Thank you for mentioning that. I was not even thinking about wounds needing clean water. I think a lot of us feel like we can just use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds but not clean water.
My neighbor have a well on his property. He got a letter from the government to send in a sample for testing to se if it's safe. He took a sample from a well he knew was contaminated and sent that in. And when I asked him why he said "Now they will take it off the list of emergency water sources".
Actually instead of spending $300 on a Berkeley.. you can actually make your own. I did that myself and save a lot of money. just buy the filters by themselves and get a bucket and make your own.. DIY is the way to go guys I'm telling you .I did it you can do it too.
@@rebelsixtynine1 there you go my friend hell yeah now you're talkin you're talkin my language these people like me and you will save a ton of money if you can do it yourself.. because those Buckley metal containers are very very expensive I'm not going to pay $3 for that when I can do it myself for pennies on the dollar and it's just as good just with the filters by themselves..
@@JesusSaves86AB that is so true with the world going crazy and topsy-turvy more and more people starting to prep.. it's funny how that goes because those same people thought people like me and you and others what nut jobs.. the funny thing is Who's Laughing Now but the downside to everybody jumping on the bandwagon is is making these prices High just like you said my friend which is why I rather do it myself just like my camper bug-out van I built in my own Rob them spend $100,000 off $70,000 and a campervan made my own..
@@elizabethraworth64I'm pretty new to it myself. The process is fairly straightforward but time consuming. My understanding is that the leftover salt from the distillation process can be harvested but definitely double check me on that.
@@elizabethraworth64 I live near the ocean in California with little in the way of streams and other sources of water so I figure it's a skill I should learn.
The best single drink of water I have ever had was from a Welsh mountain stream. I was exhausted, and desperately needed a drink. The water was crystal clear, ice cold, and tasted like heaven. I probably remember this moment all these years later because on a primal level my body needed water and that need was met. Two minutes later my guide was saying "how the FFFFFFF do you know there isnt a FFFFFFFFFFFFing sheep rotting a hundred yards upstream?" Then he shouted at me about the amoeba and parasites. I guess the moral of the story is that you CAN get away with anything if you are lucky, but when it comes to water you need to be responsible. Welsh stream water tasted damn good mind.
Thanks, for this video! I would like to add a couple of ideas, if I may: 1 - An inexpensive water filter can be constructed using a standard 5 gallon bucket, gravel, sand, and some kind of pre-filter material like cloth or air conditioner filter material. Put a drain hole in the side of the bottom of the bucket a couple of inches above the bottom, so that any silt that makes it through the rest of the filter has a place to settle out. Then, place some gravel or rocks up to an inch or two above the drain hole. Then, place a piece of cloth over the top of the gravel or rocks so that it goes up the side of the bucket a bit. On top of the cloth, put some ordinary sand - up to a few inches below the top of the bucket. Then, place another piece of cloth on top of the sand and, if you have it, a cut section of air conditioner filter material. This will give you an effective mechanical, gravity based filter system to get out most of the particulate matter in any water you might find. And, it will filter thousands of gallons of water. Just pour your untreated water into the top of the filter and capture the filtered water from the drain hole. Of course, you then must boil or otherwise treat the water for bacteria, viruses, and parasites that might make it through the filter. If available, you can also add a layer of carbon - activated carbon, charcoal briquets that have not been soaked with starter fluid, or even burned remains from campfires - at the bottom of the filter. 2 - Mix up a batch of Lugol's Iodine solution (5%). The nice thing about Lugol's Iodine solution is that it is water based and contains no alcohol, like a tincture of iodine might contain. That means, it can actually be taken orally in small doses (1ml-2ml in a dropper daily) to fight off bacteria, viruses, and parasites that may have already been ingested, as well as protect from any that might make it through the filtration process. There are no known pathogens that can withstand iodine. And, iodine is an essential element for the human immune system, responsible for the production of T3 and T4 immune cells. Furthermore, excess iodine in your system (within reason) naturally ends up in mucous membranes in the lungs and sinus cavities - where most airborne pathogens find entry into the human body. Use about 8 drops of Lugol's Iodine (5%) to treat a gallon of water intended for consumption. A whole gallon of Lugol's Iodine (5%) can be made easily in your kitchen using only distilled water, elemental iodine pellets, and potassium iodide for about $120 - versus up to $20 per ounce already prepared and sold on ebay. And, videos are available here on TH-cam that show exactly how to make it in just a few minutes. You will, of course, also need a dark colored GLASS bottle to store the finished product. And, the bottle top should be made of a chemical resistant material and NOT metal. Also, be aware that iodine WILL eventually break down the typical rubber dropper, so keep droppers separate from your stored smaller containers of iodine, until you need them. I can think of no better single medical substance to have on hand in an emergency than Lugol's Iodine solution. It's FAR better than antibiotics, anti-parasitics, and even alcohol, when it comes to protecting yourself from infections or treating wounds. Between the filter described above and Lugol's Iodine (5%), you should be able to provide potable water to even groups of people. Hope this helps!
I have a homemade berkey I made from carbon filters and food grade 5gal buckets. I can only store about 50 gallons currently but working on a few plans to catch rainwater. especially for the garden and for emergencies.
There are TH-cam videos that show how to make a Berkey style filter system. The filters and all the other parts can be bought online. It might save you fifty bucks or so.
My primary filters for mobile scenarios (backpacking to bugout) are the Katadyn Vario and their older Pocket, both of which are hand pumped filters. Each is only good to 0.2um (um = microns or micrometers), so that is always a consideration. At 0.2um cysts, protozoa, and most if not all bacteria should be blocked, but not the much smaller viruses. Katadyn makes a refillable external inline carbon filter mainly for the pocket model, but it can work with pretty much any pumped (or possibly gravity action - I don't know) filter as an external carbon stage. I am experimenting with using a Sawyer inline filter as a "prefilter", but I expect its low flow rate to be a serious stressor on the pump mechanism. Sawyer filters are purely mechanical, so they provide no removal of dissolved chemicals or heavy metals. That is what carbon stages are for. Same is true of the Katadyn Pocket filter with the exception that it's ceramic filter is impregnated with silver which is antibacterial (kills bacteria) by its nature. Any purely mechanical filter needs a (preferably refillable) carbon stage added to remove dissolved chemicals and heavy metals. Carbon bonds with more elements than anything else, so it effectively soaks up these contaminants. It also gets saturated eventually and must be replaced with fresh ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. Regular campfire charcoal will not work very well if at all. Look up how to make activated charcoal. Note that Sawyer makes an inline 0.01um filter, their "Point Zero One" model. At this absolute filtration size, even a mechanical filter blocks viruses. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the infection termed COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease - 2019), is about 46nm (0.046um) in diameter. As a comparison, the "gold standard" mask with NIOSH N95 rating guarantees blocking 95% of all particles 0.300um and larger. The best analogy I have heard for using this mask against SARS-CoV-2 (or any other virus) is like building a chain link fence to keep out mosquitoes. Other masks (surgical masks open on the sides, cotton masks, etc) are far less effective than this. Viruses do not have the ability to move, so they "hitch a ride" on larger particles, e.g. dust, bacteria, or liquid ejected be sneezing or coughing. These particles ARE blocked to some degree by almost all the masks, so masks ARE effective for sick people with symptoms. The only thing I know of that will totally and consistently block viruses are the military grade CBRN / NBC military gas mask filters. Even that mask requires a tight mask-skin bond, so they do not work with beards or even heavy "five o'clock shadow". My most recent acquisition, which I have not tried yet, is the Survivor hand pump filter. It has 0.01um absolute mechanical filtration by default and an internal carbon stage. Both the mechanical filter and carbon filter are modular units. These are easily replaceable, but not refillable by design. I'm looking at that, but in the mean time I purchased as many spares of both types as reasonable by cost versus space to carry them. My ultimate filter goal is a man-portable reverse osmosis (RO) system with good particulate and carbon prefilters. These are usually motorized, depending on about 40psi pressure on the membrane. A hand pump might be able to achieve this, but because of the size and weight plus pressure requirements that suggest an electric pump, this is more likely a bugout vehicle accessory. I work on the man-portable design as time allows. Being a retired electronics engineer and currently studying biochemistry helps.
