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Hi Ferfal,
Thanks for the information that you provide in your blog. You have many good suggestions for disaster preparedness. I especially appreciate your suggestions regarding items such as knives, water, flashlights and other items. Having water, shelter and small tools is absolutely necessary when disasters such as a tornado, hurricane, flood, etc occur.
In return for all the good information you have given, I would like to share with you. We recently purchased a Big Berkey water filter system for our family to use at home and it is working out quite well. The system itself is rather expensive ($250.00). However, it does not require any electrical power and the filters it uses have a shelf life of 50 years. The water filter system was originally designed for the Queen of England so that polluted water from the Thames River in London could be filtered for drinking water. The water filters are impregnated with silver and will remove bacteria that causes disease. Of course this is not for carrying with you. However, as you say - often it is best to stay in your home. With this system you can take polluted water and use this system to provide clean drinking water for a family.
Thanks and best regards,
Douglas
Fort Worth, Texas
Thanks Douglas, I enjoy trying out gear. Its fun and you learn along the way.
That's pretty interesiing story . I knew Berkey water filters where good, that's why we're proud to have Directive21, an authorized Berkey dealer, as a sponsor, but I didn't know the story about Doulton, the commercial British Berkefeld name and the Brit royalty.
Here's a link where the story is explianed in more detail, the Queens demand for a filter to purify the dirty London water, pretty interesting.
http://www.jmccanneyscience.com/DoultonWaterFilterInformationSub-Page.HTM
FerFAL
14 comments:
People underestimate the bad effects of toxic water. Many bad diseases are waterborne - typhoid fever, Hepatitis A and B (that we know of), and a host of other lesser know but equally bad or worse germs.
The BB is a good solution to the water problem. Just use a prefilter to keep all the solids out of the filter - will last longer that way.
There's a cheap way to do this. Buy one of the replacement water filter candles. Then buy two 5 gallon white food grade plastic buckets from home depot or restaurant supply store. Drill a small hole in the bottom of one bucket the size of the diameter of the threaded end of the filter candle. Install it with the plastic nut and washers the candle will come with. That bucket is done.
Drill a little bit bigger hole on the lid of the 2nd bucket that is aligned with the hole you drilled in the bottom of the first bucket---when you stack the first bucket on top of the 2nd bucket with that DRILLIED lid on it. So after they are stacked pour dirty water in the first bucket and watch it drip pure "Royal" water into the 2nd bucket for less then $30-$50 for the whole unit. Even cheaper if you scrounge some free containers some how.
The "Rhino Muscle Royale" unit:
You can get 4 or 6 filter candles and use a couple of big 50 gallon barrels. Install all 6 candles in the bottom of one and let it drip in the other.
I like the homemade idea, but be careful where you buy your buckets. I called the supplier for Home Depot's buckets, and they said they were NOT certfied food safe. They may be fine, but they haven't been through the certification process.
I guess the plastic is food grade, but it may absorb some of the release agents from the molding process.
The Katadyn water filter Ferfal recommended was a recent purchase, & a good one!
Its simple to use with few parts & excellent results. A few spare O-rings & tubes were included at the factory in Switzerland.
Great to have in the bag for hiking, earthquakes & more.
A solar still is easy to make.
Take a large bottle or bucket & paint it black. Seal or cap it, with one end of a vinyl tube coming out, the other end of the tube goes into a clean bucket.
This would have worked well is a sunny & hot place like New Orleans after the flood, with plentry of foul water & solar energy, but water contaminated with gasoline & other toxins.
My local feed store often has large (used) food grade water containers for sale.
This style is commonly sold there for $85.
http://www.arizonabarrels.com/275_gallon_totes.html
The beverage labels are often still on them. Usually it's a fruit drink like HI-C.
Check out what James Mccanney says re: distilling water. He's a prepper scientist that has famous radio show on shortwave.
