How to Make a Survival Water Filter

Click Here to Know How to Purify Water When You Have Nothing

How to Purify Water When You Have Nothing

In this article, I assume that you have NOTHING to clean your water: no tablets, bleach, water filter, etc,…

Water is essential for human health, in particular in emergency situations.

How is water contaminated?

• Leaking septic tank or latrine
• Contaminated water surface infiltration of wells and sources
• Collecting water with unwashed hands and/or dirty containers
• Animals using the same water source
• Items that fell into the well

However, even if the water you collected is clean, inappropriate health practice could contaminate it:

• transportation from source to home in dirty containers
• Keeping water at home in opened and/or dirty containers
• Handling water with dirty utensiles or dirty hands

Water can be contaminated after each step!

Here is a checklist to know if water could be contaminated:

• Does the water look clean?
• Does the area around water seem clean?
• Do storage and handling of water are appropriate?
• Do the persons have good health practice habits?

If you answer no to one of this question, you should’nt drink that water.

HOME WATER TREATMENT AND SAFE STORAGE

1. Filtering

Filtering water is an important first step. If you do it correctly, it will improve all the different methods presented below. By filtering muddy water (or water that doesn’t look clean) with a thin and clean cotton fabric, you can remove a great part of suspended solids and insect’s larvas.

A simple test to know if the fabric is good is using it to filter water. If impurities don’t go trough it, it’s appropriate. It shouldn’t be transparent or too thick, because it will take more time to filter.

By washing the fabric between each use, you keep your filtering efficient.

Only filtering is not enough for making a contaminated water drinkable, but it facilitates home water treatment.

2. Desinfection

If water is clear but could be contaminated, it should be desinfected.

I am going to detail 2 methods:

• Boiling
• Solar desinfection

Boiling

Boiling is a traditional way to treat contaminated water. If used correctly, it provides drinkable water when you have no other options.

But boiling water has pros and cons.

PROS

Boiling will kill all pathogenic germs

Boiling is a method easy to do

CONS

You need a kilo (2 lbs) of wood to boil 1 liter (33oz) during 1 min

Your water will not look less cloudy after boiling

Boiling has not a durable effect. If not stored properly, it could be contaminated again. Boiled water should be used in the next few days after boiling.

The temperature of boiling must be high to be efficient. If you only see vapour, it’s not boiled!

You should see big bubbles when boiling.

How much time should you boil water?

• Low altitude: 1min with big bubbles
• High altitude: 3min with big bubbles

Personal Tip: After boiling, your water will taste bland. Shake the water in a bottle or put a pinch of salt for each liter (33oz). It will taste a lot better!

Solar Desinfection

If you expose water to the sun, it will kill most of germs. This method is more efficient with high temperature.

A simple way for treating water is to expose to the plastic/glass bottles filled with water. Each bottle should stay at least 3 days on direct sun. You should double the time of exposition if there are clouds or if the water is murky.

Personal tip: If you don`t have a bottle, you can use a clean and transparent plastic bag. Use a undulated sheet metal for better efficiency.

Solar desinfection has also pros and cons

PROS

Very easy to do with common items

If exposed enough time to sun, it will kill most of bacterias

CONS

Solar desinfection has not a durable effect, so water could be contaminated again if not stored appropriately

Water should be drunk in the next few days

A slower method than the others and the weather must be sunny

Now, we are going to detail a good method to remove mud from water.

3. Decantation

If your water is muddy, you can let it decant for a few hours. It will separate water from sediments. Filtering it with a piece of fabric as described above will increase the efficiency of this process.

Notice: Decantation is not enough for cleaning water. It must be desinfected to remove pathogenic bacterias. But this process will increase the desinfection’s efficiency.

The 3 Containers Method

This method consists in reducing the quantity of impurities and pathogenic germs by pouring water in a first container, and waiting that the sediments are deposited at the bottom. Then you transfer the water from the first container and after from the second to the third one.

It should be your daily routine when SHTF.

Every day, when you bring water to your house:

1. Drink water from container 3
2. Pour slowly water from container 2 to 3
3. Wash container 2
4. Pour slowly water from container 1 to 2
5. Wash container 1
6. Pour water from your water source (bucket 4) to container 1. It’s better to use a fabric to filter that water before. Let water in containers for a day and repeat the process.

Drink water only from container 3. This container can be washed and sterilised by boiling it regularly.

Personal tip: By using a flexible tube to siphon off water from one container to the other, you reduce sediments blending. You can improve this method by filtering water with a piece of fabric each time you transfer a container to another.

This method is temporary and useful in an emergency situation when you don’t have other option until you can use another method for cleaning water.

In an emergency situation, it’s possible that you won’t have 3 containers. You can use only 2 containers instead of 3 but the efficiency will decrease. The water should stay longer for impurities to be deposited and pathogenic germs to be killed.

The 3 containers method has also pros and cons.

PROS

This method reduces hugely the quantity of bacterias and impurities

It’s very cheap and easy to do. You only need local resources.

CONS

This method doesn’t remove all the pathogenic germs. Desinfection is necessary to avoid any risk of disease.

4. Sand Filter

Sand filtering is a very simple and quick method of pretreating water. It reduces the quantity of impurities and make desinfection more efficient.

Pour water in a container with sand and gravel. Water flows by a tap or a hole to a storage container.

Click Here to Know How to Make a Survival Water Filter

GOOD PRACTICE FOR HANDLING AND STORING WATER

In an emergency situation, people will use containers they already have. Do with what you have.

Encourage your family to wash and tap containers. Place them out of reach of children.

It’s better to use different containers for storing and collecting water.

Always wash your hand before handling drinkable water. Stockpiling/Making soap or hand sanitizer should be one of your priority.

Click Here To Make Your Own Berkey Filter                              Click Here to Know What Are The Best Water Filters                                

Source: Red Cross and Red Crescent

What Water Filter Should You Be Purchasing?

Dear subscribers,

I recently received an email from a subscriber asking me what kind of water filter should
he be purchasing. I think that many preppers have the same question.

The MSR Miniwork and the Katadyn Pocket Water filter are very good and portable.
But they’re fragile and can be damaged easily in your EDC or BOB.

For my BOB, I prefer the Paratrooper Water FIlter. It’s a military filter. Cheaper and tougher than all the water filter in the market.

It can filter 2000 liters (528 USgal). It’s very light and durable and a cheap filter for your home.
For the same price of a MSR or Katadyn, you can buy 3 Paratroopers. It’s really a bargain. For me the Paratrooper Water Filter is the best water filter for BOBs or if you don’t have a big budget to spend for a home water filter.

There is also the LifeStraw Filter. The best one for EDC and BOB. It’s an amazing personal and portable
water filter. Itr weighs 2 ounces and filters out 1000 liters of water. That’s 264 gallons or almost 9 months worth of drinking water and it fits in your pocket.

It removes more than 99.9% of bacteria and parasites like E.Coli and Cholera. It’s very easy to use. Just stick it directly into the contaminated water or a natural water source like a pond or a river. Then you suck and drink water directly from it. So the LifeStraw Water Filter is the best for your EDC.

Water weighs around 8.9lbs per gallon and you need a minimum of a gallon a day, just for drinking.
There is no way you can carry enough with you, it’s physically impossible. That’s why you should purchase
several water filters.

If you’re looking for a water filter for your home, the Berkey Filters are the best. But they’re also
very expensive. But you can build you own Berkey Filter.

Stay Safe!
Rob

Click Here to Make Your Own Berkey Filter