I keep a Sawyer Mini and sealed Smart Water bottle in the get home bag. After drinking the sealed bottle, the bottle can be used to collect water and then the Sawyer is screwed on top, creating a filter straw. Just note that that bottle is then contaminated and would need to be disinfected before using it store clean water. In my hiking kit/BOB, I have a Katadyn BeFree 3L bladder with attached filter. Same principle applies, as the bladder is always considered “contaminated.” The bladder allows disinfecting larger amounts of water for cooking and group use. As a note, water treatment methods are “disinfection,” not “purification.” Purification is breaking it down to absolutely zero contaminants and the chemical chain of H2O only. In treating water, while making it safe to drink, there will always be trace minerals and microbes that have been rendered harmless. Unfortunately, the word “purified” has been utilized in bottled water marketing and is a misnomer.
When I’m backpacking, I usually pop out a couple of sea to summit folding buckets and head to the water supply. Then I come back and fill up two Sawyer Squeeze 1 gallon gravity feeds and drop in my chlorine dioxide. I let them sit for a while and then open up my valve to the two Sawyers. My ready to drink water then fills up a large collapsible water container. Lord only knows what I might need it all for that night, but it usually gets used up. I seem to be addicted to those flavored electrolyte drink mixes when I’m on the trail. A few gallons of water goes real quick around me.
Always love your videos. Thanks so much for taking the time to write, produce, and share them! As far as my water readiness, I have 30 gallons of stored water and a Sawyer filter as backup for me, my wife, and our dog.
Oh Cris!!! I evacuated for hurricane Ida, which passed less than 25 miles from my house. I came back once the power was restored 10 days later, but we were still under a "Boil water order" in our area. Many people couldn't even move back into their houses due to the roof damage they sustained. I have two buildings on my property, one being my house. The house is only missing a few shingles, but the other building, a studio, sustained the brunt of the wind. That roof and siding is destroyed. Anyway, I boiled the water from the kitchen faucet for 3 minutes in a large pot on my gas stove and then let it sit to cool. Once cooled, I ran it through an ultramax Brita filter, put the proper amount of peroxide in and it was just fine. I also made sure to allow the faucet to run for a while since the water was sitting in the pipes for a long time. I hadn't quite gotten to the point of buying one of the filters that you are showing here. I've been prepping for such a short time compared to many others. I DO have a years supply of food stored, canned and dried, and I've been storing water in the bottom of my closet for about 6 months now. I have grown potatoes, broccoli, spinach, onions, garlic, carrots and peppers for a couple of years now. They are in 5 gallon food-grade containers so I can bring them in during freezes (which is not every year) or if the SHTF and I wanna hide my stock. I also have a plethora of seeds, lemon trees, satsuma trees. I have a solar generator and I ordered that Minuteman K Rocket Stove from one of your videos. I have a rainwater barrel, which I just got before the hurricane, so it was not set up yet. Baby-steps.....lots and lots of baby-steps. Keep the great info coming in. You are a HUGE help to others who WANT to prep but aren't sure what to do or where to start. So THANK YOU!!!! -Deedie
For boiling water, it is necessary to consider the altitude as water boils at lower temperature higher you go. Typically it is needed to add a minute of boiling per thousand meters of altitude gain. At see level it will be 1 minute. At 2000 meters (~ 6000 feet) it will be 3.
I have used a sawyer for a few years now. I learned you should always have multiple bags. I popped a bag when I was in the Sierra Nevadas last summer. Good thing I brought a spare.
Great video like always man. I've bought a couple of life straws as a precautionary measure but after watching this video I realize I REALLY need to step up my game. Thank you for the insight and great information 👍🏻
Long term it’s not good to drink Clorox and hydrogen peroxide will induce vomiting. Rolling to a boil for 3-5 minutes is the safest time but other than that, very informative video!
I bought LifeStraw and Sawyer personal water filters. If I have to I can dig a shallow well near the nearby creek and drink from that. There`s just too much nasty stuff in streams to drink directly from them even if it is filtered. I`m gonna try to collect rainwater with some sort of simple collection method I can deploy during heavy rains to get clean water without bird poop or roof dust in it. I think I can use a small tarp and set it up when it starts raining.
Just be sure to follow the directions when adding any chemical treatment to water. Yes, too much can cause problems. Don't forget that most city supplied water is treated with chlorine. It is a viable option when used correctly. Sometimes boiling isn't an option in an emergency situation. It is good to have and know how to use safe alternative ways to turn raw water into potable.
@@chesterogilvie1393 Better to follow the directions when using liquid chlorine to treat water. While your idea will work, chlorine added to water will breakdown rather quickly on its own. Electricity to run the pump may not be available, may be very limited and needed for communications, for example.
I Keep 21 gallons stored and have a waterbasic emergancy 60 gallon reservoar with pump and filter. Also I have a saywer and a befree for backpacking and last I have some water purification tablets. Can't have more water stored then I have for I live in an apartment. Great video
Good material. I have some for home, BOB. My commute Jeep has 5 gallon jug ( partially filled), one gallon H20 pure, 2-3 liters(chilled )depending outside temperature(some days over 105 deg.) also 1 day of can food. Here in central California flowing water is almost gone and questionable purity. Thanks for your suggestions. I always forget Coffe filters and tablets. Definitely will buy pool shock. Thanks
@@toddskinski i came across them in my grandfathers garage years ago when I was cleaning it out. They are super old, with the cork plugs rather than rubber, and the canvas bags not the new ones. I have used them and love them.
I just bought a "travel" Berkey because of the "forever chemicals" recently found in North Carolina area tap water and some 33 other places in the US. Thank you for providing practical survival information. I will probably have to watch some of your uploads more than once to make sure I've taken in all the most pertinent info. So I appreciate that they're concise & focused. Have subscribed.
I am fairly new to this community. I can't start water storage at this time because we are expecting a move this year. (husband job requires it) So we have started with some filters and stuff that isn't super bulky. My main hobby is planted aquariums, So the weight of those tanks will already make our move a hundred times harder. If I tell my husband that I am going to start stock piling water he might just kill be before a SHTF scenario can happen.
Living in Puerto Rico, with hurricane seasons and recent earthquakes, there is always cases of water under the stairs and a second safe location in case of an earthquake. Buyout bags are checked every two months, replenished with fresh snacks, water, meds and humidity packs. These can be affected by the humidity and heat, so frequent checking us necessary. A site we have in case of needing to camp out is also checked for cleanliness of brush and such, so it's ready on moment's notice. Rain barrels are maintained for bathing and flushing purposes, food supplies are replenished every time there's shopping to be done. Use something from the emergency stash, replace. It keeps stuff fresh, full of the things we use on a daily basis, such as rice, dry beans, soda crackers, cooking oil, tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, jelly. Having bananas, fruit trees and root veggies in the backyard all year long is a good thing. A small garden for two is kept in a corner and yields enough to share with family and a few trustworthy neighbors. It never hurts to be prepared.
My system is- prefilter through quilt batting, boil/chem treat, use sawyer, then through a berkey. I want those berkey filters to last as long as possible. Yes it’s for bugging in not out. Just added more rain catchment (in case it ever dose rain).
Good video! For years I used a Sweetwater Guardian, a pump filter. It works well, but is heavy and had to be cleaned after about every ten gallons. Now I use a Sawyer mini and still treat the water with iodine too. Yeah, prefiltering is really helpful.
What this video is missing? The crude methods of making potable water when a disaster hits. You can buy all the manufactured filtering systems under the sun, but in a true disaster you have to assume that these items are either lost, stolen, damaged, or just not accessible and you have to go with basic methods of clean water production. Although touched on a little bit, it wasn't really the focus of the video.
