# Water purification



## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm reading a fictional book where the person who was prepared has a bottle filled with "iodine crystals" with apparently a mesh over the opening to prevent the crystals from being pored out when measuring the solution. Doing a search I did not find anything like this set up, just the crystals them selves. Apparently ordering the iodine crystals may get me on the D.E.A list because apparently these crystals are used in making Meth. Go figure the criminals ruined another thing for us. One web site I went to mentioned a company that makes water purification tablets is based in Canada and is having problems getting some of their products past the U.S. customs.

Anyway, does anyone know if a product like what was mentioned in the book exists and where to get it? I've read on web sites that a system like this will last a life time of purifying water but you need to be extremely careful not to ingest any crystals, that is why I'm looking for something tested and proven that will prevent the crystals from coming out.

Thanks in advance.

edit, turns out it is not a Canada based company as I originaly posted, the company is in California, here is a link to there problem http://www.polarequipment.com/purchase.htm


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I was looking on youtube for water purification just see what was on there and I saw some interesting water purification systems
made out of a 5 gallon bucket with charcoal (burnt wood) sand and a few other things I'm going to make one and try it after I
finish the two projects I have going on now. When I do I will post it.
But check out youtube


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

budgetprepp-n said:


> I was looking on youtube for water purification just see what was on there and I saw some interesting water purification systems
> made out of a 5 gallon bucket with charcoal (burnt wood) sand and a few other things I'm going to make one and try it after I
> finish the two projects I have going on now. When I do I will post it.
> But check out youtube


We did some testing of water purification techniques several years back. The activated charcoal thing works, but you have make absolutely certain that you are using 100% activated charcoal because if you use plain old non-activated charcoal, you will end up making lye. That is definitely not a good thing to drink.

We tried using sand as well. That worked sort of okay. I would use it in a pinch. The problem with that method was that it did not get all of the remnants of pine sap out of the water and you still had a chance of getting dysentery from drinking it. (A lot of the water near us has pine trees hanging over it and the pine tar dripping in the water is a big problem.)

In the end, we just decided to break down and spend the money on a Berkey. The last thing I want to have to worry about in a high-stress SHTF situation is whether my water is safe to drink.


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## Space (Mar 14, 2013)

vandelescrow said:


> I'm reading a fictional book where the person who was prepared has a bottle filled with "iodine crystals" with apparently a mesh over the opening to prevent the crystals from being pored out when measuring the solution. Doing a search I did not find anything like this set up, just the crystals them selves. Polar Pure Water Disinfectant


Ok, so here's why that set up won't work. Iodine reacts with plastic and metal. If you had a mesh screen over the top of the bottle the iodine would react with it (especially aluminum). It's a good idea but most of the iodine purification I've seen have been with an iodine solution (ie iodine and alcohol used to treat cuts). Now, if you do decide to use an iodine solution I recommend dropping some Vitamin C to cut the bitter taste (also give it a good 60 minutes of treatment and don't forget to treat the lid).


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

If you keep gallons of bleach (liquid chlorine bleach) you can sterilize water using 12 drops of bleach per gallon or as a topical disinfectant using 1 part bleach and 9 parts water. There are a lot more uses for it too.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm looking at this for a Bug Out Bag. What I like about this method is it's not much larger then a bottle of water purification pills but purifies over 100 times the water. The way Polar Pure made there bottle there is a lip on the inside of the bottle to catch the crystals so they don't get in the water your trying to treat. But with Polar Pure having problems getting licensing or what ever from California, they have not been able to make them for several years.

Does anyone know of anyone else that makes something like this?


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

You ever taste water treated with iodine???? I'll stick with bleach or chlorine dioxide in my BOB. I have an interesting item and I'll have to check the name on the pouches in my BOB. I happened on them thru a friend a couple of years ago. I flat "paper" and plastic pouch about 5 x 8 inches with a flavored powder in them. You can throw them into a puddle (not bacteria contaminated) and over a period of a couple of hours the water is absorbed into the pouch until it is puffed out to FULL. You use the included straw to poke a hole in the plastic side and drink the flavored water. I tried 2, one in day old coffee and one in a puddle in back yard. In a few hours they were completely filled, and ready to drink. No hint of coffee flavor or anything else. It appears to be an osmosis membrane doing the work. I went to the website for the company and apparently they produce them for the military, maybe survival kits for aircraft???


