Hi Ode, This is interesting and useful information. I lived with cisterns and while I would bathe in the water I wouldn't drink it. Every time I did I got sick. Then the cistern was cleaned and you wouldn't believe what they shoveled out at the bottom. No wonder I got sick. Live and dead critters! Just my experience. PT
________________________________ From: Ode Coyote <odecoy...@windstream.net> To: silver-list@eskimo.com Sent: Tue, November 6, 2012 8:03:49 AM Subject: Re: CS>Storing water Experiments in collecting rain water off a tin roof: Let it rain a while to wash the roof and the air....the water came up quite pure at around 2 uS conductivity or less. Probably not uniformly sterile, but cisterns have been used for potable water for centuries. [usually made of concrete or masonry where lime might sterilize the water] Back in the day: I would tie a very large tarp by the corners to tree trunks, cut a hole in the central sag to fill an upended open ended [with screen wire to keep out the skeeters], 275 gallon drum...spigot and hose just off the bottom. ..nice dry spot to watch it rain from and LOTS of water, very fast, even during a light rain. [but with everything smaller than screen that was on the trees in it ] Inexpensive water filter [used for years and years to filter rain water caught on the old bus roof channeled into hose line by gutters on the sides] 10 feet of 4" PVC pipe and end caps drilled and tapped to take 1/2" pipe thread hose fittings , polyester pillow stuffing and a few pounds of activated charcoal. Interesting process learned last night: A clear water bottle left in full sun with Aluminum foil on one side to reflect concentrated sunlight back into the bottle [parabolic mirror] will sterilize the water in about 6 hours. Heat?.... and concentrated UV light. UV lights are often installed along well to home water lines. Looking into water purification kits at REI... Some had powdered Chlorine to kill everything..and..H2O2 to drive off the Chlorine. ie: Add H202 to tap water and wind up with water with no sterilant in it. -Does hydrogen peroxide remove chlorine? Hydrogen peroxide can be used for dechlorination, in other words to remove residual chlorine. Residual chlorine forms corrosive acids when it is oxidised by air or condenses in process systems. When chlorine reacts with hydrogen peroxide, the hydrogen peroxide falls apart into water and oxygen. Chlorine gas hydrolyses into hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which subsequently ionises into hypochlorite ions (OCl-). Cl2 + H2O à HOCl + HCl à H2O + OCl- After that, hydrogen peroxide reacts with the hypochlorite: OCl- + H2O2 à Cl- + H2O + O2 The reaction between hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorite takes place very quickly. Other organic and inorganic substances cannot react with hypochlorite. Lots of info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach#Color_safe_bleach Boiling for water sterilizationBoiling can be used as a method of water disinfection but is only advocated as an emergency water treatment method, or as a method of portable water purification in rural or wilderness settings without access to a potable water infrastructure. Bringing water to the boil is effective in killing or inactivating most bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Boiling is the most certain way of killing nearly all microorganisms. According to the Wilderness Medical Society[1], water temperatures above 160°F (70°C) kill all pathogens within 30 minutes and above 185°F (85°C) within a few minutes. So in the time it takes for the water to reach the boiling point (212°F or 100°C) from 160°F (70°C), all pathogens will be killed, even at high altitude. To be extra safe, let the water boil rapidly for one minute, especially at higher altitudes since water boils at a lower temperature.[1] Silver, copper and zinc are all metals that will kill micro-organisms at very low concentrations. Hydronium [H3], an acidic byproduct of electrolysis will sterilize water at low concentrations as well..and..it neutralizes after a while as it finds the counterpart also produced, or both bubble off. Warm up that water in the sun to help de-gass it. Got a car battery, [solar panel? Bicycle with old style generator?] some old galvanized pipe or copper wire and some jumper cables ? Ode Ode