Great and informative video! Actually, I use a coffee filter at the beginning of water filtration, then put the coffee filtered water through a Katadyn System, then I boil that water. Getting ready to order a secondary Katadyn Bag system. Thanks Christ...and your video about water sources people rarely think about, is awesome!! God bless you and your family.
I always fly overseas for work and I carry a Sawyer mini and it's water bag. Worst case scenario I always have a cotton bandana, few zip lock bags and stainless steel water bottle on me to filter and boil water on top of the Sawyer mini so I can have potable drinking water on the fly in case of emergencies
Camping in remote locations it's difficult to carry enough water. We generally filter water then use a light pen, for drinking. If we are cooking just filter it, let the cooking process be our second method. Looking into the lifesaver jerry can.
I'm a new subscriber . Love your content. I live in a rural area, where resources are plentiful. But knowledge is power. Thank you for what you are doing.
The St-Lawrence river is the source of my tap water and I would get my emergency water from it too, it may be safe to drink as is but my easy option would be to solar purify it after adding a pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) per litre to increase the PH (lower the acidity) to hopefully make it less hospitable to whatever naturally lives in it.
I have extra filters. I'm getting a Berkey or another system that I've seen. I don't have the funds currently. This is for an emergency for now. I wanting something here. I didn't want to be caught without. But thanks I'll try and be careful.
@@heartofdixieprepping4797 Look at the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. It has high volume capacity and can filter down to 0.1 ABSOLUTE microns. It's a good one to get started with if you don't already have a good filter. One of the reasons I like the Squeeze is that it can filter several hundred gallons of water, per day, if needed to help friends and family. Shop around for the best price. Walmart has one for $29.97. It's a good investment even if you do have a high end filter. It's always good to have a backup because even the best can fail, become damaged, or be stolen. BTW, if needed, carbon filtration can be added to the Sawyer. (A number of videos on how-to are available.) It's not needed in my area, as my best raw water source isn't polluted with industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals from waste water treatment plants upstream. Usually the concerns from springs and small streams, away from highly developed property is microbiological, as mentioned in the video. Hope this helps a bit. I'm not affiliated in any way with Sawyer. Just a satisfied customer, FWIW.
I’ve had Giardia before. Vomit, diarrhea and sweating profusely , you are completely dehydrated and unable to move. I laid on the floor all day and could barely roll over. I have never felt so helpless. Rehydrating is very difficult as your body will reject a sip of water. The dry heaves and cramps eventually made me pass out.
Lifestrraws for this line wolf. Love them on hikes and bumming around in the wild. Berkey are the best of you're hosting a party, tho. Nothing weirder than 100 people in a camp with Montezuma's curse at the same time.
Aqua tabs are a good backup if you can't boil it in your plastic canteen, just in case your device breaks down. It is also light(er) to carry. The taste can be inproved by coldteabags, roosvice to go or other flavors packages.
During "civilized" grid up times, the biggest threat from drinking river and lake water is typically due to microorganisms. These pathogens are relatively easy to neutralize however, by way of conventional filtering, boiling, or adding sterilizing chemicals like bleach. However, during more serious apocalyptic times, perhaps following a major and widespread grid down event, things may be somewhat different. Many algaes are harmless to humans, but some varieties (such as some types of cyanobacterias and "red tide" algaes) produce harmful toxins (ex: "brevetoxins" in the case of "red tide", aka Karenia brevis). In high enough concentrations, these toxins will either make a person sick, or even outright kill both humans and animals that either drink the water, or in extreme cases, simply swin in the algae infested water. These toxins also leach out of the algae into the surrounding water, and the toxins are too small to be filtered out via conventional carbon filtration (like used in the "Big Berkey"), personal water filters (like the Sawyer mini), nor can they be made inert via boiling or through chemical additives like bleach. During a serious apocalyptic situation, many humans will likely turn towards direct bathing in rivers and lakes, and they may also use the rivers and lakes as their personal bathrooms. Additionally, failure of municipal sewage treatment facilities (ex: due to power outage), may in some places lead to raw and untreated sewage overflowing into nearby rivers. The filth that humans will add to the river and lake water sources contain various nutrients (like nitrates and phosphates) that will likely feed and trigger massive algae blooms in the various contaminated rivers and lakes. Some of these algae blooms will be of hazardous toxin producing algae types. Consequently, following a serious apocalyptic situation, many rivers and lakes may become dangerously toxic, and conventional water treatment methods will not be adequate to make the water safe for drinking. Only properly constructed "activated carbon" water filters (which are not the same as conventional carbon filters like in the Big Berkey), reverse osmosis filtration (which has vastly smaller pore size compared to regular carbon filters, but as a consequence normally requires a pressurized water source to function), and distillation methods can successfully remove the toxins produced by hazardous algaes. Even following restoration of grid power, municipal water supplies may remain unsafe to drink for a time, as conventional municipal water treatment plants normally rely on coarse filtering and sediment filtering, followed by "flocculation" (where chemicals are added that stick to bio-organic floaties that are substrates for pathogens, which make the floaties bigger and easier to remove by settling or coarse filtering), followed by treatment with chlorine to kill off any remaining pathogens. The municipal water is then considered safe for drinking, and is pumped into the water distribution pipeline network under pressure. However, these water treatment methods are also inadequate for removing hazardous algae toxins from the water. Until or unless municipal water treatment facilities upgrade their treatment processes, input water to municipal water treatment facilities must be relatively free from such algae toxins, or else the output water will still be unsafe for consumption. In other words, if you care about having clean and safe drinking water during the apocalypse, one should invest in a reverse osmosis unit, combined with an electric diaphragm pump (like used in RVs), and a small solar power system to power the diaphragm pump. Assuming one already has a small solar power system (a 100W solar panel + a 12V/20A rated "PWM" solar charge controller + 12V deep cycle lead acid battery is sufficient for a basic system, which together can be had for less than $400), then one only needs to acquire the diaphragm pump and reverse osmosis units. Low end reverse osmosis units and diaphragm pumps can be acquires for under $300, which makes such a solution actually price competitive than what many currently pay for more crude water filtration systems like the "Big Berkey".
Thanks for the Video! I'll look into a Filter, but I'm partial to boiling. You can always let it Sit, to let the particulates settle to the bottom. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Or filter it first with a simple filter before boiling so there are no particles in it. (Could even make 'natural' filters with from the bottom to the top: moss, charcoal, sand, coarse sand/pebbles, dot let it filter for a few minutes before catching the water when taking it in use for the first time, so as not to drink ashes!)
I got sterilising tablets plus a Sawyer water filtration system for hikes. Alternatively one can boil water for 5 minutes to kill anything lurking in the suspicious water. Hiking on Mount Kenya, I got water from the pool, the run-off from the glacier. While filling the water containers I noticed tiny red bugs zooming about. Those days I wasn’t too paranoid by water purification as I knew I’d be cooking these bugs. Other more tropical parts of Africa or the world, I definitely wouldn’t take chances.
Would love to see a video regarding the desalination process for those of us who either live by the ocean and/or have salt water pools. BTW, I love all of your videos! Thanks for the hard work and I hope you keep them coming!
I have a Sawyer, as well as some bottled water. My goal is to fiestcstart saving 5-7 gallon stackable containers of water. On my list also is the potable water tablets.
I have the second selection of drinking straws that you have shown in this clip. For a a family of five I think I should definitely get the bigger one to produce 75 gallons an hour with the bag.
I literally lived off of that first Sawyer for over 2 months last summer filtering some pretty ruff pond water ... they are GREAT but make sure you back flush it often :-)
As always a very interesting video. I have some life straws, some caplets water purifiers, bleach and hydrogen peroxide. A Berkey is the next big item i'm gonna buy. Keep up your good work ✌️🇨🇦
Buy plenty of red food coloring to test your Berkey Filters. The filters can fail and you probably wouldn't even know it. In an emergency I'll use my Berkey to filer water after I have boiled it.
