But isn't rain water also distilled water which falls into the lakes and then to everyone's tap after some chemical processing?
But isn't rain water also distilled water which falls into the lakes and then to everyone's tap after some chemical processing?
How do you test the water purity with home methods? Is that possible?
Interesting device. I'm going to contact the manufacturer about and installs and/or statistics on gals/day in a desert climate. If he's only sold it around Miami and for boats then it may not be ready for prime time yet.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
@ Unknown Warrior - Rain water could be considered distilled water in the sense that it was "distilled" by the sun. But remember that rain picks up all sorts of natural contaminants as it falls. Things like dust, bacteria, viruses, etc. In addition, it will pick up chemical pollutants out of the air. Once it hits the ground then it will pick up pollutants from whatever it touches including things like iron or calcium if it percolates through the ground. So, in a sense, rainwater is distilled but it isn't as pure as commercially distilled water.
As to testing water at home, there are a LOT of companies that market home testing kits. I don't use them so I'm not qualified to suggest one over the other. I'm sure a good number of folks are here do use them.
If you are looking for some home made kit, I'm not aware of anything.
Last edited by Rick; 07-24-2009 at 07:43 PM.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
Getting back to the original post on this product... I spoke w/ the manufacturer... The amount of water generated per day is directly related to the humidity in the house, (which yes, is related to amount outside). However, heavy AC use sucks out humidity and thus lowers amount of water created. He has installs in Vegas and agrees desert climate + AC will dramatically decrease water creation, especially during the day. The key (I'm told) in desert climates is at night, when most water will be created.
He made the point (not sure if this is a plus) that "at just 35% of peak capacity, the unit will create 2 gals/day." (Which to me is a helovalot better then zero gals/day.) Finally, there is a unconditional 20 day return policy.
For what its worth, I'm undecided. If I purchase this I will post a full report.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
Yes it is, you can use dip slides. But personally I wouldn't risk it. If in doubt treat it!Originally Posted by UnknownWarrior
Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.
Distilling water sounds like a good long term survival plan to me.
If a filter is good for 1000 gallons, that means if you use 1 gallon a day, per person (being conservative here), you have water for 1000 days give or take. Divide that number depending on how many people you have; so for a 4 person family, it will last only 250 days. I imagine it would be more like 3 gallons per person per day when you add in sanitation and stuff, so that's less than 84 days of water out of your filter.
Just rambling I guess, filters are great to have I just think people ought to be more redundant about water in thier plans. Carrying a few different ways to start a fire seems to be the standard around here, so for something as essential to life as water I think people should plan for more than one way to harness it.
Absolutely. That's one of the reasons for the fire redundancy - the ability to boil water. Chemical treatments are also an option to consider.
I do carry an MSR water filter as well as chemical means to treat water. I also have the ability to boil it. If I loose an O ring or the filter craps out then I have backups.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
I shud have asked this when I joined but better late than never ...
I have a underground boring water fitted with an electrc pump. Tho that water isn't drinkable, we use it for bathing and in the toilet. It's nice and cool in the summers when usual water is warm-hot.
Is there a way to treat / purify this water if need be? This water is "hard water" if I'm correct. I'm also thinking to add a hand pump to get it in failure of electricity.
From what you are describing, I'm guessing you mean what we call shallow well (generally used for irragation). If so, shallow ground water is easily contaminated and I'd want to take a sample of the water to be tested to find out exactly what's in it before attempting.
It's this thing I was talking about, to install.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_pump
We call it boring here and its done by the municipality using a motor driven machine by attaching earth drills till you get water from below the earth. Just without the well construction.
Water is drawn up from about 100 meters or so below the earth. Something like the well water just without the well.
If I take the sample to any laboratory, would they be able to test it?
That's about the depth of wells around here. Any hole that produces water with a pump is considered a well to us. We have shallow wells and deep wells. 100 meters would be a deep well to me but I'm sure that are lots of wells in the U.S. much deeper than that.
You should be able to acquire a test kit to test your water and you would want to do that on a fairly routine basis. Even aquifers have been known to become polluted.
Check with your municipality. I'll bet they can suggest resources for either home testing or laboratory testing. And yes, a lab should be able to check your water quality.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
Yep - shallow wells around here - maybe 30 feet deep. Deep wells about 300 to 600 feet.
Oh, I almost forgot. You would need to check the rating on the hand pump. Pulling water from 100 meters is a pretty good pull and your pump will have to be rated to do that. Otherwise, I think the weight of the water column would overpower the hand pump.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
Thanks Rick / Crash, I'll get it tested first.
I'd also ask this here - liquid chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) doesn't have long shelf-life but dry chlorine bleach (calcium hypochlorite) does. How do you use the dry one when needed for water purification?
I don't, just because I do not know how to measure it. I'm sure there's a way, but chlorine gets rotated fairly regularly at my house through use in the laundry.
Neither do I. I've never used it.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
I was thinking to put it in the backpack as a backup.
As long as you can figure a reliable way to correctly scrape off the correct "doseage" it should work fine.
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