PDA

View Full Version : 24 water purification methods..



JonnyP
23-03-2013, 01:41 PM
SEPARATION: HEAT, LIGHT & GRAVITY

SEDIMENTATION gravitationally settles heavy suspended material.
BOILING WATER for 15 to 20 minutes kills 99.9% of all living things and vaporizes most chemicals. Minerals, metals, solids and the contamination from the cooking container become more concentrated.
DISTILLATION boils and recondenses the water, but many chemicals vaporize and recondense in concentration in the output water. It is also expensive to boil & cool water.
ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT is a good bactericide, but has no residual kill, and works only in clearly filtered water. Still in its infancy stage is a new technology involving super white light.

CHEMICALS

CHLORINE is common, cheap, but extremely toxic. It does not decrease physical or chemical contamination, it does increase colesterol formations, is a carcinogen, and causes heart disease.
BROMINE, used in pools and spas, doesn't smell or taste as bad and doesn't kill bacteria very well.
IODINE is not practical, and is mostly used by campers.
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE kills bacteria with oxygen, is chemically made and is very toxic. It is used in emergencies.
SILVER is an effective bactericide but a cumulative poison which concentrates and doesn't evaporate.
NONTOXIC ORGANIC ACIDS should be used with caution in large water plants only.
LIME AND MILD ALKALINE AGENTS should also be used with caution only by large water plants, or only for laundry.
NEUTRALIZING CHEMICALS react with the unwanted chemicals and produce outgases and a sediment, but levels of need vary.
COAGULATION-FLOCCULATION adds chemicals which lump together suspended particles for filtration or separation.
ION EXCHANGE exchanges sodium from salt for calcium or magnesium, using either glauconite (greensand), precipitated synthetic organic resins, or gel zeolite, thus softening the water. Minerals, metals, chemicals or odors are not affected, and the water is salty to drink.


FILTRATION

SLOW SAND of 1 cubic meter passes about 2 liters/min, and does a limited bacteria removal.
PRESSURE SAND of 1 cubic meter passes about 40gpm and must be backwashed daily.
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH removes small suspended particles at high flow rates, must be daily backwashed and is expensive.
POROUS STONE/CERAMIC filters are small but expensive, and do not effect chemicals, bacteria or odors.
PAPER or CLOTH filters are disposable and filter to one micron, but do not have much capacity.
CHARCOAL:
-COMPRESSED CHARCOAL/CARBON BLOCK is the best type of charcoal filter, can remove chemicals and lead, but is easily clogged, so should be used with a sediment prefilter.
-GRANULAR CHARCOAL is cheaper, but water can flow around the granules without being treated.
-POWDERED CHARCOAL is a very fine dust useful for spot cleaning larger bodies of water, but is messy and can pass through some filters and be consumed.
REVERSE OSMOSIS uses a membrane with microscopic holes that require 4 to 8 times the volume of water processed to wash it in order to remove minerals and salt, but not necessarily chemicals and bacteria.
ENZYMES & BACTERIA combined can remove contaminants and reduce sludge. See recent article on enzymes & bacteria.


OXYDATION

AERATION sprays water into the air to raise the oxygen content, to break down odors, and to balance the dissolved gases. However, it takes space, is expensive, and picks up contaminants from the air.
OZONE is a very good bactericide, using highly charged oxygen molecules to kill microorganisms on contact, and to ozidize and flocculate iron, manganese and other dissolved minerals for post-filtration and backwashing.
ELECTRONIC PURIFICATION and DISSOLVED OXYGEN GENERATION creates super oxygenated water in a dissolved state that lowers the surface tension of the water and effectively treats all three types of contamination: physical, chemical and biological.

Info taken from this site.. http://www.enviroalternatives.com/watermethods.html

jus_young
23-03-2013, 09:42 PM
Interesting to see quite a few of the methods I commercially use listed on there. Going to have a look through the rest of his site when I get chance, cheers Jonny.

rawfish111
23-03-2013, 09:48 PM
T^

butchthedog
23-03-2013, 09:55 PM
T^

f0rm4t
24-03-2013, 08:35 AM
.
OZONE is a very good bactericide, using highly charged oxygen molecules to kill microorganisms on contact, and to ozidize and flocculate iron, manganese and other dissolved minerals for post-filtration and backwashing.

I've got an ozone generator in my hot tub, doesn't really get used, so now need to figure out how to rip it out and travelise it. (scratch head) ha.

Silverback
24-03-2013, 09:30 PM
T^

SimonB
10-04-2013, 07:12 PM
Mmmmmmmmmm Funny I have just read this...


I was sat at work last night thinking about a filter system, and materials.

I came up with a 2ltr pop bottle, A hole cut in the bottom to fill it.

In the cap, make a small drip hole.
In the neck of the bottle, plug it with a square of muslin, then a few pieces of folded charcloth, then another piece of muslin...

Anyone like to offer expertise in pro's and cons of my idea?..

Cheers.

sblog
10-04-2013, 07:22 PM
T^

Tommy
11-04-2013, 08:14 AM
I'd like to give one tip. It's not exactly about purification but I consider it almost as important.

On one of our trips we did a fantastic job of filtering our water. It was water from a marsh and we got it to the point that it looked like tap water. I even went so far as to bury some wood underneath the fire in order to turn it into charcoal for the filter, which was made from birch bark, sphagnum moss and sand.

After boiling the water and giving it a good shake in order to aerate the water, I took a drink. The water tasted so bad I couldn't drink it. Seriously I gagged, if forced to drink it I would have probably puked, it was that bad.

Now for the tip, get ready...... FLAVORED DRINK CRYSTALS..... lots and lots of drink crystals the more tart the better. That and some vodka saved the day.

BTW i don't know if anyone mentioned it but boiled water tastes flat. By shaking the water up you will aerate it making it taste better.

Of course you can just use a water purifier like a Katadyn and not worry about bad taste.

SilverBinder
05-06-2013, 01:19 PM
T^



I use a Millbanks Bag combined with boiling or chlorine or iodine treatment. Usually I will oil a small amout and use chemical treatment on larger quantities of water. This is much cheaper and less bulky than one of the more expensive camping filters. I am working on a couple of ideas that will allow me to take advantage of commercial filter cartridges but keep the system light and portable.


"This is Liberty Hall - you can spit on the mat and call the 'cat' a b*sta*rd!"