Great video; I would also point out it takes very little bad water to be harmful so watch dripping dirty hands and sloshing dirty water buckets. Think carefully how to process water in a manner least likely to result in inadvertent contamination. Steri-wipes or a small amount of alcohol on the hands can prevent big problems.
Filter it with a coffee filter and then Boil it. I have cans of Sterno in the bug out bag and at my bug out location. A rolling boil for 2 min is all it takes. All of the other alternatives can and do break. Or you run out of them.
I tend to use distillation method, but have the capability to use all of these methods as a prepper hobbyists. I always filtered my water but just wondering if you absolutely have no ability to filter your water would drinking rain water be the safest way as it rains here nightly and you can get more than enough water to survive on drinking by the rain and a few containers.
Thanks for the information my friend that is very valuable some of that stuff you can buy from Walmart.. which I'll definitely check out.. I have the Brita water filter water filter I use.. what do small little filters that you can buy from Walmart like you just showing on your Channel those are good also to have..
@@JesusSaves86AB I stopped using my Brita because it took up space in the refrigerator. I keep it as a back up when the bottled water runs out. It was easier to buy bottled water after my family moved in. We keep it as a back up.
@@JesusSaves86AB I don't know about that my friend I use mine all the time and it does a great job if I made my own water filter machine.. because I'm big DIY..
I have a lifestraw in my bob and a filtration water bottle - not sure which brand (Lifestraw?). I also have iodine if I get desperate. If camping I boil
@@traciforrester7410 Any pharmacy like Walmart and Kroger has small bottles of iodine tincture. The only active ingredient should be iodine tincture U.S.P. 100% (2% iodine).
Top notch advice here and informative….however, here in the southeast, I have always heard Katadyn pronounced “kuh Todd inn” (like the mountain hikers aim for when trekking the famous AT.)
I have a backpack w/solar panel on the outside - keeping a Steripen in it seems like it could be one decent combo for an emergency (in addition to filtering).
Check out Avacraft Stainless Steel Saucepan with glass lid. It's only 2.5 qts. Calphalon 3.5 qt also SS. Hope that helps. I use Calphalon and cast iron. That's the only reason I know about the inside measurement mark. I don't use teflon coated, orgreenic, etc...
Boiling pot looks like the two stainless steel stock pots I have w/lids. You can get them in the kitchen/pots@pans/small appliances section in stores, several sizes.
I watched the bleach video the other day and am looking forward to the purification filter review. I can't recall the unit but it seemed very complex. I would love a mention of that compared to the Berkey if possible! Thanks for the content!
Excellent info as always - I live in rural Hawaii where we harvest rainwater from roof to gutters and pipes to catchment tank. but .... what if we have to evacuate??? and what if there's no power to run the pump through the filters and uv light .... you've given me so many answers, good ideas and issues to consider ... mahalo nui, carry on.
Just wondering if you recommend filtering with distillation? Would you be willing to do a video on the best distillation machine? Thank you love your videos!
I am trying to figure this out. Stills are outrageously priced, and all the ones on amazon I do not trust. Any from us and canada are hundreds and thousands of dollars. So far I am considering using a tea kettle with a small pipe of some kind leading to the catch basin. That or a large pot, with the steaming pot and figuring out some way to catch the steam once it has gone through the holes, like a large bowl or a hose.
This is a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ video to watch in a crisis situation too bad there's only 49,000 viewers on your show and I'm 5 days late out of that 49,000 I wonder how many actually watch the whole video well hopefully somebody could show them the way since they don't take the time to get real knowledge or have the knowledge already be safe out there people just going to get worse
I currently catch rainwater in 2 250 gallon tanks. I think I am going to get the PortaWell for filtering, though I am looking for several methods that might be more permanent that can be run by battery or solar.
Thoughts on how to best filter pool water ? Overtime the chlorine levels can evaporate. In an emergency What would be the best filtration of pool water ?
Hi, I love your content. I was watching the survey results but I figured most of the time we are ill prepared because we live with people who have no sense of urgency. Please create a show on however we can inspire other or atleast make enroads to prep mpre water. I am not a prepper but I do know what it's like to live in a municipality that has no consequences for not delivering water at times. I got a small water tank but it will not be enough for me 3000liters. But because its in our yard they think this insurance covers everyone..Also when you are not well off I do believe this show is just economic sense to prep. I am in South Africa 🇿🇦for context.
I found this very useful I was thinking of buying some water purify tablets I was looking on Amazon is there a recommended one to use stay safe everyone 🙏
The cheapest water purification system is a decent steal cooking pot and fire. But, you need to know how and where to collect water for the best results. If it were me, I would drink any water I’ve boiled first and wait an hour or two before letting other persons drink the same water.
Yup, treat water not only for drinking and cooking but also for cleaning injuries 👍
Thank you for mentioning that. I was not even thinking about wounds needing clean water. I think a lot of us feel like we can just use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds but not clean water.
My neighbor have a well on his property.
He got a letter from the government to send in a sample for testing to se if it's safe.
He took a sample from a well he knew was contaminated and sent that in.
And when I asked him why he said "Now they will take it off the list of emergency water sources".
Nice!
Actually instead of spending $300 on a Berkeley.. you can actually make your own. I did that myself and save a lot of money. just buy the filters by themselves and get a bucket and make your own.. DIY is the way to go guys I'm telling you .I did it you can do it too.
With the price of them now I would agree. They were reasonable when prepping wasn't so popular.
Same here, I have 3 home made filter buckets and a pond about 1/4 mile away. Water in no worries.
@@rebelsixtynine1 there you go my friend hell yeah now you're talkin you're talkin my language these people like me and you will save a ton of money if you can do it yourself.. because those Buckley metal containers are very very expensive I'm not going to pay $3 for that when I can do it myself for pennies on the dollar and it's just as good just with the filters by themselves..
@@JesusSaves86AB that is so true with the world going crazy and topsy-turvy more and more people starting to prep.. it's funny how that goes because those same people thought people like me and you and others what nut jobs.. the funny thing is Who's Laughing Now but the downside to everybody jumping on the bandwagon is is making these prices High just like you said my friend which is why I rather do it myself just like my camper bug-out van I built in my own Rob them spend $100,000 off $70,000 and a campervan made my own..
Could you upload pic of yours so I can see it?
As someone who lives near the ocean, I've been learning how to distill seawater and stockpiling electrolyte packs.
That's excellent knowledge to have
I am interested in that too. Also salt harvesting.
@@elizabethraworth64I'm pretty new to it myself. The process is fairly straightforward but time consuming. My understanding is that the leftover salt from the distillation process can be harvested but definitely double check me on that.
@@edgecrusher3862 I am going to give it a try. I live on the east coast of Canada. Lots great resources near the ocean.
@@elizabethraworth64 I live near the ocean in California with little in the way of streams and other sources of water so I figure it's a skill I should learn.
I got a mini sawyer 6 months back and am happy I never had to use it.
The best single drink of water I have ever had was from a Welsh mountain stream. I was exhausted, and desperately needed a drink. The water was crystal clear, ice cold, and tasted like heaven. I probably remember this moment all these years later because on a primal level my body needed water and that need was met.
Two minutes later my guide was saying "how the FFFFFFF do you know there isnt a FFFFFFFFFFFFing sheep rotting a hundred yards upstream?" Then he shouted at me about the amoeba and parasites. I guess the moral of the story is that you CAN get away with anything if you are lucky, but when it comes to water you need to be responsible.
Welsh stream water tasted damn good mind.
Some of the best water I had was sticking my face in a river coming down the mountain in 🇨🇦 cold and refreshing and very clean glacier water 😋
If you can see the spring water coming from the ground you're fine, otherwise you can never be too careful.
Thanks, for this video!