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

Just keep a case of soda at your BOL and you're set!


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Inor said:


> We did some testing of water purification techniques several years back. The activated charcoal thing works, but you have make absolutely certain that you are using 100% activated charcoal because if you use plain old non-activated charcoal, you will end up making lye. That is definitely not a good thing to drink.
> 
> We tried using sand as well. That worked sort of okay. I would use it in a pinch. The problem with that method was that it did not get all of the remnants of pine sap out of the water and you still had a chance of getting dysentery from drinking it. (A lot of the water near us has pine trees hanging over it and the pine tar dripping in the water is a big problem.)
> 
> In the end, we just decided to break down and spend the money on a Berkey. The last thing I want to have to worry about in a high-stress SHTF situation is whether my water is safe to drink.


As a kid, my father used to make lye (no idea why) and he said to use the *ash* from a hardwood fire not the charcoal like leftover wood. I double checked on a couple of different sites and they basically say to use the ash too, for making lye for making soap.


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## srpumpkin (Sep 29, 2012)

paraquack said:


> You ever taste water treated with iodine???? I'll stick with bleach or chlorine dioxide in my BOB. I have an interesting item and I'll have to check the name on the pouches in my BOB. I happened on them thru a friend a couple of years ago. I flat "paper" and plastic pouch about 5 x 8 inches with a flavored powder in them. You can throw them into a puddle (not bacteria contaminated) and over a period of a couple of hours the water is absorbed into the pouch until it is puffed out to FULL. You use the included straw to poke a hole in the plastic side and drink the flavored water. I tried 2, one in day old coffee and one in a puddle in back yard. In a few hours they were completely filled, and ready to drink. No hint of coffee flavor or anything else. It appears to be an osmosis membrane doing the work. I went to the website for the company and apparently they produce them for the military, maybe survival kits for aircraft???


Great idea , please post address for site or name of the product , I'd b very interested. Thnks for the post.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

paraquack said:


> You ever taste water treated with iodine???? I'll stick with bleach or chlorine dioxide in my BOB. I have an interesting item and I'll have to check the name on the pouches in my BOB. I happened on them thru a friend a couple of years ago. I flat "paper" and plastic pouch about 5 x 8 inches with a flavored powder in them. You can throw them into a puddle (not bacteria contaminated) and over a period of a couple of hours the water is absorbed into the pouch until it is puffed out to FULL. You use the included straw to poke a hole in the plastic side and drink the flavored water. I tried 2, one in day old coffee and one in a puddle in back yard. In a few hours they were completely filled, and ready to drink. No hint of coffee flavor or anything else. It appears to be an osmosis membrane doing the work. I went to the website for the company and apparently they produce them for the military, maybe survival kits for aircraft???


I've read where all you have to do is drop a vitamin C tablet in the water and it gets rid of the iodine taste


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

paraquack said:


> As a kid, my father used to make lye (no idea why) and he said to use the *ash* from a hardwood fire not the charcoal like leftover wood. I double checked on a couple of different sites and they basically say to use the ash too, for making lye for making soap.


We have made it with both charcoal and ask. Both work, although the lye made with ash is much stronger.



> Great idea , please post address for site or name of the product , I'd b very interested. Thnks for the post.


It is really easy to make. We used a bucket and drilled a hole for a spigot near the bottom of one side. Put a layer of straw at the bottom about 2 inches deep. (This acts as a filter.) Put about an inch or so of ash or charcoal on top of the straw and fill the bucket with water. Somewhere between 3 days and up to 2 weeks later you will have a lye solution. It is ready for making soap (why we made it in the first place) when a raw egg will float in the solution with an area about the size of a quarter above the water.

