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SweetTea
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 117
Location: Kansas City, MO
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 Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject: Chemical water treatment: iodine vs. bleach |
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I was researching water treatment options and came upon this:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/87/12/5499
If you're too lazy to read the whole thing, the gist is that drinking water treated with iodine can lead to goiter and autoimmune thyroid disease if used for significant ammounts of time. Furthermore, iodine does not kill viruses or cryptosporidium spores. Iodine tablets are about $10 for 50 liters. The only advantage is that iodine comes in tablets, so that you never have to measure.
Sadly, there have been no scientific studies on prolonged chlorine exposure via drinking water. The closest thing is this:
http://www.lenntech.com/Periodic-chart-elements/Cl-en.htm
Basically, chlorine is way too reactive to accumulate in your body like iodine does. The kidneys and sweat glands are very good at getting rid of chlorine through urine and sweat, and your body is already used to having chlorine in it thanks to the salt we consume and the chlorination of municipal water supplies. Because sodium hypochlorite is such a powerful oxidizing agent, it can lyse bacteria, viruses, microparasites, and bacterial spores. The only thing it can't do is kill mold and other fungi once they have put up shop, but I believe that it can kill spores. You can get 1 quart bottles of bleach at the dollar store, which will purify up to 3800 liters of water. Bleach can be carried in a small bottle. The usual rate is 2-3 drops per liter, but you can use up to 5 if the water's really sketchy.
Basically, here's the rundown:
-Bleach is much better for you long term
-It's 380 times cheaper to treat an ammount of water than to treat it with bleach
-Iodine comes in tablets, so it's more convenient
-Because it's liquid, bleach dissipates much more quickly into water
-Some people have violent allergic reactions to iodine
-Iodine does not kill viruses or cryptosporidium spores like bleach does
So, if you use iodine instead of bleach to treat water, why? |
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S 31
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Posts: 21
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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Liquid Clorox Bleach
Chemical disinfecting of perfectly clear water can be accomplished with sodium hypochlorite solution, by thoroughly mixing 16 drops or 1/4 tsp. Of 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite solution (Clorox or Purex type liquid chlorine bleach) into each gallon of water and allowing the mixture to stand for 30 minutes before using. Treated water should have a slight chlorine odor; if not, repeat the treatment and let stand for an additional 15 minutes. Only fresh bleach should be used for water disinfecting.
http://members.amaonline.com/jeri/Water.htm
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shenkhu
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: south shore mtl
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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i have those "world famous" water tablets in my BOB, easier to carry than bleach, but i'm considering that 1/4 litre bleach bottle in my bug in kit(yeah, i keep both option in mind... bug IN or OUT!!)
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you'll never feel more alive than on the edge of death |
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ilbob
Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 28
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:08 am Post subject: |
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I am curious where you guys think you can get water suitable for drinking after merely killing the bugs in it after an urban SHTF event.
maybe from collecting rain water? lots of other contaiminents to worry about there too.
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shenkhu
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: south shore mtl
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| Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:39 am Post subject: |
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on the worst case(meaning water is potentially deadly), your best bet might be to scramble for bottled water(like MANY people out there )and bug the hell out
about the rain water, boiling+bleaching should do the trick...
acid rain now...  how bout carriyng basic solution to rebalance the water to Ph 7 ?? only speculating here, but we do it at my job, and if we didn't, we would be rejecting a Ph 2 or 3 water(wich is positively hazardous) back to the city sewers, but on a survival scenario, i wonder if it can be done.... any thoughts 
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ilbob
Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 28
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| shenkhu wrote: |
about the rain water, boiling+bleaching should do the trick...
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Boiling and bleaching (and other disinfection techniques) only kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. They cannot remove impurites that might be present in the water.
Other disinfection techniques are to use hydrogen peroxide, or silver. Both have issues that require the user to be a little more aware of what he is doing.
Chlorine disinfection is probably the best for most users. The taste issue can be dealt with by boiling the disinfected water or pouring the water from container to container to aerate it and allow the chlorine to escape.
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SweetTea
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 117
Location: Kansas City, MO
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| I keep crystal light-type packets to neutralize the bleachy taste and also because I like the taste of lemonade and iced tea more than water. However, only make it to half the strength the box says to keep them from dehydrating you. |
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Goblin
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Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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ilbob
Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 28
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Solar stills don't produce as much water as you might think, but they certainly can be used to remove the mineral content from contaminated water. I suspect they would not remove contaminants with a lower vapor pressure than water. Its probably an improvement over drinking the water raw.
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bjdette21
Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| SweetTea wrote: |
| I keep crystal light-type packets to neutralize the bleachy taste and also because I like the taste of lemonade and iced tea more than water. However, only make it to half the strength the box says to keep them from dehydrating you. |
Well, because of the sweet chemical that used from the lemonade and iced tea, probably you will dehydrate. It is better to drink water than often lemonade or juice, to prevent hydration. We all know that the lemonade and juice delicious, but we must be least to drink.
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