I would like to add a couple of ideas, if I may:
1 - An inexpensive water filter can be constructed using a standard 5 gallon bucket, gravel, sand, and some kind of pre-filter material like cloth or air conditioner filter material. Put a drain hole in the side of the bottom of the bucket a couple of inches above the bottom, so that any silt that makes it through the rest of the filter has a place to settle out. Then, place some gravel or rocks up to an inch or two above the drain hole. Then, place a piece of cloth over the top of the gravel or rocks so that it goes up the side of the bucket a bit. On top of the cloth, put some ordinary sand - up to a few inches below the top of the bucket. Then, place another piece of cloth on top of the sand and, if you have it, a cut section of air conditioner filter material.
This will give you an effective mechanical, gravity based filter system to get out most of the particulate matter in any water you might find. And, it will filter thousands of gallons of water. Just pour your untreated water into the top of the filter and capture the filtered water from the drain hole. Of course, you then must boil or otherwise treat the water for bacteria, viruses, and parasites that might make it through the filter. If available, you can also add a layer of carbon - activated carbon, charcoal briquets that have not been soaked with starter fluid, or even burned remains from campfires - at the bottom of the filter.
2 - Mix up a batch of Lugol's Iodine solution (5%). The nice thing about Lugol's Iodine solution is that it is water based and contains no alcohol, like a tincture of iodine might contain. That means, it can actually be taken orally in small doses (1ml-2ml in a dropper daily) to fight off bacteria, viruses, and parasites that may have already been ingested, as well as protect from any that might make it through the filtration process. There are no known pathogens that can withstand iodine. And, iodine is an essential element for the human immune system, responsible for the production of T3 and T4 immune cells. Furthermore, excess iodine in your system (within reason) naturally ends up in mucous membranes in the lungs and sinus cavities - where most airborne pathogens find entry into the human body. Use about 8 drops of Lugol's Iodine (5%) to treat a gallon of water intended for consumption.
A whole gallon of Lugol's Iodine (5%) can be made easily in your kitchen using only distilled water, elemental iodine pellets, and potassium iodide for about $120 - versus up to $20 per ounce already prepared and sold on ebay. And, videos are available here on TH-cam that show exactly how to make it in just a few minutes. You will, of course, also need a dark colored GLASS bottle to store the finished product. And, the bottle top should be made of a chemical resistant material and NOT metal. Also, be aware that iodine WILL eventually break down the typical rubber dropper, so keep droppers separate from your stored smaller containers of iodine, until you need them.
I can think of no better single medical substance to have on hand in an emergency than Lugol's Iodine solution. It's FAR better than antibiotics, anti-parasitics, and even alcohol, when it comes to protecting yourself from infections or treating wounds.
Between the filter described above and Lugol's Iodine (5%), you should be able to provide potable water to even groups of people. Hope this helps!
Wow! Thank you for sharing! These are great ideas! I will have to save this video together with you comment to my next bug out prep. 👍🏻
Thank you for this info!
I have a homemade berkey I made from carbon filters and food grade 5gal buckets. I can only store about 50 gallons currently but working on a few plans to catch rainwater. especially for the garden and for emergencies.
Where’d you get the filters?
@@militustoica I got some off of Amazon, type in ceramic water filter.
There are TH-cam videos that show how to make a Berkey style filter system. The filters and all the other parts can be bought online. It might save you fifty bucks or so.
@@dannydenham8141 ceramic? Never heard of that. How does it work?
@@edwardknutson8108 I got goosed, then. When I bought my Big Berkey the price was already up 50% over the 6 months prior.
I finally gotta say... Your stock footage is always so great!
My primary filters for mobile scenarios (backpacking to bugout) are the Katadyn Vario and their older Pocket, both of which are hand pumped filters. Each is only good to 0.2um (um = microns or micrometers), so that is always a consideration. At 0.2um cysts, protozoa, and most if not all bacteria should be blocked, but not the much smaller viruses. Katadyn makes a refillable external inline carbon filter mainly for the pocket model, but it can work with pretty much any pumped (or possibly gravity action - I don't know) filter as an external carbon stage. I am experimenting with using a Sawyer inline filter as a "prefilter", but I expect its low flow rate to be a serious stressor on the pump mechanism. Sawyer filters are purely mechanical, so they provide no removal of dissolved chemicals or heavy metals. That is what carbon stages are for. Same is true of the Katadyn Pocket filter with the exception that it's ceramic filter is impregnated with silver which is antibacterial (kills bacteria) by its nature. Any purely mechanical filter needs a (preferably refillable) carbon stage added to remove dissolved chemicals and heavy metals. Carbon bonds with more elements than anything else, so it effectively soaks up these contaminants. It also gets saturated eventually and must be replaced with fresh ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. Regular campfire charcoal will not work very well if at all. Look up how to make activated charcoal.
Note that Sawyer makes an inline 0.01um filter, their "Point Zero One" model. At this absolute filtration size, even a mechanical filter blocks viruses. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the infection termed COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease - 2019), is about 46nm (0.046um) in diameter. As a comparison, the "gold standard" mask with NIOSH N95 rating guarantees blocking 95% of all particles 0.300um and larger. The best analogy I have heard for using this mask against SARS-CoV-2 (or any other virus) is like building a chain link fence to keep out mosquitoes. Other masks (surgical masks open on the sides, cotton masks, etc) are far less effective than this. Viruses do not have the ability to move, so they "hitch a ride" on larger particles, e.g. dust, bacteria, or liquid ejected be sneezing or coughing. These particles ARE blocked to some degree by almost all the masks, so masks ARE effective for sick people with symptoms.
The only thing I know of that will totally and consistently block viruses are the military grade CBRN / NBC military gas mask filters. Even that mask requires a tight mask-skin bond, so they do not work with beards or even heavy "five o'clock shadow".
My most recent acquisition, which I have not tried yet, is the Survivor hand pump filter. It has 0.01um absolute mechanical filtration by default and an internal carbon stage. Both the mechanical filter and carbon filter are modular units. These are easily replaceable, but not refillable by design. I'm looking at that, but in the mean time I purchased as many spares of both types as reasonable by cost versus space to carry them.
My ultimate filter goal is a man-portable reverse osmosis (RO) system with good particulate and carbon prefilters. These are usually motorized, depending on about 40psi pressure on the membrane. A hand pump might be able to achieve this, but because of the size and weight plus pressure requirements that suggest an electric pump, this is more likely a bugout vehicle accessory. I work on the man-portable design as time allows. Being a retired electronics engineer and currently studying biochemistry helps.
I'm just curious . . . where does a person bug out to in a SHTF scenario?
I keep a Sawyer Mini and sealed Smart Water bottle in the get home bag. After drinking the sealed bottle, the bottle can be used to collect water and then the Sawyer is screwed on top, creating a filter straw. Just note that that bottle is then contaminated and would need to be disinfected before using it store clean water.
In my hiking kit/BOB, I have a Katadyn BeFree 3L bladder with attached filter. Same principle applies, as the bladder is always considered “contaminated.” The bladder allows disinfecting larger amounts of water for cooking and group use.
As a note, water treatment methods are “disinfection,” not “purification.” Purification is breaking it down to absolutely zero contaminants and the chemical chain of H2O only. In treating water, while making it safe to drink, there will always be trace minerals and microbes that have been rendered harmless. Unfortunately, the word “purified” has been utilized in bottled water marketing and is a misnomer.
Microbes, not microphages.
... Unless you're taking the Dracula approach to getting your water intake.
@@stevenschnepp576 Good catch sir! Autocorrect to the rescue again. Thanks
When I’m backpacking, I usually pop out a couple of sea to summit folding buckets and head to the water supply.
Then I come back and fill up two Sawyer Squeeze 1 gallon gravity feeds and drop in my chlorine dioxide. I let them sit for a while and then open up my valve to the two Sawyers. My ready to drink water then fills up a large collapsible water container. Lord only knows what I might need it all for that night, but it usually gets used up.