We learned everything we needed here: Making Natural Milk Soap: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-199 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-199): Casey Makela: Amazon.com: Kindle Store


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## prep2death (Apr 10, 2013)

Thats cool info. Another thing I heard that people used to use silver to decontaminate water due to its purifying effects. Hence the rich using a "silver" spoon. Personally I stash my silver in a safe place instead.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

One of the water purification items I have used is iodine and come with a citric tasting tablet to add to the water after is has been purified. You can live on it, but it tastes like cr_p.
I finally dug out the "Forward Osmosis" water pack, here is the address.
Personal Desalination & Personal Water Filter | Overview

Personal Desalination & Personal Water Filter | Overview


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

To make lye you need the white ash from smouldered wood, to use as a filter you need the black charcoal and coconut husks is the best source for activated charcoal.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

I have a friend who has an iodine system on his pond, . . . drinks it, cooks with it, bathes in it, . . . he has about a 100 year supply of chemicals he said.

Try some of the softener and water treatment folks, . . . he has one of them come out every other year and "refresh" his iodine outfit, . . . and he swears by it.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Iodine is light sensitive and must always be stored in a dark bottle. It works best if the water is over 68° F (21° C). Iodine has been shown to be more effect than chlorine-based treatments in inactivating Giardia cysts. But be aware that some people are allergic to iodine and cannot use it as a form of water purification. Persons with thyroid problems or on lithum, *women over fifty, and pregnant women* should consult their physician prior to using iodine for purification. Also, some people who are allergic to shellfish are also allergic to iodine. If someone cannot use iodine, use either a chlorine-based product or a non-iodine-based filter.

Generally, the procedure is as follows:

Liquid 2% Tincture of Iodine Add 5 drops per quart when the water is clear. Add 10 drops per quart when the water is cloudy.
I think this is the bottle with crystals mentioned earlier. Polar Pure Iodine Crystals Fill the Polar Pure bottle with water and shake. The solution will be ready for use in one hour. Add the number of capfuls (per quart of water treated) listed on the bottle, based on the temperature of the iodine solution. The particle trap prevents crystals from getting into the water being treated. It is important to note that you are using the iodine solution to treat the water, not the iodine crystals. The concentration of iodine in a crystal is poisonous and can burn tissue or eyes. Let the treated water stand for 30 minutes before drinking. In order to destroy Giardia cysts, the drinking water must be at least 68° F (20° C). The water can be warmed in the sun before treating or hot water can be added.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

I found out Polar Pure will sell the empty bottle for $16 each including shipping but you will have to get your own Iodine Crystals. I found via ebay different kinds/types. Ted at Polar Pure was very helpful and this is what he said about what they put in there product when they were able to sell them as a complete item.



> Each bottle of Polar Pure contained approximately 8 grams of crystal iodine. We ordered our iodine from Woodward Iodine in Oklahoma, and used a prilled form. In the past, we used a flaked crystal iodine.


I have not been able to find a web site for the company he mentioned "Woodward Iodine" to try to order iodine from them.

If anyone wants a Polar Pure bottle you will have to contact them and they will send you an order form, the e-mail address I used is [email protected] there is a limit of 2 per order.

There is another feature to the bottles other then just a lip keeping the crystals from getting in your water. There is a temperature scale that shows at each temperature range how much (1 cap full 1 1/2 cap full etc) you need to purify the water. It sounds like it actually shows you what the temperature is but will have to let you know once I get my bottles.

FYI I am not affiliated with Polar Pure, I'm just passing on info I'm finding out.


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## IngaLisa (Jan 31, 2013)

As some one who dwells in those idyllic pastoral areas, let me tell ya, the water is bad. It looks good. It tastes good, but it's full of nitrates and agricultural chemicals beyond what is safe to drink. Feet of cow crap and chicken poo accumulate over a year of spreading and flinging, along with atrazine and Round Up and it has sunk into our water table. Our static water level is at about 38 feet. I'm surprised our water doesn't blow up it so full of nitrogen fertilizer. It's all the CAFOs. We HAD to come up with a way to distill our water if we had no electricity and our RO system wouldn't work. We have a way to get it out of our well, that isn't the issue. We are going with the pressure cooker, attached to the Vortex Water Distiller (basically a coil in a bucket), to distill our water. What a pain in the butt. (Not cheap, but, hubs isn't that good at building things. A person could easily build one with some know-how). It required us getting a rocket stove (the propane will run out eventually, hence the rocket stove). I haven't done a dry run yet, but, I hope this works. Boiling water with high nitrate in it, only concentrates it and makes the issue worse. It can kill babies under 6 months of age. Reverse Osmosis or distilling is the only way to get that out.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

