Health & Wellness Water purification/hydrosol

During Yolanda, living in an area devastated by the typhoon, there was a long period of time when there was no purified water and no electricity. It did not take long for some enterprising soul to take a boat to Cebu and buy purified water and then bring it back to sell for 100 pesos a bottle. That was a deal in those times.

The local water system there was gravity fed so there was still local water. As another poster said, I could easily have boiled the water before using it if I was not able to buy purified water. In addition, I would have filled one of those 5 gallon jugs with the boiled and cooled water and added 1/4 teaspoon of bleach. Voila! Chlorinated and safe drinking water.

 

Of course people can boil water (although the boiling time required varies with height above sea level) and of course they can add bleach (but they need to have the right type of bleach and need to know its concentration) and of course they can go out finding firewood (which everyone else is also seeking) if the gas runs out and of course they can boil 5 gallons of water and wait for it to cool before pouring it into a storage bottle ... or then again they could buy a purifying tablet for about 12 pesos and just drop it into the water! I know which one I would choose.

 

LOL "The active ingredient in water purification tablets is typically chlorine" So you are doing the same thing as adding bleach. How much is a small Zonrox from your neighbor?

 

8 Peso from the Sori Sori

 

That sounds ridiculous to me and the answer is two-fold.

Part One: Yes I have added a couple of drops per gallon of Zonrox plain bleach to my drinking water. Yes, I drank it. No there were no ill effects. Yes, it is recommended by many government agencies including this one from the US. Yes, I have used Chlorox plain bleach in rural Canada for the same reasons. It works too. Many decades later and it still hasn't killed me. If you add too much you will taste the bleach. Yuch. Do not do that. Less is better.

Part Two: Are you going to trust the chemists from some generic company who make "water purification tablets" and sell them online?

Why would one be better than the other? I cannot say if the online pills work or not, but I can vouch for the bleach method and if the water is good quality to start with I don't even boil it. Just add the correct amount to the storage tank. I have to shake my head at spoiled city slickers who have only had to turn on the tap their whole life and clean water comes out.

 

to be sure, one could always process salt (non-iodized) into sodium hypochlorite using a simple electrolysis process often referred to as electrochlorination. in a pinch sea water can be used though the concentration of salt in seawater may be weaker than recommended. this could easily be resolved through evaporation in order to make the salt concentration far greater. all that would be needed is non-iodized salt, softened water, a power source such as a battery (solar or a combination of both), and a couple carbon rods (found in power cells), as well as a small contraption to hold the saltwater mixture and to capture the sodium hypochlorite. this should be performed in a well ventilated area in order not to breath the gasses produced (sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen).

another possibly easier way to remove viruses and bacteria from a questionable water supply would be to purchase one of many readily available water filters which remove impurities down to .02 microns. some are gravity fed and easy enough to use without constant attention.

 

I agree that the active ingredient releases chlorine but (I quote) "it is a slow-release source of chlorine in low concentrations at a relatively constant rate". Using Zonrox or any other household bleach is, as Mr W so eloquently explained, dealing with a big unknown.

And, btw, the manufacturers of 'Aquatabs water purification tablets' is the company Medentech (again I quote) "the number 1 supplier of disinfectants to the 2014 West African Ebola crisis."

So where do I want to get my chlorine (incidentally a very dangerous gas) from to purify my water? (1) A bottle of household bleach of unknown composition or (2) A specially designed water purification table manufactured by a world-leading chemical company?

Also, what would I rather do: (1) Carry around a few (maybe 6) tiny tablets, allowing me to purify 30 gallons of water WHEREVER I am at the time the disaster strikes (to think we will all be in our homes is incorrect) or (2) Carry around with me a bottle bleach or (3) Carry around with me some matches, paper, firewood and a saucepan so I can boil the water? I have thought hard and long about this and still cannot find any reason to dismiss the SIMPLEST solution and replace it with one more complicated.