I seem to be addicted to those flavored electrolyte drink mixes when I’m on the trail. A few gallons of water goes real quick around me.
Always love your videos. Thanks so much for taking the time to write, produce, and share them! As far as my water readiness, I have 30 gallons of stored water and a Sawyer filter as backup for me, my wife, and our dog.
Store more water with thoughts about geography and season.
@@jimcalifwin3760 Good point! I am in Plano TX (Dallas), so we probably should store more in the summer.
Oh Cris!!! I evacuated for hurricane Ida, which passed less than 25 miles from my house. I came back once the power was restored 10 days later, but we were still under a "Boil water order" in our area. Many people couldn't even move back into their houses due to the roof damage they sustained. I have two buildings on my property, one being my house. The house is only missing a few shingles, but the other building, a studio, sustained the brunt of the wind. That roof and siding is destroyed.
Anyway, I boiled the water from the kitchen faucet for 3 minutes in a large pot on my gas stove and then let it sit to cool. Once cooled, I ran it through an ultramax Brita filter, put the proper amount of peroxide in and it was just fine. I also made sure to allow the faucet to run for a while since the water was sitting in the pipes for a long time.
I hadn't quite gotten to the point of buying one of the filters that you are showing here. I've been prepping for such a short time compared to many others. I DO have a years supply of food stored, canned and dried, and I've been storing water in the bottom of my closet for about 6 months now. I have grown potatoes, broccoli, spinach, onions, garlic, carrots and peppers for a couple of years now. They are in 5 gallon food-grade containers so I can bring them in during freezes (which is not every year) or if the SHTF and I wanna hide my stock. I also have a plethora of seeds, lemon trees, satsuma trees. I have a solar generator and I ordered that Minuteman K Rocket Stove from one of your videos. I have a rainwater barrel, which I just got before the hurricane, so it was not set up yet. Baby-steps.....lots and lots of baby-steps.
Keep the great info coming in. You are a HUGE help to others who WANT to prep but aren't sure what to do or where to start. So THANK YOU!!!! -Deedie
For boiling water, it is necessary to consider the altitude as water boils at lower temperature higher you go. Typically it is needed to add a minute of boiling per thousand meters of altitude gain.
At see level it will be 1 minute. At 2000 meters (~ 6000 feet) it will be 3.
I have a Sawyer Mini water filter with a straw. Highly recommended.
I have used a sawyer for a few years now. I learned you should always have multiple bags. I popped a bag when I was in the Sierra Nevadas last summer. Good thing I brought a spare.
Great video like always man. I've bought a couple of life straws as a precautionary measure but after watching this video I realize I REALLY need to step up my game. Thank you for the insight and great information 👍🏻
Long term it’s not good to drink Clorox and hydrogen peroxide will induce vomiting. Rolling to a boil for 3-5 minutes is the safest time but other than that, very informative video!
I bought LifeStraw and Sawyer personal water filters. If I have to I can dig a shallow well near the nearby creek and drink from that. There`s just too much nasty stuff in streams to drink directly from them even if it is filtered. I`m gonna try to collect rainwater with some sort of simple collection method I can deploy during heavy rains to get clean water without bird poop or roof dust in it. I think I can use a small tarp and set it up when it starts raining.
Get an air stone and small water pump and aerate the chlorine water for 24 hours to boil off the chlorine and you’ll be fine
Just be sure to follow the directions when adding any chemical treatment to water. Yes, too much can cause problems. Don't forget that most city supplied water is treated with chlorine. It is a viable option when used correctly. Sometimes boiling isn't an option in an emergency situation. It is good to have and know how to use safe alternative ways to turn raw water into potable.
@@chesterogilvie1393 Better to follow the directions when using liquid chlorine to treat water. While your idea will work, chlorine added to water will breakdown rather quickly on its own. Electricity to run the pump may not be available, may be very limited and needed for communications, for example.
I used to pack Desalination pumps in survival kits that were attached to life rafts, which mainly filtered salt water
I got my Sawyers last night. (Mini) & (one gallon with the bag)
Keep two Lifestraws in my Bug Out bag. Hope they would do the trick in the absence of my proven Berkey.
careful not to damage the lifestraws by dropping the bag. they could be wrapped in a thin protection layer.
@@sha-sn2ou how do you mean?
I Keep 21 gallons stored and have a waterbasic emergancy 60 gallon reservoar with pump and filter. Also I have a saywer and a befree for backpacking and last I have some water purification tablets. Can't have more water stored then I have for I live in an apartment. Great video
Good material. I have some for home, BOB. My commute Jeep has 5 gallon jug ( partially filled), one gallon H20 pure, 2-3 liters(chilled )depending outside temperature(some days over 105 deg.) also 1 day of can food.
Here in central California flowing water is almost gone and questionable purity. Thanks for your suggestions. I always forget Coffe filters and tablets. Definitely will buy pool shock. Thanks
Kelly Kettles are awesome, I own 2.
Two is one, one is none! I only own one! :(
@@toddskinski i came across them in my grandfathers garage years ago when I was cleaning it out. They are super old, with the cork plugs rather than rubber, and the canvas bags not the new ones.
I have used them and love them.
I just bought a "travel" Berkey because of the "forever chemicals" recently found in North Carolina area tap water and some 33 other places in the US. Thank you for providing practical survival information. I will probably have to watch some of your uploads more than once to make sure I've taken in all the most pertinent info. So I appreciate that they're concise & focused. Have subscribed.
My plan for home is Berkey filtration followed by SteriPen UV treatment. But this is motivating me to take another look at what I keep in my car.
I am fairly new to this community. I can't start water storage at this time because we are expecting a move this year. (husband job requires it) So we have started with some filters and stuff that isn't super bulky. My main hobby is planted aquariums, So the weight of those tanks will already make our move a hundred times harder. If I tell my husband that I am going to start stock piling water he might just kill be before a SHTF scenario can happen.
Living in Puerto Rico, with hurricane seasons and recent earthquakes, there is always cases of water under the stairs and a second safe location in case of an earthquake. Buyout bags are checked every two months, replenished with fresh snacks, water, meds and humidity packs. These can be affected by the humidity and heat, so frequent checking us necessary. A site we have in case of needing to camp out is also checked for cleanliness of brush and such, so it's ready on moment's notice. Rain barrels are maintained for bathing and flushing purposes, food supplies are replenished every time there's shopping to be done. Use something from the emergency stash, replace. It keeps stuff fresh, full of the things we use on a daily basis, such as rice, dry beans, soda crackers, cooking oil, tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, jelly. Having bananas, fruit trees and root veggies in the backyard all year long is a good thing. A small garden for two is kept in a corner and yields enough to share with family and a few trustworthy neighbors. It never hurts to be prepared.
My system is- prefilter through quilt batting, boil/chem treat, use sawyer, then through a berkey. I want those berkey filters to last as long as possible.
Yes it’s for bugging in not out.
Just added more rain catchment (in case it ever dose rain).
Good video! For years I used a Sweetwater Guardian, a pump filter. It works well, but is heavy and had to be cleaned after about every ten gallons. Now I use a Sawyer mini and still treat the water with iodine too. Yeah, prefiltering is really helpful.
What this video is missing? The crude methods of making potable water when a disaster hits. You can buy all the manufactured filtering systems under the sun, but in a true disaster you have to assume that these items are either lost, stolen, damaged, or just not accessible and you have to go with basic methods of clean water production.
Although touched on a little bit, it wasn't really the focus of the video.
@@superdave8248 In the video, he said he specifically wasn’t going into homebuilt or bushcraft filters. Maybe you could do your own video.
Great and informative video!
Actually, I use a coffee filter at the beginning of water filtration, then put the coffee filtered water through a Katadyn System, then I boil that water. Getting ready to order a secondary Katadyn Bag system.
Thanks Christ...and your video about water sources people rarely think about, is awesome!! God bless you and your family.
