Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water"

Darlene Holmes
5 years ago
Views:

1 Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water USE ONLY WATER THAT HAS BEEN PROPERLY DISINFECTED FOR DRINKING, COOKING, MAKING ANY PREPARED DRINK, OR FOR BRUSHING TEETH Use bottled water that has not been exposed to flood waters if it is available. If you don't have bottled water, you should boil water to make it safe. Boiling water will kill most types of diseasecausing organisms that may be present. If the water is cloudy, filter it through clean cloths or allow it to settle, and draw off the clear water for boiling. Boil the water for one minute, let it cool, and store it in clean containers with covers. If you can't boil water, you can disinfect it using household bleach. Bleach will kill some, but not all, types of disease-causing organisms that may be in the water. If the water is cloudy, filter it through clean cloths or allow it to settle, and draw off the clear water for disinfection. Add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops) of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water, stir it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it. Store disinfected water in clean containers with covers. Irrespective of the water having been boiled or treated, filter if you can. Filtering can remove most minerals and chemicals which may cause illness. ONLY USE WATER THAT HAS BEEN PROPERLY DISINFECTED FOR DRINKING, COOKING, MAKING ANY PREPARED DRINK, OR FOR BRUSHING TEETH.

2 Choose a disinfection method. Boiling and chemical treatment are two general methods used to effectively disinfect small quantities of filtered and settled water. Boiling Boiling is the Gold Standard and surest method to make water safe to drink. Boiling will kill disease causing microorganisms like Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium, which are frequently found in rivers and lakes. These disease-causing organisms are less likely to occur in well water (as long as it has not been affected by flood waters). If not treated properly and neutralized, Giardia may cause diarrhea, fatigue, and cramps after ingestion. Cryptosporidium is highly resistant to disinfection. It may cause diarrhea, nausea and/or stomach cramps. People with severely weakened immune systems are likely to have more severe and more persistent symptoms than healthy individuals. Boil filtered and settled water vigorously for one minute (at altitudes above one mile, boil for three minutes). To improve the flat taste of boiled water, aerate it by pouring it back and forth from one container to another and allow it to stand for a few hours, or add a pinch of salt for each quart or liter of water boiled. If boiling is not possible, chemical disinfection of filtered and settled water collected from a well, spring, river, or other surface water body will still provide some health benefits and is better than no treatment at all. Chemical Treatment When boiling is not practical, certain chemicals will kill most harmful or disease-causing organisms. For chemical disinfection to be effective, the water must be filtered and settled first. Chlorine and iodine are the two chemicals commonly used to treat water. They are somewhat effective in protecting against exposure to Giardia, but may not be effective in controlling more resistant organisms like Cryptosporidium.

3 Chlorine is generally more effective than iodine in controlling Giardia, and both disinfectants work much better in warm water. You can use a non-scented, household chlorine bleach that contains a chlorine compound to disinfect water. Do not use non-chlorine bleach to disinfect water. Typically, household chlorine bleaches will be 5.25% available chlorine. Follow the procedure written on the label. When the necessary procedure is not given, find the percentage of available chlorine on the label and use the information in the following table as a guide. (Remember, 1/8 teaspoon and 8 drops are about the same quantity.) Available Drops per Quart/Gallon of ClearDrops per Liter of Chlorine Water Clear Water 1% 10 per Quart - 40 per Gallon 10 per Liter 4-6% 2 per Quart - 8 per Gallon (1/82 per Liter teaspoon) 7-10% 1 per Quart - 4 per Gallon 1 per Liter (If the strength of the bleach is unknown, add ten drops per quart or liter of filtered and settled water. Double the amount of chlorine for cloudy, murky or colored water or water that is extremely cold.) Mix the treated water thoroughly and allow it to stand, preferably covered, for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand for an additional 15 minutes. If the treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, allow the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or pour it from one clean container to another several times. You can use granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water. Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or

4 (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another. You can use chlorine tablets to disinfect filtered and settled water. Chlorine tablets containing the necessary dosage for drinking water disinfection can be purchased in a commercially prepared form. These tablets are available from drug and sporting goods stores and should be used as stated in the instructions. When instructions are not available, use one tablet for each quart or liter of water to be purified. You can use tincture of iodine to disinfect filtered and settled water. Common household iodine from the medicine chest or first aid kit may be used to disinfect water. Add five drops of 2 percent U.S. or your country s approved Pharmacopeia tincture of iodine to each quart or liter of clear water. For cloudy water add ten drops and let the solution stand for at least 30 minutes. You can use iodine tablets to disinfect filtered and settled water. Purchase commercially prepared iodine tablets containing the necessary dosage for drinking water disinfection at drug and sporting goods stores. Use as stated in instructions. When instructions are not available, use one tablet for each quart or liter of filtered and settled water to be purified. Water Purification: Iodine: Sodium Iodide, Tincture (& Tablets) Disinfecting Only: Tincture of Iodine as is a solution of Sodium Iodide Crystals dissolved in ethanol. Typical solutions are 2% for over the counter sale for treating minor wounds to prevent infection. This tincture is also useful for disinfecting water before drinking. Iodine owes its disinfecting properties to the fact that it is a deadly poison to living cells. As with all halogen elements Iodine is an oxidizer. Meaning it causes rapid combination with other elements and creates new compounds of Iodine. Used as a

5 disinfectant, Iodine strips away cellular walls destroying the fundamental structure of life. Hence it is a Skull and Cross Bones material. Iodine has been used for a century or more to process water from questionable sources in the field and render it safe for consumption. The US Military still issues Iodine (Halide) tablets to soldiers in the field to make water collected on the run potable. Iodine kills all bacteria including anthrax, all viruses, fungi, and spores. That said, insect larve, amoeba, protozoa, fish and amphibian eggs and other larger and more dense multi cell tissue masses will not always be totally affected by Iodine when used in the quantities typical for water disinfection. Humans can ingest small quantities of iodine safely. How much is small? The in the field rule is when the water has become colorless after treatment, its good to drink. Lack of perceptible color means the iodine has been consumed in oxidizing processes with the organic matter in the water. The iodine is still there but now locked up in new harmless compounds. How much to use. In a 2% Tincture, one slowly formed drop from a dropper will contain approximately 1 Mg of free iodine. Treat one US Quart or Liter with 5 mg of iodine or 5 drops of 2% Iodine Tincture. Procedure.(Using Halide Tablets Follow this same procedure adjust # tablets as per label.) Collect water and strain/filter through any fine fabric or coffee filter available allowing only for gravity feed at minimal drop. Boil for 5 minutes when ever possible. To room temperature water add Iodine Tincture with a eye dropper. Add slowly formed by gravity drops in to the strained water. Cap the water and shake a few times to mix. Immediately after mixing loosen the threads on the container and

6 invert the container to allow some treated water to escape out along the threads (disinfects the fill area). Re tighten the cap and now allow that container to set for at least 30 minutes before drinking. Avoid use of aluminum canteens and container using any Halide. Dry off the container exterior and pack for travel. Chemical Disinfected water will still contain absorbed minerals and entrained gasses. It s taste will not be improved but will be safe for drinking.

7 Illustration of key points Filter murky or colored water through clean cloths or allow it to settle. It is better to both settle and filter. Boiling is the surest method to make water safe to drink and kill disease-causing microorganisms likegiardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium, which are frequently found in rivers and lakes. To improve the flat taste of boiled water, aerate it by pouring it back and forth from one container to another and allow it to stand for a few hours, or add a pinch of salt for each quart or liter of water boiled. When boiling is not practical, certain chemicals will kill most harmful or disease-causing organisms. Chlorine (in the form of unscented bleach) and iodine are the two chemicals commonly used to treat water. You can use a non-scented, household chlorine bleach that contains a chlorine compound to disinfect water. (Remember, 1/8 teaspoon and 8 drops are about the same quantity.) You can use tincture of iodine to disinfect filtered and settled water. Common household iodine from the medicine chest or first aid kit may be used to disinfect water.

8 Tincture of iodine. For cloudy water add ten drops and let the solution stand for at least 30 minutes. TIPS on Finding Water: Finding water is critical to maintaining life and strength. In a Survival situation where power fails and water systems fail shortly there after. People have major issues. In South Florida sea water is abundant, but undrinkable without processing. The only way to obtain fresh potable water from salt water is by one of the following: Distillation & Evaporation (Pressure cooker is useful) Reverse Osmosis by Membrane filtration. Foraging for water in unusual places: Urban Settings: When the City water stops. In pipes within homes. When the pressure stops the city supply, water is still held in pipes but is secured in them by check valves. Cutting away supply pipes inside the home can allow water to flow back to buckets. Toilet Tanks In hot water tanks, home tanks can contain gallons of reasonably clean water. Swimming pools & spas

9 Auto cooling systems have a water & ethylene glycol solution which can be drained. Ethylene glycol is poison to humans, but water can be extracted by distillation. Ethylene Glycol boils at 387 deg. F., water at 212 Degrees F. Thus careful heating in pressure cooker with no weight restrain can produce water which boils off first. That water should again be distilled for certainty, and then filtered. But the coolant from 5-6 derelict vehicles could yield 3-4 gallons of pure water. Commercial building A/C cooling towers use water as a heat transfer agent. The water contains chemical additives to prevent fouling leaving sediments. These materials can be separated by distillation. Municipal fountains, Zoos, Aquariums, Evaporation Stills: Vegetable matter, chopped or damp rotting off the ground. Chop the flora finely and place in to a evaporator pan or tub exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Cover the pan tightly with a plastic sheet. In the center of the sheet drop a weight sufficient to make a deep depression inward. At the apex of the detent have placed a wide cup taller than the surrounding vegetable matter. Allow this pan 25 hours to create water vapor and condense on the back of the plastic. The condensation runs down and drips in to the empty cup. And you have some water. This same method can be sued to extract water from a pit dug in the ground, to extract moisture form the earth. Find absorbent toweling or chamois,. On evenings when the air temp is well below the day time temperatures dew will fall and condense in the late evening hours. As the cooling night air becomes more dense and can not support the water vapor collected during the warmer day light hours. Heavy dew forms on hard surfaces such as autos, plastic sheeting etc., even plant leaves. Wait for the dew and then mop up the water with toweling and wring in to containers. Devise rain catchments and storage cisterns or ponds.

You just have to figure out how to get the bad stuff out of it.

10 Follow animal life and birds, they need water too, and they know where it s at! Sewage treatment facilities Burn this in to your mind, water never goes bad, ever. You just have to figure out how to get the bad stuff out of it. NOTE TO FILE: Obtain a 8-23 quart pressure cooker for use in water processing. With a pressure cooker sealed and used to boil off water, the steam will escape out the vent pipe where is can be routed by a hose pipe to condense in a container.

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS FIELD MEDICAL TRAINING BATTALION Camp Lejeune, NC

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS FIELD MEDICAL TRAINING BATTALION Camp Lejeune, NC 28542-0042 FMST 201 Perform Water Purification for Individual Use TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Given water and hygiene items,