A NEW issue came in from some in the audience ... one listener wanted to know my opinion of distillation units for water ... first you will need a heat source (not always available in tough times) but second of all and more importantly ... when one distills liquids ALL liquids with vaporization temperatures below that of water are also distilled and end up in the final pot ... it turns out that MOST volatile poisons are in this category ... take iowa flooding for example with the chemical stew that is brewing there or with chemical byproducts of dead animals in the water ... guess what ... pretty much all those chemicals have lower vaporization temperatures than water so they will all end up in the end product ... not exactly what i want to drink for supper ... now look at ionizers and ozone cleaning techniques or how about ultra-violet water purification systems ... none of these will remove chemicals or other sludge ... so you may have some of the most bacteria free sludge on the planet out of these systems ... bon appetite !!!
also he sells a new pre filter for the Doulton that is for super toxic water sludge; like from oil spills...
http://www.jmccanneyscience.com/SecWebOrderPg.htm
Re: Anonymous:
You are 100% correct, water can be contaminated with all sorts of stuff. Buy a GOOD filter, the best you can. You can live without food for a time, but without water you won't last a week.
I live 2 miles from a river, that passes through a million plus population city. I'd want a damn good filter, because you are getting everything that people and animals leave in the water.
These filters are very practical, but what is not usually mentioned is that it will not filter out viruses. Should a virus be known or could possibly pose a risk such in an area that may for example be contaiminated by human fecal material, boil or treat chemically. Read up on conditions that indicate the possible presence of viruses.
If you already have a Berkey and would like a smaller version for travel here's a suggestion. Remove one of 4 of the filters and plug the hole with a various means, silcone works good. The Berkey filter fast enough with only 3 filters and you are going to make a tough and portable filter for next to nothing. Take 3" pvc or abs drain pipe can cut to a length desired, 1 to 2 feet or more, and a end cap and drill 1/4" hole in the center of the cap. Install filter then fit the cap without gluing onto the pipe. Your new filer system is now ready to go.
Fox News featured a commentator on pre election numbers and reported that a recent CNN nation wide poll showed that 57% felt that "the Federal Gov't posed a direct and immediate threat to their freedoms." In the opinion of the Fox News commentator, Pat Caddel, these were "pre revolutionary numbers".
abc
http://www.youtube.com/watch_videos?more_url=%2Fmy_subscriptions%3Fs%3DCgJ0irNryhQ&video_ids=GIG7awT4c3E%2CJBb5JdA5-i8%2ChcPdFRz3M64%2CeEP1VpqqY5U%2CVswDlx5wEiA%2C79tJyyhkNM0%2Cbg0S6Vg1DSM%2CnF1TP2EWJ1Y%2CIffnY3RY918%2CztQ3UabAKqo%2CRR_KVoffWTI%2CwGUDnlQfCAA%2CKod-6ga-5uI%2Cx0VLhDSyLMo%2CpQKUXllJe0Q%2CI7ID0guN5ik%2CVV5rgbAYzz0%2C_XLqK9sc4-4%2C9qraUmQkx8o%2CieJqqGUdeYk&type=1
Anonymous,
The Black Berkey Elements do remove viruses.
Just wanted to clarify.
The Berkey Guy
The Dol-Fyn distillers have a volatile gas vent, but they're pricey to purchase and operate:
Using nature’s own design for recycling water, distillation reduces impurities through the process of evaporation and condensation. As the water is heated it turns into vapor which rises, leaving most impurities behind in the boiling chamber or discharged through the volatile gas vent. As the water vapor cools, it condenses into a liquid state. A final polishing takes place as the water passes through the post carbon filter. The result? Water quality that you and your family can trust.
Berkey Guy,
Thanks for the correction. The filter does remove all or reduces viruses. I'm surprised and happy as the black filters are what I have, however, I'd like to be sure that all the viruses are removed.
A
From Berkeywater.com:
The powerful Black Berkey® purification elements also remove or reduce viruses, pathogenic cysts, parasites, harmful or unwanted chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides, VOCs, detergents, organic solvents, cloudiness, trihalomethanes, silt, sediment, heavy metals, foul tastes and odors,
try tincture of iodine 2% this is a good sterilization medium and iodine is good for you.
I never knew that the filtration system was originally designed for the Queen. That's interesting!
Well, I'm a Berkey user too and I'm amazed how simple it works yet it gives a great change to the water that we take. Our family feels safe for drinking clean water from our Berkey. Been using it for years now. It's even way cheaper than the other brands. Can I say that I just so love this thing? Great post Ferfal!
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