I always fly overseas for work and I carry a Sawyer mini and it's water bag. Worst case scenario I always have a cotton bandana, few zip lock bags and stainless steel water bottle on me to filter and boil water on top of the Sawyer mini so I can have potable drinking water on the fly in case of emergencies
Camping in remote locations it's difficult to carry enough water. We generally filter water then use a light pen, for drinking. If we are cooking just filter it, let the cooking process be our second method. Looking into the lifesaver jerry can.
I'm a new subscriber . Love your content. I live in a rural area, where resources are plentiful. But knowledge is power. Thank you for what you are doing.
The St-Lawrence river is the source of my tap water and I would get my emergency water from it too, it may be safe to drink as is but my easy option would be to solar purify it after adding a pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) per litre to increase the PH (lower the acidity) to hopefully make it less hospitable to whatever naturally lives in it.
I have extra filters. I'm getting a Berkey or another system that I've seen. I don't have the funds currently. This is for an emergency for now. I wanting something here. I didn't want to be caught without. But thanks I'll try and be careful.
@@heartofdixieprepping4797 Look at the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. It has high volume capacity and can filter down to 0.1 ABSOLUTE microns. It's a good one to get started with if you don't already have a good filter. One of the reasons I like the Squeeze is that it can filter several hundred gallons of water, per day, if needed to help friends and family. Shop around for the best price. Walmart has one for $29.97. It's a good investment even if you do have a high end filter. It's always good to have a backup because even the best can fail, become damaged, or be stolen.
BTW, if needed, carbon filtration can be added to the Sawyer. (A number of videos on how-to are available.) It's not needed in my area, as my best raw water source isn't polluted with industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals from waste water treatment plants upstream. Usually the concerns from springs and small streams, away from highly developed property is microbiological, as mentioned in the video.
Hope this helps a bit. I'm not affiliated in any way with Sawyer. Just a satisfied customer, FWIW.
@@oldtimerlee8820 thank you. I have it:) I feel so much better knowing I have it and the gravity one. So both.
I’ve had Giardia before.
Vomit, diarrhea and sweating profusely , you are completely dehydrated and unable to move.
I laid on the floor all day and could barely roll over. I have never felt so helpless.
Rehydrating is very difficult as your body will reject a sip of water.
The dry heaves and cramps eventually made me pass out.
Been there twice second time not as bad never again
Lifestrraws for this line wolf. Love them on hikes and bumming around in the wild. Berkey are the best of you're hosting a party, tho. Nothing weirder than 100 people in a camp with Montezuma's curse at the same time.
A ram pump can provide pressure from a bucket sitting at 3 feet in elevation for under sink or full house water filter.
Aqua tabs are a good backup if you can't boil it in your plastic canteen, just in case your device breaks down. It is also light(er) to carry. The taste can be inproved by coldteabags, roosvice to go or other flavors packages.
I love your videos, So Much info!! Thanks!
Hey, very informative video thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
During "civilized" grid up times, the biggest threat from drinking river and lake water is typically due to microorganisms. These pathogens are relatively easy to neutralize however, by way of conventional filtering, boiling, or adding sterilizing chemicals like bleach. However, during more serious apocalyptic times, perhaps following a major and widespread grid down event, things may be somewhat different. Many algaes are harmless to humans, but some varieties (such as some types of cyanobacterias and "red tide" algaes) produce harmful toxins (ex: "brevetoxins" in the case of "red tide", aka Karenia brevis). In high enough concentrations, these toxins will either make a person sick, or even outright kill both humans and animals that either drink the water, or in extreme cases, simply swin in the algae infested water. These toxins also leach out of the algae into the surrounding water, and the toxins are too small to be filtered out via conventional carbon filtration (like used in the "Big Berkey"), personal water filters (like the Sawyer mini), nor can they be made inert via boiling or through chemical additives like bleach.
During a serious apocalyptic situation, many humans will likely turn towards direct bathing in rivers and lakes, and they may also use the rivers and lakes as their personal bathrooms. Additionally, failure of municipal sewage treatment facilities (ex: due to power outage), may in some places lead to raw and untreated sewage overflowing into nearby rivers. The filth that humans will add to the river and lake water sources contain various nutrients (like nitrates and phosphates) that will likely feed and trigger massive algae blooms in the various contaminated rivers and lakes. Some of these algae blooms will be of hazardous toxin producing algae types. Consequently, following a serious apocalyptic situation, many rivers and lakes may become dangerously toxic, and conventional water treatment methods will not be adequate to make the water safe for drinking.
Only properly constructed "activated carbon" water filters (which are not the same as conventional carbon filters like in the Big Berkey), reverse osmosis filtration (which has vastly smaller pore size compared to regular carbon filters, but as a consequence normally requires a pressurized water source to function), and distillation methods can successfully remove the toxins produced by hazardous algaes.
Even following restoration of grid power, municipal water supplies may remain unsafe to drink for a time, as conventional municipal water treatment plants normally rely on coarse filtering and sediment filtering, followed by "flocculation" (where chemicals are added that stick to bio-organic floaties that are substrates for pathogens, which make the floaties bigger and easier to remove by settling or coarse filtering), followed by treatment with chlorine to kill off any remaining pathogens. The municipal water is then considered safe for drinking, and is pumped into the water distribution pipeline network under pressure. However, these water treatment methods are also inadequate for removing hazardous algae toxins from the water. Until or unless municipal water treatment facilities upgrade their treatment processes, input water to municipal water treatment facilities must be relatively free from such algae toxins, or else the output water will still be unsafe for consumption.
In other words, if you care about having clean and safe drinking water during the apocalypse, one should invest in a reverse osmosis unit, combined with an electric diaphragm pump (like used in RVs), and a small solar power system to power the diaphragm pump. Assuming one already has a small solar power system (a 100W solar panel + a 12V/20A rated "PWM" solar charge controller + 12V deep cycle lead acid battery is sufficient for a basic system, which together can be had for less than $400), then one only needs to acquire the diaphragm pump and reverse osmosis units. Low end reverse osmosis units and diaphragm pumps can be acquires for under $300, which makes such a solution actually price competitive than what many currently pay for more crude water filtration systems like the "Big Berkey".
Thanks for the Video! I'll look into a Filter, but I'm partial to boiling. You can always let it Sit, to let the particulates settle to the bottom. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Or filter it first with a simple filter before boiling so there are no particles in it. (Could even make 'natural' filters with from the bottom to the top: moss, charcoal, sand, coarse sand/pebbles, dot let it filter for a few minutes before catching the water when taking it in use for the first time, so as not to drink ashes!)
Thank you for this information. Very helpful.
I got sterilising tablets plus a Sawyer water filtration system for hikes. Alternatively one can boil water for 5 minutes to kill anything lurking in the suspicious water. Hiking on Mount Kenya, I got water from the pool, the run-off from the glacier. While filling the water containers I noticed tiny red bugs zooming about. Those days I wasn’t too paranoid by water purification as I knew I’d be cooking these bugs. Other more tropical parts of Africa or the world, I definitely wouldn’t take chances.
Great information and thank you for sharing it. Stay safe.
excellent . what a top quality Tube with so much info in a small time . Cheers .
Just signed up for the news letter..love the videos
I use the Katadyn Be Free water filter and Potable Aqua.
Great video, especially the info on how much of certain purifiers to add to either a quart or a gallon.
I’m looking forward to your Portawell review 😄
I carry coffee filters, bandana, Sayour squeeze, and aqua tablets in my bag.
Thanks from Morocco, Nice video as always
Great info people write it down to have it when you may need it
Really good explanation. 👍👍
Looking forward to seeing your video on the Porta Well, specifically the power requirements for it.
Would love to see a video regarding the desalination process for those of us who either live by the ocean and/or have salt water pools. BTW, I love all of your videos! Thanks for the hard work and I hope you keep them coming!
