I could really use a break from work lol
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The simplest, cheapest and easiest solution is to pass your source water through some cotton sheets and then chlorinate it. This will produce water the same quality that comes out of the tap.
My only other recommendation is buying a eye dropper and some blue food coloring so you can color treated water. This will prevent your family from making any mistakes.
Boiling your water is always a great way to reduce the risk even more, but if you're chlorine dosages are correct, boiling water will be unnecessary. You're better off saving that gas for cooking.
Good points. simplest is always the best way. Question: Does the chlorine leave a taste in the water, AND is it safe for human consumption?
Back in my river rafting days purifying water with bleach was done every night. No other chore is so important. Often the cleanest water available was the muddy river itself. We considered it safe to drink when treated.
5 gallon bucketful's of river water with a capful of household bleach were left to outgas overnight. In the morning it's put into jerry cans and tied down in the boats. The taste is something you learn to enjoy while admiring the scenery.
Thx.
Chlorine will leave a slight taste in the water but only if you overdose it slightly for safety but not too much so it becomes harmful. It will leave far less of a taste than bleach (which is recommended as a water treatment solution by the CDC) or iodine which also leaves the water colored red. Iodine treatment tablets are ridiculously expensive so they are never viable unless you're taking a two week vacation in Tibet. I can confirm that iodine is effective because I used it when taking a two week vacation in Tibet... and their drinking water is sewage.
Trust me, when Shit Hits The Fan, the taste of treated water will be the least of your worries.
Yes, chlorinated water is safe for human consumption as long as you don't use too much chlorine: all first world nation water treatment plants use chlorine to treat their water. What comes out of your tap is chlorinated water. Most people are unaware of this.
Grocery store bottled water is also treated with chlorine because that's tap water too, only in a toxic plastic bottle and 100,000 x as expensive but it comes with a picture of a snowy mountain on it.
Good info. So what is the proper ratio of chlorine to water? ...that precise point at which the water is safe to drink, but is not overdosed and possibly harmful? Surely there is a recommended ratio, right? Thanks for putting up with all these questions, but inquiring minds want to know.
Oh, also, where is the best place to acquire swimming pool chlorine, or will any form of chlorine do? Powdered or granular form?
It's about 1 teaspoon of chlorine powder per 60 gallons... although I have no idea if some brands are less pure than others.
This is why it's best to chlorinate large volumes of water at a time, or even your entire water butt or water tank a few hours before you need it.
All water treatment chemicals are dangerous if you don't measure them responsibly, which is why you need to do some research based on the chlorine power you purchase.
If you've got a standard 52 gallon water butt or a large water tank, then you'll need to do some calculations about how much chlorine you need based on the volume of water.
Chlorinating a 5 or 8 gallon jerry can becomes risky because you'll be using such a tiny amount of chlorine (1/10th of a teaspoon) that accurate measurements become difficult.
Any pool chlorine will do, the cheaper the better because you don't want any additives like blue coloring or other bullshit. I'd recommend powder rather than granules because it'll help you make more accurate measurement.
NOTE that all of my estimates in this comment are based on the brands that I've bought. They may vary from state to state and country to country and some brands may be less pure than others... I have no idea how many different brands of pool chlorine power exist in the world. I do the math based on whatever product I've purchased.