[linktrek]

How many drops of bleach should I add to a 2 ltr bottle of pond water to make it drinkable?

 

[pearlselby]

How many drops of bleach should I add to a 2 ltr bottle of pond water to make it drinkable?

I had our pond water tested before and after using an Aqua Rain gravity filter. It was drinkable after using the filter.
You can call your county extension and find out where to have it tested.

 

[HaroldWayneHamlin]

How many drops of bleach should I add to a 2 ltr bottle of pond water to make it drinkable?

Here is the thing.

with all the bugs we have that have aquired a resistance to chemicals, it is hard to say.

We should not do now WHAT we would HAVE TO DO in a SHTF situation.

I would do some test.

in one bottle, do nothing
in one bottle put one drop
in one bottle put two drops
in one bottle put three drops

Have the health dept test them (tell them what you are doing) they are very knowledgeable and will help you and guide you.

Later
wayne

 

[linktrek]

I had our pond water tested before and after using an Aqua Rain gravity filter. It was drinkable after using the filter.
You can call your county extension and find out where to have it tested.

Well if something happens then it doesn't matter how the water tests out. I would have to use it. I figure with a couple bottles of bleach, I could get unlimited drinking water!

 

[linktrek]

MMM Delicious. Bugs. Extra protein in the water. The chemical pollutants in the water, nothing that can be done about that. It's mostly the bacteria and parasites that I would want to kill. But I'm not worried too much about bug larvae because I can't think of one that is dangerous except for amoebas. But the chlorine should take them out too.
Taste doesn't really matter. Water is water.
I wish I could think of a way to start a fire her in Central Florida. I don't want to depend on matches because they run out. I'm talking long term survival. A year or more. The less supplies I need the better. I'm not sure that the one Winn Dixie shopping center would be safe to go to. Everyone may be fighting for the supplies if they are short of them.
I don't want to depend on the military either because if things get bad enough,
I'm sure they would break ranks. I would hate to end up like a fire ant. Bring the food home, have a great meal and then drop dead.

 

[kev]

I think its 8 drops of bleach per gallon, 2 drops per quart - depending on how much chlorine the bleach has in it.


Read this thread about using Pool Shock to treat water - http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=98596

Source - epa.gov/ogwdw000/faq/emerg.html

Download this file, print it out and put it with your records - Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water

 

[stephpd]

MMM Delicious. Bugs. Extra protein in the water. The chemical pollutants in the water, nothing that can be done about that. It's mostly the bacteria and parasites that I would want to kill. But I'm not worried too much about bug larvae because I can't think of one that is dangerous except for amoebas. But the chlorine should take them out too.
Taste doesn't really matter. Water is water.
I wish I could think of a way to start a fire her in Central Florida. I don't want to depend on matches because they run out. I'm talking long term survival. A year or more. The less supplies I need the better. I'm not sure that the one Winn Dixie shopping center would be safe to go to. Everyone may be fighting for the supplies if they are short of them.
I don't want to depend on the military either because if things get bad enough,
I'm sure they would break ranks. I would hate to end up like a fire ant. Bring the food home, have a great meal and then drop dead.

Lots more things in water then you could possibly imagine. Without testing you'd probably be drinking some nasty stuff.

For a quick review of water purification and filtration look here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification

Even if you get the water to look fairly clean it can still have billions of things in it that could still do damage. Even a chlorine treatment won't kill off all things. The biggest two are giardia and cryptosporidium. If present in the water there;s no amount of chlorine that will kill them. For everything else bilogical the chlorine needs a contact time of around 4 hours to kill most things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptosporidiosis

Boiling water will kill most things but do nothing for minerals. For those you'll need a good micron filter or better. Most seem to like the ceramic filters that are sold be berkey and others. These will work well for most folks for drinking water. They remove almost everything harmful to human.

There's lots more to be concerned about in a good water source then most imagine. Keeping it safe for drinking is even harder. Surface water, whether, river, stream, lake or pond all need to be treated. Some more then others, but never assume that just because it looks clean it's safe to drink.

 

[MikeK]

Well if something happens then it doesn't matter how the water tests out. I would have to use it. I figure with a couple bottles of bleach, I could get unlimited drinking water!

Except that bleach has a short shelf life. It might be less effective or non effective by the time you need it. Pool shock lasts a lot longer and lets you make up bleach any time you need it. Kev gave a link to a thread about it. That sure opened my eyes. I had been storing bleach (and rotating it, of course) for many years.

 

[MaxDefl]

StephPD was right. You will not be able to completely kill the giardia or the cryptosporidium with bleach. They can only be filtered out, or , ahem...taken care of with boiling or ozone disinfection(which destroys all organics on contact). Ozone will not be available without liquid oxygen and an ozone generator, though, post SHTF. Crypto was what killed all of the folks in Milwaulkee in the 1980s. Always a good idea to both filter and disinfect any surface water. If you are getting your water from an underground source that has been proven viable (i.e. well - tested during construction), you might not need any additional treatment. I, however, practice shocking (disinfecting) my well at various intervals, as it has been shown to be influenced by other material in the water table due to the short depth). I pull my well top, then dose out enough bleach for my needs (I use 2 cups approx, but that is for my well, and may require adjustment based on the water volume in the well). I then let it sit for about 10 minutes, then go and turn on the water in my home until I smell bleach. I let this sit for about 6 hours while I go do something outside. Then, I run the water until it loses the bleach odor. I usually do not drink it for about a day thereafter. This clears out my pipes, pump, and pressure tank as well. You don't want to use too much bleach, though, as that could pose alternate issues. I will see if I can find my calculation sheet on well shocking and post it. It is a little worksheet that anyone with a calculator, a pencil, and knowledge about their well can use.

 

[pearlselby]

I think its 8 drops of bleach per gallon, 2 drops per quart - depending on how much chlorine the bleach has in it.


Read this thread about using Pool Shock to treat water - http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=98596

Source - epa.gov/ogwdw000/faq/emerg.html

Download this file, print it out and put it with your records - Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water

Thanks Kev so much. I did not know you could use only bleach..thanks a million!

 

[ANTI LIBERAL]

Just get a Berkey with the black filters. I would still use bleach but after the Berkey is done with it the water should be better than the bottled water you buy.