During a crisis, the importance of drinking water cannot be overestimated. While the average human being can go without food for 3 weeks or so, most people will not last more than a week without water. Depending on the climate, you may experience severe dehydration in just 3 days if you have no water. It’s horrible and you do NOT want to be in this situation.
Whenever there’s some sort of natural disaster or emergency, the first item that’s quickly bought up is water. During the recent Hurricane Irma, many stores were completely sold out of bottled water. To make matters worse, there were reports of price gouging where water was being sold at $99 a bottle.
To avoid all these issues, you should be storing water in your house in preparation for such emergencies. That’s the first step to not being a victim of circumstances.
However, even with the best preparation, in some cases, you may not have access to drinking water. Your stored water may be wiped out. The stores may be sold out and you’re stuck. So, what do you do?
In this article, you’ll quickly learn about water purification and how you can find water and make it potable. During tough times, you can find water from lakes, swimming pools, water heaters, residual water in garden hoses, parks, golf courses, rooftops, etc. Wherever water collects are good spots for you to get water.
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Filtering
Now that you’ve found the water, you can’t just gulp it down like a champ. You’ll end up seriously ill if there are protozoa and viruses in the water. What you’ll need to do is filter and purify the water. It’s important that you know the difference between the two.
Depending on the turbidity of the water, you may or may not need to filter it. If the water is murky and unclear, filtering it is a must. You can use coffee filters to filter the water. You need to find a way to support the coffee filter in order to use it effectively. Once you run the water through the first step of filtering, you’d have removed the larger particles.
Do note that even if the water is clear, it’s not ready to drink. One of the best ways to kill all bacteria and harmful organisms in the water is to boil it. However, if you do not have access to a gas stove or a fire, you will have to use other methods.
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Purification
Water purification will remove most bacteria, pathogens and viruses in the water and make them safe to drink. One way of doing this is with chemical treatment.
You can easily purchase water purification tablets from sites like Amazon. There are iodine tablets that will do the job but it’s best to purchase chlorine dioxide water purification tablets. The chlorine dioxide tablets will eliminate the more resistant parasites like Cryptosporidium which cause gastrointestinal issues.
Another alternative are pump-style water purifiers like MyBottle Purifier that’s manufactured by Katadyn. These convenient devices will allow you to prepare clean drinking water on the go. They’re extremely convenient and very portable.
For purification at home, or before an emergency strikes, a brand to look at is ClearlyFiltered. They have a 3-stage, under sink filtration system that is awesome to have installed in the home. This can be helpful if you live in an urban area, hooked up to public water supplies. We have a few people in Flint, MI that are very thankful to have this system installed in their homes. ClearlyFiltered also has filtered water pitchers. While not the most convenient option, a batch of these filters and 1-2 pitchers would be great to have available in the event of an emergency.
You can check it out here: https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/
While storing water for emergencies should be your focus, it definitely helps if you purchase a few handheld water purifiers for you and your family. In the event, you need to abandon your home and the only water you can find is from rivers, lakes or other places that worry you, these water purification devices will ease your worries and ensure you stay hydrated.
