is a tall order and why this is an instance where you cannot afford to scrimp, as survival without a reliable source of water is an impossibility. I personally recommend either the Berkey or Katadyn. The manufacturer will tell you how many gallons can be processed though the water purifier before the filter(s) must be changed. You can calculate what your water purifier filter needs will be by adding the number of people in your family or group into monthly gallon requirements, then multiply that by the number of months you are planning for preparedness. Next, pencil in Murphy’s Law, and throw in a few more filter replacements!
If you are a consummate procrastinator, and are caught in an emergency without a water purifier, or in the event of nuclear fallout where water purifiers are not sufficient, refer Three Ways to Purify Water without a Water Purifier and Fallout Water Purification found below.
Three Ways to Purify Water without a Water Purifier
The following instructions are for purifying water from alternate sources once your water storage has been exhausted
In addition to having a bad odor and taste, contaminated water can contain microorganisms that cause diseases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and hepatitis. Because of this, you should purify all water of uncertain purity before using it for drinking, food preparation, or hygiene use.
There are several ways to purify water. Before purifying, let any suspended particles settle to the bottom, or strain the water through layers of paper towel or a clean, absorbent cloth.
Three easy purification methods are outlined below. These measures will kill microbes but will not remove other contaminants such as heavy metals, salts, most other chemicals, nor will it rid water of radioactive fallout.
Purifying Water without a Commercial Water Filter
Boiling is the safest method for purifying water. Bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute and let it cool. Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring it back and forth between two containers.
Chlorine Bleach can be used to kill microorganisms. Add 1/8 teaspoon of bleach to each gallon of water, stir and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
Purification Tablets release chlorine or iodine. They are inexpensive and available at most sporting goods stores and some drugstores. Follow the package directions. Usually one tablet is enough to purify 1 liter of water. Double the recommended dose for cloudy water.
Water Distillation for Microbes, Heavy Metals, Salt and Chemicals
While the three methods described above will remove only microbes from water, the following purification method will remove microbes, heavy metals, salts and most chemicals.
Distillation involves boiling water and then collecting the vapor that condenses. The condensed vapor will not include salt and other impurities. To distill, fill a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid, turning the lid upside down, so that the cup will hang right-side-up when the lid is upside-down. Put the lid on the pot (make sure the cup is not dangling into the water), and boil the water for 20 minutes. The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.
Fallout Water Purification
Water itself cannot become radioactive, but it can be contaminated by radioactive fallout material. For safe drinking water that may have been contaminated with fallout, follow the directions below:
Making a fallout water filter starts with two 5-gallon food storage buckets. You will need to punch holes in the bottom of one bucket to allow water to flow through into the next to capture the filtered water. Next, you will need to fill the bucket with 2 inches of soil (the more clay in the soil, the better). It’s important to dig down past soil that could have come in contact with fallout, so dig down at least 4 inches, and preferably 6 inches, beneath the soil surface. Place a layer of clean towel with good absorbency properties that has been cut a little larger than the circumference of the bucket and place it on top of the soil. You can now use your handmade fallout water purifier by allowing water to flow through the purifier to the other bucket.
It is important to keep track of the amount of water that runs through a homemade fallout water filter because the soil and towel must be changed out after 50 quarts of water has been processed through it.
Water Containment Systems
Large quantities of water can be stored through the use of a water containment system that captures rainwater from the roof. One inch of rainwater on a 20 foot by 20 foot roof can generate 1,200 gallons of water. The water is collected through gutters and downspouts that are routed into containment barrels.
It is possible to make your own inexpensively (instructions below), but you must be certain the barrels used are food grade quality and when purchasing used barrels, you need to verify they did not contain chemicals or other hazardous materials.
DIY Water Containment System
Install a faucet near the base of a 55-gallon food grade plastic barrel, leaving enough room to draw water into a container. Once you’ve determined the placement where you will be installing the faucet, drill a one-inch hole. Now spread silicone around the threads of the faucet. Insert the faucet into the hole and secure it with a ¾ inch female adapter made of PVC.
At the top (not the lid) of the barrel, there needs to be an overflow hole. This is made by cutting a 2-inch hole with a hole saw. Now, cover it with window screen that’s been cut a bit larger than the 2-inch hole size and secure it by using silicone sealant. The screen is meant to keep insects from entering your water barrel and contaminating the water.
Using a jigsaw cut a larger, 6-inch hole on the top of the barrel and cover it with window screen to keep debris and insects out. This hole is where the water that has been routed from the roof will enter the containment barrel.
Place the barrel directly under the downspout to collect rainwater. The water can then be diverted to a garden area, or saved for drinking and bathing. The downside of a water containment system is the size of the barrels, making them easy to spot for the casual observer, tipping your hand to your preparedness should you live in a populated area. Their upside is they will extend your drinking water without having to haul it from an open water source. Check your area’s annual rainfall to make sure the expenditure of a water containment system is worthwhile before purchasing.
Warning: Water containment barrels cannot be used in below-freezing conditions, as the barrels will expand upon freezing and split. At the time of this writing Washington, Utah, and Colorado state officials have decided that rainwater collection is illegal. Apparently these States have gone on record by claiming the rain “belongs to someone else.” Who that someone was is anyone’s guess! Expect to see playhouses and sheds go up whose roofs connect to downspouts.
Water Wells
If you are fortunate enough to have a well, you should plan for a manual hand pump. That way, in a grid-down situation when your electric pump is rendered useless, you won’t be looking longingly at your well house, water just beneath your feet, with no earthly way to retrieve it. In northern climates, look for a frost-free model. They are available online and at hardware and home improvement stores. Quality manual pumps don’t come cheap, however. After researching which style worked best for my area in North Idaho, where winters often bring sub-zero temperatures, it lead me to a frost-free model that cost $1,500.
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