Can tap water filters make river water drinkable?

[The Jitterskull]

Lets say a nuclear blast blew humanity away. You were the last one alive.

Pretend you're stuck near a river with a water filter.

If you filled the filter up with water from a stream, would it purify it enough so you could drink from it? Would this be a good survival item if so?


Is there anyway to test for stream purity?

[Other Side of the Pillow]

Why not just boil it?

[Mor3BL7]

Why not just boil it?

this.
lol

[HippieTrippie]

In theory yes, in reality no.

[peyotehawk]

Unless from a protected source, do not drink any water for at least 48 hours detonation. The following sources are the least contaminated (in order of least risk):

1) Underground wells and springs
2) Water in underground pipes/containers
3) Snow taken from deep below the surface
4) Fast-flowing rivers

In your case, to retrieve water from a river, this would be the best way:
Dig a hole by a fast-flowing stream and allow water to filter down into it. Scrape off any scum that forms on the surface and scoop up water. Filter it through layers of sand and pebbles (dig deep to obtain these) in a can with holes bunchined in the bottom, or through a stocking. Boil in an uncontaminated vessel. Decontaminate utensils by washing thorougly in fast-flowing or boiled water.

This came from the SAS REVISED EDITION SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by John 'Lofty" Wisemen, a recommended "must read" by Survival Boards.

According to my CERT training, to avoid contamination, let ALL water boil for 8-10 minutes*.

Assuming that there was no contamination in the water: just filter the water through a cloth, and boil for 10 minutes*, this will ensure purified water from any location above sea level. You may also want to look into solar stills though.

[The Jitterskull]

Unless from a protected source, do not drink any water for at least 48 hours detonation. The following sources are the least contaminated (in order of least risk):

1) Underground wells and springs
2) Water in underground pipes/containers
3) Snow taken from deep below the surface
4) Fast-flowing rivers

In your case, to retrieve water from a river, this would be the best way:
Dig a hole by a fast-flowing stream and allow water to filter down into it. Scrape off any scum that forms on the surface and scoop up water. Filter it through layers of sand and pebbles (dig deep to obtain these) in a can with holes bunchined in the bottom, or through a stocking. Boil in an uncontaminated vessel. Decontaminate utensils by washing thorougly in fast-flowing or boiled water.

This came from the SAS REVISED EDITION SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by John 'Lofty" Wisemen, a recommended "must read" by Survival Boards.

According to my CERT training, to avoid contamination, let ALL water boil for 8-10 hours.

Assuming that there was no contamination in the water: just filter the water through a cloth, and boil for 10 hours, this will ensure purified water from any location above sea level. You may also want to look into solar stills though.

Finally a post that explains stuff! :thumbsup:

So, lets pretend there is no nuclear fallout in the water (I never thought of that but lets pretend there isn't), why is boiling water for 8-10 hours important? Wouldn't most of the water boil off at a high temperature?

[peyotehawk]

8-10 *MINUTES*(whoops) would ensure that your water is purified at ANY location above sea level. 8-10 hours would result in an empty vessel. One more tip, boiled water tastes flat, and solar distilled water taste even worse, you can either add a small piece of wood charcoal while boiling, or move the water back and forth between two vessels, reoxygenating the water.

The Wiseman guide to filtering and sterilizing water you can't boil(because you can't seem to make a fire at the time):

Filtering: Allow water to stand in its container so that sediment settles at the bottom. Then siphon it into a filter made up of a nylon stocking (or other porous material) stuffed with layers of sand (bottom), charcoal and moss (top).

Sterilizing: Clear water: add 2 drops household bleach per litre (1 per pint) or 3 drops 2 per cent tincture of iodine per litre (6 per pint)

Cloudy water: double the quantities of bleach or iodine

Large quantities: half teaspoonful bleach per litre (2 teaspoonsful per gallon)

According to Neil Strauss's book Emergency there are a nearly 40 gallons of water in peoples' water heaters, and your toilet cistern holdings a few more(although you shouldn't do this), you can even drink water from a car radiator. Central heating water is usually treated with a de-oxygenating agent and a car radiator contains anti-freeze. In order to drink these waters, boil it, steam in clean cloths, wring them out, then reboil

[mr.blunt]

Meh, whenever I go camping I just fill my bottle in the middle of the lake. It doesn't do shit to save me from bacteria, but there's less debris and shit like that.

I'm always getting warned about "Beaver Fever", which is basically intense nausea, brutally explosive diarrhea and all that goes along with those. I've seen it first hand, but never had it.

[Monkmaster]

I use a chlorine based purifying kit. I bring along a few packets of iced tea powder to help the taste. But yeah, I dunno about cleaning out the fallout in the water.

I've always wanted to try this though:

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/water/lsw/Birch-Bark-Filter.jpg

[Metafire]

Even if you filter out the dead bacteria (They aren't going to survive the radiation), the dirt, and the other nasties, the water is still going to be irradiated. I don't think there's a portable way to decontaminate the water.

