you choose, make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully and follow them. You should also, if needed, add disinfectant—like household bleach—to the filtered water to eradicate any leftover bacteria and viruses (see above for instructions).
The process of distillation
This is how water gets distilled:
