question: water preservation techniques

i've been wondering about this for a while, and thought to ask your sage advice.

i'm a very experienced camper and have deep survival gear for living in the harshest conditions. (my survival outings are very planned and calculated for 11 day intense outings at a time; NOT long term)

the one thing i've been wondering about for quite a while is: water preservation

does anyone have any tried and tested knowledge that we could all learn from?
i have thick wall plastic water containers with good rubber gaskets, and i keep them clean.

how long can we store water from the tap? (i live in the US)

are there any additives like iodine or chlorine (in small doses) that we can add to our water reserves to keep them fresh for future use. (i travel a lot and don't get to routinely change my emergency water containers as frequently as i'd like)

thanks in advance.

I have a survival guide that talks about all kinds of techniques but I do not have it handy to answer you.What I can do is refer you to do a simple google search on the topic and you will be informed.From what I understand of what little I have read of the guide so far on the subject,there are simple chemicals and distillation techniques that can be used.It is a good idea to look it up right now,as these are very interesting times.

Nothing better than boiling water to kill all the nasty stuff! If you dont you will get sick and probalbly die of dehydration.

Originally posted by daeoeste
I have a survival guide that talks about all kinds of techniques but I do not have it handy to answer you.What I can do is refer you to do a simple google search on the topic and you will be informed.From what I understand of what little I have read of the guide so far on the subject,there are simple chemicals and distillation techniques that can be used.It is a good idea to look it up right now,as these are very interesting times.

definitely will google. just wanted to ask the pros first.

Originally posted by ChilledVoodoo
Nothing better than boiling water to kill all the nasty stuff! If you dont you will get sick and probalbly die of dehydration.

yes, very good point.
(note to self: gather extra fuel and magnesium strikers)

Originally posted by ChilledVoodoo
Nothing better than boiling water to kill all the nasty stuff! If you dont you will get sick and probalbly die of dehydration.

Actually,boiling water is not as good as distilling it.There are some things in water that do not detoxify by a simple boiling.It will kill bacteria and some harmful enzymes,but not some chemicals and too many minerals.Sulfur,or seawater for example.Man,I wish I had that book right now.

Distill your water, put it in DARK containers and keep away from sunlight.


Add 2 drops of bleach per 1/2 gallon to the water for longterm storage.

I will use six drops of unscented bleach per gallon of water to preserve it. Note that this is water that is basically potable to begin with, but water I want to preserve long-term. We have 55-gallon drums that we utilize as part of our emergency water preps.

There is a product called PolarPure that I think a lot of..... it's Iodine crystals, and a small bottle is capable of steralizing 500 gallons of water.

I think it's important to understand the difference between steralizing and purifying. Steralizing is an attempt to kill organic contaminants -- bacteria, virus, etc. and can be done via boiling, or bleach (hyperchlorite) or iodine. Purifying is a filtration process that can remove dissolved solids, metals, odors, etc. Reverse-osmosis can strip nearly everything adverse, and a few things beneficial.

Given that I know the source of my water (rainwater) I choose to slightly chlorinate it (less than .3PPM) and then run it through the carbon filtration of our Big Berkey.

I think we have to identify most of our potential sources of water, and then research and acquire the tools to render than water into a pure, fresh, potable source.

Happy researching!

[edit on 6-10-2008 by argentus]

hope these help !

www.epa.gov...

grandpappy.info...

tilz.tearfund.org...

Buy dehydrated water

Originally posted by Northern Raider
Buy dehydrated water

good one. i'll look for the bucket of steam to rehydrate it with at walmart.

thanks guys for the information! i'll be treating the water supply this weekend finally.