IngaLisa said:


> As some one who dwells in those idyllic pastoral areas, let me tell ya, the water is bad. It looks good. It tastes good, but it's full of nitrates and agricultural chemicals beyond what is safe to drink. Feet of cow crap and chicken poo accumulate over a year of spreading and flinging, along with atrazine and Round Up and it has sunk into our water table. Our static water level is at about 38 feet. I'm surprised our water doesn't blow up it so full of nitrogen fertilizer. It's all the CAFOs. We HAD to come up with a way to distill our water if we had no electricity and our RO system wouldn't work. We have a way to get it out of our well, that isn't the issue. We are going with the pressure cooker, attached to the Vortex Water Distiller (basically a coil in a bucket), to distill our water. What a pain in the butt. (Not cheap, but, hubs isn't that good at building things. A person could easily build one with some know-how). It required us getting a rocket stove (the propane will run out eventually, hence the rocket stove). I haven't done a dry run yet, but, I hope this works. Boiling water with high nitrate in it, only concentrates it and makes the issue worse. It can kill babies under 6 months of age. Reverse Osmosis or distilling is the only way to get that out.


You should check out a berkley water filter, they say here that their filter will remove >95% of nitrates

Black Berkey Water Filter - performance specifications

Anyone that doesn't own a berkley is not done prepping.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Montana Rancher said:


> You should check out a berkley water filter, they say here that their filter will remove >95% of nitrates
> 
> Black Berkey Water Filter - performance specifications
> 
> Anyone that doesn't own a berkley is not done prepping.


We bought the Big Berkey (the one with 4 ceramic filters) about 3 years ago. The one thing I did notice with it is that the first several gallons do have a distinctly chemical flavor to them. The cheap water tester device that I bought from hardware store for $10 says that it is pure water, but the flavor is really bad. It does get better after 5 or 6 gallons. That is something to keep in mind if you buy one for your preps. Just run at least 5 or 6 gallons through it before you need it. Otherwise you are going to be stuck with a bunch of water that tastes really bad at first.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

A club I belong to is on a well. One time when I got there real early with my dog, went in the kitchen to fill her water bowl. The water looked like it had soap in it. One of the other members said they just changed the filters so you need to run it awhile. I do not know what filters they use but for bug out purposes, way to big to be lugging around.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I'm guessing you mean that the water had very fine bubbles in it. Like super champagne, might even look white, like milk. If this is a good description, I've seen this very frequently in water systems that sit for a while. It is actually fine air bubbles that suddenly expand because the pressure on the water is released. Same principle as soda or champagne. It really freaks people out. Try letting it sit in a see thru glass and see it the bottom starts getting clearer and works it's way up the water.


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

I remember in the scouts just 10 or so years ago they used to always say you had to both filter and boil. Filters are getting better every day, but I'd still be a little leery of drinking filtered but not boiled water. Both steps are crucial IMO... unless you skip all that and go straight to distillation.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

pharmer14 said:


> I remember in the scouts just 10 or so years ago they used to always say you had to both filter and boil. Filters are getting better every day, but I'd still be a little leery of drinking filtered but not boiled water. Both steps are crucial IMO... unless you skip all that and go straight to distillation.


Damn straight. There are very few ways to do both. I think form everything I read that Reverse Osmosis does both, but not absolutely sure. I found a nice hand pump reverse osmosis system for $3K. !!!!!


