Man, this is some great info. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
My wife and I have budgeted, Two 500ml bottles of sealed bottled water each per day for just drinking. One each in the morning time. Then, another each in the later end of the day.
The two 18 gallon water collection tub in the back yard stay pretty full after a good rain. One is covered for possible bathing water. The other will be reserve to feed the dogs and purify for us.
We stand set for a good three months before we would have to break into purifying water form outside and resorting to the high calorie survival meal rations. That would give us another month to set up a plan for moving elsewhere if the local does not recover.
If it is bad enough to where after four months we still have to be in basic survival mode, it is time to move on elsewhere.
Better than storing water or trying to purify by using Bleach, Iodine, or boiling.
Just use one of these.
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When we go backpacking, we double-treat the water. First, with the filter to get out silt and large bacteria, and then with a purifier like iodine or PUR tablets to kill any remaining viruses. The filter will NOT get all pathogens out of the water. The lesson from Philmont is that filtering only is a sure-fire way to have the trots, either on the latter days of the trek or on the way home.
Boiling is the safest. UV is considered quite safe as well. A clear plastic bottle and sunlight for 30-40 minutes is considered enough UV exposure to kill pathogens. There are a lot more variables in the bottle/UV that I'm not sure about, so I don't trust that - yet. More research needed.
Most people on these boards SERIOUSLY overlook water as a necessity in an emergency situation, opting for ammo and guns. If you have all of that ammo and weapons amassed, it seems that you plan on being there for a while?
Make SPECIFIC plans for water,or you'll find yourself defenseless against dehydration
The backpacker-sized filters like the Katadyn are great for backpacking. I don't even carry water with me when I go backpacking - simply stop by a stream, puddle, whatever and I'm good. The rep told me that since it has a micro filter that is Iodine treated, I could even put it into raw sewage and it would filter all the bad stuff. Not a good idea, but if you're desperate I suppose it wouldn't matter...
Anyway, a few things to keep in mind - the have iodine-impregnated filters and they must be replaced every so often.
The size of the pores in the filter make for VERY slow work! Keep this in mind if you need more than a quart or so at a time. You'll spend a good 5-10 minutes of WORK to get a gallon. Therefore the larger lever-action filters may be better where volume is more important than packability.
Also the hose isn't too long, so you really need to get down close to your source to filter. I always had to get down on my knees to ensure the hose would reach. I'd consider a longer (food-grade) hose to go along with those extra filters.
That reminds me, I need to get a new filter for mine!
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Always good to pre-filter water through a coffee filter as it will remove the larger stuff and make the actual water filter last longer. Using a coffee filter as the only filter is not going to do anything about microorganisms.
Use of a coffee filter first then treatment with purification tablets will be a reserve method.
But, boiling it after the coffee filter treatment is the best bet.
I have a katadyn combi filter, and also have the faucet attachment to go with it. Not the fastest way to filter water, but it is good for 1000's of gallons of water.
For backpacking i have a MISR Miox to purify water.
__________________ "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."
Ted Nugent - speaking at the NRA convention April 17, 2005
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