Minimalist Water Purification

I just had a student that was alergic to iodine (shellfish) and the medics gave him bleach to purify his water. I believe it was 2 drops per quart. I also read about a filtering system layering sand and charcoal in a sock. I read about that a couple of years ago and would have to reread it to discuss its advantages/disadvatages though. Just throwing out an idea.
 
This is what I was hoping for.

We've got some really interesting answers going, and there's a lot of diversity of opinion. What Scott posted concerns me--that there really is no useful "rule of thumb" you can use to play it safe.

Let's keep this going.
 
wadec said:
I just had a student that was alergic to iodine (shellfish) and the medics gave him bleach to purify his water.
Click to expand...

I know this is a little off topic but, there is very likely no such thing as an iodine allergy. If you have questions, do a google search. Your body develops allergies, as a rule, to proteins not chemical elements. And when you say "medic" do you mean a paramedic, EMT, first aider, or an actual doctor? Just curious. I would strongly suggest that person stay away from shellfish, but it is highly unlikely that iodine had anything to do with the reaction unless they did a skin test with iodine and that came up positive, which again is highly unlikely. I am no doctor, just an EMT but I do understand a little about allergic reactions from what we have been taught since we deal with anaphylaxis frequently.

Just thought people should be aware.

KR
 
I am no doctor either, but from what has been explained to me is that iodine is made using shell fish somehow in the process. So if a person is alergic to shell fish the he can have an alergic reaction. We were in the field and did a water resupply from a stream. everyone got the same water and purified it with iodine. This guy got body aches and started vomiting within a short amount of time. Not sure how long since they tried to hide it from me. We ended up sending him to a PA along with a bunch of medics and they determined he had a minor reaction to the iodine. They gave him bleach to purify his water and he had no further issues. When I asked him he said he did have alergic reactions to shellfish.
 
That is very useful to know. Thanks a lot for the response. I had never heard that before and didn't know about the connection between iodine for water treatment and its connection to shellfish. I am amazed they don't have a warning on the bottle.

Thanks again,
KR
 
I will try to get more definitive information and post it on another thread so we can stop hacking this guys thread. But my last post is how it has been explained to me.
 
Sea water contains iodine, and it concentrates in sea critters. Our blood is the same salinity as sea water and the vast majority need iodine in the diet for heath.
 
Watchful said:
Who here has tried using bleach? How did you verify if the water was indeed purified?
Click to expand...

I used bleach to purify water for several days in Guatemala. Our Katadyn water-filter malfunctioned and the only viable option was to buy bleach. We had built a log raft and were floating down a river in central Guatemala for about a week. Our water supply was the river itself purified with at least nine drops of bleach per gallon - sometimes well over ten. It smelled and tasted "bleachy" - and I guess I can verify that the water was indeed purified since none of us got sick. Much of the surrounding countryside is used to raise cattle so I suppose there was a fairly high bacteria count. The water was quite turbid, generally a muddy brown. I think deforestation in the surrounding land was probably a contributing factor to the turbidity. Poor Guatemalans slash & burn the jungle to plant corn. The most common thing to see a Guatemalan male carrying was a machete and gas can.

We had MSR stoves to boil water and certainly used this option to some degree. But the raft was tiny for three people (about the size of a table-top) and sitting around boiling enough water to remain hydrated wasn't appealing - not to mention the need to carry that much gasoline. Bleach proved to be an effective and expedient solution.
 
My water treatment system is about as minimal as you can get.

I pass all of my raw water through a home-made PVC pipe filter. The top section has a ball of fish filter fluff that strains out all the visible floaty/swimmy stuff, critters, logs, and leaves. This fluffball gets very dirty, the darker it gets the less junk I drank.

The lower section is filled with activated charcoal and removes a good deal of the small suspended particles. It also improves water clarity and taste.

The filter is only a pre-treatment and is not intended to make the water safe. It only makes it more palatable and easier to treat chemically.

I then treat the water with iodine or chlorine. I teach 2% tincture of iodine as it is readily available in any pharmacy here for about $.75, 5 drops per liter (can be doubled). We have a new water treatment product here Clor-In 1 that comes in a blister pack of 30 pills. Each pill treats one liter of water. I also use Potable Aqua Plus.

If you treat water with iodine, and don't neutralize it with vitamin C (ascorbic acid) then it will turn starchy foods blue if you use it to cook. For this reason I like the Clor-In 1 better.

Pictlet washing out her oatmeal with iodine water...
bpbluefood6ra.jpg


So far using this system for years here in Brazil I have never gotten sick, nor have any of my students. As a low cost option that can be reproduced anywhere it works great. Mac
 
Thanks for the info - my wife is allergic to shellfish and I had no idea the iodine in water purification tablets could be an issue. I'll be sure to add some bleach to our survival kits for back-up purification.
 
Silver-ion?

Maybe this just keeps critters from growing on surfaces and does not treat the water itself.

This is from an ad for CamelBak:

The CamelBak's HydroGuard Anti-Microbial technology makes every sip safe by embedding an FDA-approved silver ion compound into the reservoir film and delivery tubes, which eliminates up to 99.99% of common bacteria and fungus inside the reservoir and tube surfaces.
 
I prefer slightly more reliable information based upon peer reviewed studies such as this Quack watch and the FDA instead of the silver institute newsletters. Just my opinion, if you want to treat your body like a chemisty set you'll hear no objections from me. :D
 
Stephen Barrett, M.D., a retired psychiatrist who resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Now there's a guy I'd believe on medical matters!
The court ruled that "there is no sound basis on which to consider Dr. Barrett qualified as an expert on the issues he was offered to address" therefore his " testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility ". :rolleyes:
For example, a psychiatrist who lost his medical license, Stephen Barrett,M.D., operates on the Internet a "Quackwatch" that slanders CPU alumni with health related degrees. "Dr." Barrett suffers from a severe case of tunnel vision. His web site strives to brainwash the public and to install blind faith in the infallible authority of allopathic medicine.
Yup. I'd believe this guy.
FDA is issuing this final rule
because many OTC drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients
or silver salts are being marketed for numerous serious disease
conditions and FDA is not aware of any substantial scientific evidence
that supports the use of OTC colloidal silver ingredients or silver
salts for these disease conditions.
 Oh, are we curing disease or purifying water? Oh, and back to the "Doc"'s credentials as an eggspurt:

http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/obfuscator.htm
Barrett lets the “Stephen Barrett M.D,” logo, and the bio that describes him as a “retired Psychiatrist,” do his work for him to SOUND AUTHORITATIVE on any subject. In fact, last year Barrett was dis-qualified as an “expert witness” in a case in New York when it was discovered that although he claims to have “been a Psychiatrist for 35 years” he NEVER passed the requirements to be admitted to the Board of Psychiatry, and hence was never “Board Certified.” Hmmm?....

MDs do not rate automatic “expert” status just because they are MDs. There are official steps that must be taken (like Board Certification) to be acknowledged as an expert. As far as I know, Stephen Barrett has NO educational training in any medical specialty that might be remotely labeled “Alternative Medicine” - therefore, I do not believe he is qualified to advise, criticize, or comment on it.


But I's be vewy, vewy wawy.... of your sources too!
 
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