I have a Sawyer, as well as some bottled water. My goal is to fiestcstart saving 5-7 gallon stackable containers of water. On my list also is the potable water tablets.
I have the second selection of drinking straws that you have shown in this clip. For a a family of five I think I should definitely get the bigger one to produce 75 gallons an hour with the bag.
Great info! Thanks!
I literally lived off of that first Sawyer for over 2 months last summer filtering some pretty ruff pond water ... they are GREAT but make sure you back flush it often :-)
Thanks🙂
How do you back flush it?
@@watertrena Sawyer has a syringe to push water out the other side and removes crud ,dirt
Back flush each time to eliminate all doubt and get the most use out of it.
Thank you. Love the videos and have learned a lot.
As always a very interesting video. I have some life straws, some caplets water purifiers, bleach and hydrogen peroxide. A Berkey is the next big item i'm gonna buy. Keep up your good work ✌️🇨🇦
Buy plenty of red food coloring to test your Berkey Filters. The filters can fail and you probably wouldn't even know it. In an emergency I'll use my Berkey to filer water after I have boiled it.
@@fawn1785 All the more reason to prefilter with cheaper options.
Thank you!!! This subject always confuses me as far as what’s truly safe to use as far water purification!
*Great Video Sir ! Love and Light to you ALL ! HOOAH*
Very timely information. Thank you very much!
Great content. I'm looking forward to seeing your other water videos.
Love that Groovy UV light.
Great video. Thank you.
After what happened in Texas during the last winter. This is more important than ever before.
Great video; I would also point out it takes very little bad water to be harmful so watch dripping dirty hands and sloshing dirty water buckets. Think carefully how to process water in a manner least likely to result in inadvertent contamination. Steri-wipes or a small amount of alcohol on the hands can prevent big problems.
Filter it with a coffee filter and then Boil it.
I have cans of Sterno in the bug out bag and at my bug out location. A rolling boil for 2 min is all it takes.
All of the other alternatives can and do break. Or you run out of them.
I tend to use distillation method, but have the capability to use all of these methods as a prepper hobbyists. I always filtered my water but just wondering if you absolutely have no ability to filter your water would drinking rain water be the safest way as it rains here nightly and you can get more than enough water to survive on drinking by the rain and a few containers.
Can be safe, unless the air is carrying containaments.
At least boil the water for 3-5 minutes first, you never know what can drift into your water.
what about the chemtrail and plane exhaust? I would boil it
Measured and helpful, as always. Thank you.
Thanks for the information my friend that is very valuable some of that stuff you can buy from Walmart.. which I'll definitely check out.. I have the Brita water filter water filter I use.. what do small little filters that you can buy from Walmart like you just showing on your Channel those are good also to have..
I have a Brita water two gallon pitcher and buy filters as needed.
@@ronndapagan that is awesome actually you can make your own as well that's what I did save a lot of money.
Brita's barely filter anything though. Mostly just dissolved gases and large particulates.
@@JesusSaves86AB I stopped using my Brita because it took up space in the refrigerator. I keep it as a back up when the bottled water runs out. It was easier to buy bottled water after my family moved in. We keep it as a back up.
@@JesusSaves86AB I don't know about that my friend I use mine all the time and it does a great job if I made my own water filter machine.. because I'm big DIY..
I have a lifestraw in my bob and a filtration water bottle - not sure which brand (Lifestraw?). I also have iodine if I get desperate. If camping I boil
What brand and where to purchase the iodine? Price?
@@traciforrester7410 My. bOB
Is in the car and it has been a couple years so I don’t remember brand, but I got it through either Amazon or at Walmart.
@@traciforrester7410 Any pharmacy like Walmart and Kroger has small bottles of iodine tincture. The only active ingredient should be iodine tincture U.S.P. 100% (2% iodine).
I load a small burner and butane, a life straw and a 40 oz steel bottle and iodine tablets.
I have a ketadyn pro for backpacking and life straws for back packs(go/get home). Costco has 4 pack of Life Straws for $50
Top notch advice here and informative….however, here in the southeast, I have always heard Katadyn pronounced “kuh Todd inn” (like the mountain hikers aim for when trekking the famous AT.)
These are my favorite types of videos!
The Grayl geo press is an excellent option
Great video, very informative!
I have a backpack w/solar panel on the outside - keeping a Steripen in it seems like it could be one decent combo for an emergency (in addition to filtering).
thanks for the video on drinking water!!! good information!!
Great beginners video. Thanks 😊
What is that pot brand at the 8:50-9:00 mark when you were talking about boiling, please?
not sure. stock video.
@@CityPrepping thank you
Check out Avacraft Stainless Steel Saucepan with glass lid. It's only 2.5 qts. Calphalon 3.5 qt also SS. Hope that helps. I use Calphalon and cast iron. That's the only reason I know about the inside measurement mark. I don't use teflon coated, orgreenic, etc...
Boiling pot looks like the two stainless steel stock pots I have w/lids. You can get them in the kitchen/pots@pans/small appliances section in stores, several sizes.
I watched the bleach video the other day and am looking forward to the purification filter review. I can't recall the unit but it seemed very complex. I would love a mention of that compared to the Berkey if possible! Thanks for the content!
Excellent info as always - I live in rural Hawaii where we harvest rainwater from roof to gutters and pipes to catchment tank. but .... what if we have to evacuate??? and what if there's no power to run the pump through the filters and uv light .... you've given me so many answers, good ideas and issues to consider ... mahalo nui, carry on.
We have four 60 gal rain barrels and other cans that we have converted
Just wondering if you recommend filtering with distillation? Would you be willing to do a video on the best distillation machine? Thank you love your videos!
I am trying to figure this out. Stills are outrageously priced, and all the ones on amazon I do not trust. Any from us and canada are hundreds and thousands of dollars. So far I am considering using a tea kettle with a small pipe of some kind leading to the catch basin. That or a large pot, with the steaming pot and figuring out some way to catch the steam once it has gone through the holes, like a large bowl or a hose.
If you drink only distilled water, you will have an uncomfortable negative reaction the next time you drink regular clean water.
@@AlienVisitation I drink all kinds but wanted to prep for the cleanest option
This is a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ video to watch in a crisis situation too bad there's only 49,000 viewers on your show and I'm 5 days late out of that 49,000 I wonder how many actually watch the whole video well hopefully somebody could show them the way since they don't take the time to get real knowledge or have the knowledge already be safe out there people just going to get worse
Very good
What about bottled water?how long can you store it and remain healthy after drinking it ?
Thankyou , excellent.
I currently catch rainwater in 2 250 gallon tanks. I think I am going to get the PortaWell for filtering, though I am looking for several methods that might be more permanent that can be run by battery or solar.
Thoughts on how to best filter pool water ? Overtime the chlorine levels can evaporate. In an emergency What would be the best filtration of pool water ?
Over the last year I have always watched the SALES on Bottle water got 24 Pk for 99 cents..Dollar stores also have 6 ok bottled water for $1.00
wow ! what a well done video ... Thank You Sir
Hi, I love your content. I was watching the survey results but I figured most of the time we are ill prepared because we live with people who have no sense of urgency. Please create a show on however we can inspire other or atleast make enroads to prep mpre water. I am not a prepper but I do know what it's like to live in a municipality that has no consequences for not delivering water at times. I got a small water tank but it will not be enough for me 3000liters. But because its in our yard they think this insurance covers everyone..Also when you are not well off I do believe this show is just economic sense to prep. I am in South Africa 🇿🇦for context.
very well done well on my way getting stuff done lots of crap comming yuck
Saved video and sharing!
I found this very useful I was thinking of buying some water purify tablets I was looking on Amazon is there a recommended one to use stay safe everyone 🙏
The cheapest water purification system is a decent steal cooking pot and fire. But, you need to know how and where to collect water for the best results.
If it were me, I would drink any water I’ve boiled first and wait an hour or two before letting other persons drink the same water.