subject: Emergency Water Purification - 2 [print this page] There are many situations in which you could find your knowledge of emergency water purification could end up saving your life. In an disaster situation, food is typically scarce, and the body becomes vulnerable to infection as a result. When this occurs, people are usually are more vulnerable to contaminated drinking water. For this reason it is important for you to know what options are available in an emergency situation when it comes to your water supply.
If you are in the wilderness, you have a few options, and you should use as many of them as your resources allow you. For example, if you have the ability to make fire (with a lighter, matches, a flint, or a magnifying lens of some kind) you should boil any water you find before you drink it. Also, if you have chlorine or iodine, you should use a few drops in addition to boiling. These have the ability to kill many harmful micro-organisms in the water.
If the water you have available is extremely dirty, this means there is sediment and potentially harmful particles in the water. If you have the means, it is a good idea to construct a filter to use on any water you are considering drinking that appears to be at all murky. Filters to aid in emergency water purification can be improvised from a few simple materials.
First find a container of some kind to hold your water while it filters. Cut a few small slits in the bottom of the container that sand will not fall through. After you have done this, fill the bottom of the container with an inch or two of sand, which you should rinse thoroughly before using. Cover the bottom of the container with some kind of tightly-knit fabric, like a piece of a t-shirt. If the water you are using is particularly dirty, you may consider using a layer of small rocks on top of the sand, both to catch larger pieces of sediment, and to weigh down the sand, making it more efficient. Once you have your emergency filter prepared, slowly pour water into it and catch the water in a container as it exits. If you do have the resources, it would not be a bad idea to boil the water, too.
If you find yourself in an emergency situation in an urban or suburban situation, ask yourself if there are any creeks, ponds, lakes, or rivers nearby. If there are, one of these could provide a good source of drinking water after using one of the water purification techniques.
Places you can find emergency drinking water in the home is in the backs of toilets and in water heaters. This water should be safe to drink if it is treated with boiling and/or chemicals.
No matter which technique you use, if you pour your water a few times from one container to another after processing it, oxygen will mix with it and improve the taste.
The best advice that can be given concerning emergency water purification is this: be prepared! Water is the most important substance our bodies need, and planning for this need can mean the difference between survival and death in an emergency situation. Whether you are heading into the wilderness or you simply live in an area where natural disasters are prevalent, the responsible thing to do is have an emergency supply of drinking water and water purification kits on hand at all times. Emergency water purification kits can be purchased on the internet and elsewhere.