[pimpstrocity]

pretty sure he is not concerned about radiation but that was just the first thing he thought to give as a reason for being the last one alive

[Jizzmeister]

If we exclude the nuclear fallout scenario and go back to the original question, the answer is no.

Carbon filters are unable to filter out harmful bacteria from the water, the activated carbon is there to take out contaminates and chemicals. According to the web activated carbon is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and although you can get silver/carbon filters the lifetime is very short.

Source:
http://stason.org/TULARC/sports/survival-water-treatment/10-Water-Purification-Physical-Treatment-Activated-Charcoa.html

Ideally you would want to sterilize the water before using the filter probably by boiling or using iodine etc

[Irukanji]

Lol @ post that said boil water for 8-10 hours. If a bacteria hasnt died in that time, it wont. 8-10 minutes of vigorous boiling is standard. That will kill everything that may exist in the water that may kill you. 8-10 hours? Get fucked. You'd boil all your water away.

edit: lol i read the quote, not the original post.

[Irukanji]

Even if you filter out the dead bacteria (They aren't going to survive the radiation), the dirt, and the other nasties, the water is still going to be irradiated. I don't think there's a portable way to decontaminate the water.

Running water + short half-life radioactive isotopes with lives between 24 and 48 hours will be gone, and these do alot of damage. If the source of the stream is contaminated, then your fucked. But if it's from a spring or aquifer then 24-48 hours will allow the radioactive materials on the rocks or side of the rocks to wash into the stream and go to the end, leaving the newer water perfectly fine for drinking.

That said, would you survive a nuclear bomb getting dropped in your city with a decent yield? No, you probably wont. Then again, most of the nuclear weapon strategies these days are to detonate them high in the atmosphere to fuck with enemy electronics/radar through emp. They dont want to irradiate the enemy country too much incase they need to send ground troops in.

[Bender]

Don't forget your water tank in your toilet.

[L33tz]

Lets say a nuclear blast blew humanity away. You were the last one alive.

Pretend you're stuck near a river with a water filter.

If you filled the filter up with water from a stream, would it purify it enough so you could drink from it? Would this be a good survival item if so?


Is there anyway to test for stream purity?

No need the radiation did its job! :)

[th1rdeye]

8 drops of iodine per liter + 30 minutes to sit= safe to drink even if it's really nasty water

also, I don't know who said you have to wait 8-10 mins once your water is boiling to drink it, as soon as it gets to a rolling boil, it's safe.

[Issue313]

If you're planning on getting nuked iodine is good to have anyway because nuclear blasts create a lot of radioactive iodine isotopes, which tend to accumulate in the thyroid and cause all sorts of cancers. Taking regular (non radioactive) iodine saturates the thyroid and will help stop you getting thyroid cancer.

[Ebola]

^^ This against general radiation poisoning.

There are many commercially available small and light-weight filters for hiking and camping. Most will filter more than 250gal before needing a replacement filter cartridge. They all filter water to drinking quality. An example is the Katadyn Hiker Pro (http://www.katadyn.com/usen/technical-support/filter-support/product-videos/katadyn-hiker-pro/) (that I will get for the comming season). Other examples are MSR Sweetwater, Liberty Mountain, and Platybus.

If the water was actually radioactive (= radioactive dust in the water) the filter would absorb all the radioactive dust and you would end up with a radioactive water filter...

[Jerk.]

Solar purification is a great option although it's a good idea to filter out sediment first and don't take stagnant water.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/24/lowtech_solar_water_purification_it_works.htm

[ayingerbrau]

This came from the SAS REVISED EDITION SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by John 'Lofty" Wisemen, a recommended "must read" by Survival Boards.

Great book.

[Tre!nt]

8 drops of iodine per liter + 30 minutes to sit= safe to drink even if it's really nasty water

also, I don't know who said you have to wait 8-10 mins once your water is boiling to drink it, as soon as it gets to a rolling boil, it's safe.

Wrong, according to the Centers for Disease Control, water must be kept at a boil for one minute and then allowed to cool to kill viruses, parasites, and bacteria. Above 6,500 feet water should be boiled for three minutes because of the lower boiling temperature.

[Trix Are For Kids]

Boil the water as long as you can. The longer, the better.

[Issue313]

This sort of thread is exactly why I only ever drink hard liquor after nuclear explosions.

[Mutant Funk Drink]

Shortly, no. Tap water filters are meant for removing minerals and chemicals. A real water purifier for river water would need to remove microbes and cysts.

[Son of Liberty]

I use Aquamira (http://www.amazon.com/McNett-371242-Aquamira-Water-Treatment/dp/B0007KKYMM). I've used it in the jungle, in the mountains, in the local park - no problems, ever. Sometimes the water is gritty, deal with it*. $10 worth can purify like 30 gallons or something. At worst, it makes water smell a little like a pool, but it's not nearly as bad as Iodine. Aquamira takes about 15 minutes to do its business.

I 2nd the SAS Survival Guide, it's a must. The Ranger Handbook is like the advanced, militant version FYI.


*or cover the mouth of your nagene with a handkerchief as your filling it = makeshift filter~