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## IngaLisa (Jan 31, 2013)

Inor said:


> We have made it with both charcoal and ask. Both work, although the lye made with ash is much stronger.
> 
> It is really easy to make. We used a bucket and drilled a hole for a spigot near the bottom of one side. Put a layer of straw at the bottom about 2 inches deep. (This acts as a filter.) Put about an inch or so of ash or charcoal on top of the straw and fill the bucket with water. Somewhere between 3 days and up to 2 weeks later you will have a lye solution. It is ready for making soap (why we made it in the first place) when a raw egg will float in the solution with an area about the size of a quarter above the water.
> 
> We learned everything we needed here: Making Natural Milk Soap: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-199 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-199): Casey Makela: Amazon.com: Kindle Store


I make soap too and was wondering how to make lye if I can't get it any more. You just solved my problem. I am wondering about tallow though, I only have small animals, I guess saving tallow will take a while? I suppose I should look at candle making too. :/ Thanks for the information!


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## IngaLisa (Jan 31, 2013)

As for my water, I have the Vortex now, and it says it makes water from urine...they show it on youtube. Highwater Filters. It's total distillation. It will be a pain though. I was also hoping to get a Bison water pump, but, couldn't justify the cost, so we got an Amish well bucket. I only get 3 gallons per day now via my Culligan RO system, so we don't waste our drinking water. For the 3 of us, and our Labrador, it's enough. We don't treat our household water other than to soften it. My nitrates are 22mg/L. The cut off is 10mg/L. I would hazard a guess that most wells in my heavily farmed and CAFO's state have high nitrate levels. If it were under 10, I would just deal with it, but 22 is really high and I have a 3 year old in my home all the time, and if the SHTF, I will have at least 4 toddler and preschoolers if not more, and always potential for an infant. Even with RO, they said some still gets thru. I am not fond of the taste of RO water as compared to clean well water. Clean healthy well water is really good. I miss it.


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## Rambo Moe (May 9, 2013)

Why not just use regular iodine? Do the crystals last longer?

Use the common 2% iodine solution; use 3 drops per quart of clear water and 6 drops per quart of cloudy water. Stir and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

You can also use regular 5% chlorine bleach, 8 drops of bleach for every gallon of water, stir and let sit for 30 minutes.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

Rambo Moe said:


> Why not just use regular iodine? Do the crystals last longer?
> 
> Use the common 2% iodine solution; use 3 drops per quart of clear water and 6 drops per quart of cloudy water. Stir and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
> 
> You can also use regular 5% chlorine bleach, 8 drops of bleach for every gallon of water, stir and let sit for 30 minutes.


This is for back packing style of bugging out, one small bottle (8 grams of iodine crystals) will treat over 5000 quarts of water. I purchased the prilled style of iodine crystals which is what polar pure used when they were able to sell the complete product. The smallest amount I was able to find was 50 grams (apx $25 including shipping), that equals over 30,000 quarts of drinking water before I have to find another method. How much bleach would you have to carry with you to do the same?

Now I know I'm new to prepping and when ever you start something new you buy things you really didn't need or you find a better solution later on, but I'm not finding any thing that is as light and lasts as long as this, or as cheap. $43 for the Polar Pure bottle and iodine crystals = over 7,500 gallons of drinking water. There are no back packing / camping filter that can touch that. At least not that I have found.

Here is a good 10 minute video that shows iodine crystals in use, watch till the end there is a taste test.




now mind you he used more iodine solution then needed. The directions that come with the Polar Pure says you only need a few cap fulls, this guy used almost the entire bottle.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

My son is a nurse practitioner, . . . and has a serious allergy to copper. He has to be very careful, . . . and has done some extensive research on the different units out there.

His recommendation is the Berkey Water Filter information, reviews and best prices. company with their units. One he has is a small hand carried bottle looking contraption with a straw in the top. He said you could just pour it full of any water you could find, . . . should not have any troubles at all.

I'm saving up to get him a big one for the family "prep" area.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

IngaLisa said:


> I make soap too and was wondering how to make lye if I can't get it any more. You just solved my problem. I am wondering about tallow though, I only have small animals, I guess saving tallow will take a while? I suppose I should look at candle making too. :/ Thanks for the information!


Just a FYI the ashes need to be from hardwood not pine.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

The ashes have to be white and not black too. Only the white ashes are used to make lye (or contain lye). 
Native Americans used the white ashes from their fires to turn the corn meal blue which makes it digestable for humans.


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