Power4Patriots Offers 3 Tips for Purifying Water

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SOURCE: Power4Patriots

The snowstorm that knocked out power in Arkansas and other south-central states earlier this week before plowing into the Northeast is yet another example of how quickly an emergency situation can arise. A larger disaster caused by weather or a terrorist attack could result in the water supply being compromised.

Nashville, Tenn. (PRWEB) December 29, 2012

When residents are told to boil their drinking water before consuming it – usually after a minor crisis has occurred in their area – it’s normally understood that the situation is temporary. But if a major disaster strikes that compromises the water supply and quickly depletes supermarkets of bottled water, people may find themselves in the position of having to find their own water and purify it.

Best known for teaching people how to build their own environmentally-friendly sources of energy so that they can slash their power bills and be safe when power outages occur, Power4Patriots also wants to help people be ready to provide water for themselves and their families if the normal water supply and bottled water are unavailable.

The first step is finding the cleanest water possible. Some rules of thumb are:

•     Avoid water with a strange hue or film on it. Look for clear water.
•     Try to find moving water as opposed to still water.
•     Avoid water that contains active growth, such as algae or scum.
•     Avoid water near roadways or pavement, as it likely has oil and pollutants in it.
•     Stay upstream of industrial facilities, mines and construction.
•     Avoid water from farmland, as it might have fertilizer and pesticides in it.

Following are Power4Patriots’ 3 tips for purifying water:

•     Boiling. This is the surest way to make certain that water is clean. It should be boiled for at least five minutes to kill the bacteria existing in most water. Every bug-out bag should include a way to heat and boil enough water for everyone in the group or family.
•     Filtering. There are many commercial filters available. Power4Patriots recommends sticking with trusted brands that produce filters made in the U.S. People who don’t have a filter can make one by cutting a one-foot square piece of birch, aspen or other paper-like bark from a tree and rolling it into a cone. Place some small stones in the bottom and tie a couple of pieces of string around the outside to keep it in the cone shape. Alternate putting layers of charcoal, grass and sand into the cone. The sand and grass will filter the suspended solids in the water, while the charcoal can filter bacteria. Run the water through the filter at least three times and keep changing the materials inside it for best results.
•     Distilling with the sun. This works by causing water to first evaporate, then condense on a surface where it can be collected. Because a vast majority of solids and bacteria won’t evaporate with the water, the condensed water will be pure.

Check out this Power4Patriots blog about the dangers of bottled water that has been sitting around too long.

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