just don't follow the various U Tubes on the subject .... just about everyone has the same incorrect issue .... you need food grade buckets ... you can't be using paint buckets from Home Depot .... trying to decontaminate water by using contaminated buckets ....
Oh, but the paint buckets add so much character !!!
You know, CTD has these little ceramic filters that will mount in a bucket. Just drill a hole in the bottom big enough, and attach the filter, put a second bucket underneath with a tap, you're done.
If that's not fast enough, put in 3 or 4, I think that's about all the room there will be.
They have a kit, filter, tap, and buckets, but you can order the filters separate. I got two of them, about $20 - $25 each IIRC.
ETA: Ok, they've gone up a bit in the last few years. It's $29.99 for the filter, pre-filter, and tap. Goes down to .02 microns. Says it does 12-15 gallons a day, two in the bottom of a bucket would be even faster. Ceramic with carbon based media.
All you need is buckets, the white ones in the paint dept. at Chinamart are food grade, for about $2.50 each, lids with no gaskets for another $1.25. If you don't believe me on the food grade, the company name and 1-800 number are on the bottom, call them.
Buy two buckets, one lid. Cut big hole in lid, leave an inch or so all around, snap lid on bucket, drill hole at bottom, mount tap on same bucket. Drill hole and mount filter(s) in bottom of other bucket. Set other bucket in lip of lid on bottom bucket.
Add water, wait.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/CAMP-352
I have this setup at home. I have yet to use it, but it is the plan, so I cannot say if it's as fast as advertised, but I got two filters.
Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers.
Liberty is a Man-Of-War, and we are all crew.
personally I would rather drink filtered water than bleach...
IMO
Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day!
Light a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!
Cat's are food... not friends!
If you're going to fight, then fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp into Noah's arc... and brother, it's starting to rain.
The filter GF described is very similar to the Big Berky I have. It has two filters and will do several gallons per day. And yes it taste MUCH better than bleached.
What Gunfixxer describes is what I saw this morning on a YouTube video, except it made no sense to me that the guy in the video was using Homer buckets from Home Depot. Those are NOT food grade and I would certainly think thrice about using them to purify water. I intend to get a couple of those ceramic filters. I will stay keep a bit of bleach on hand!
It basically is a poor man's Berkey. You can buy Berkey filters by themselves, but they are over $100 for a set.
As long as you use food grade buckets, this is good to go. Chinamart has blue buckets right next to the white ones, they are not food grade. Someone over at survival blog posted that they had called the number on the bottom of the bucket. The company told them that the white and natural ones were food grade, all the other colors they made were not.
I do have bleach, sodium hypochlorite, actually, but it is a backup. Keeping liquid bleach long term I think is no longer viable. They no longer come with the peel off seal under the cap, only cap tightness keeps it sealed. It is a known fact that once opened, the chlorine slowly gasses off, until there is none. So, new bleach with no seal is likely to have lost some, or could loses very easily since all that would be required is for the cap to lose some tightness. I have noticed using bleach for laundry, it is used slowly. Near the end, it's smell is not near as strong. Also, the cap degrades, with the threads breaking down and chipping out. I think that the bleach that gets on the bottle threads pouring it eats the threads in the cap slowly.
Or, the cap is just that cheap.
Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers.
Liberty is a Man-Of-War, and we are all crew.
Buy small bottles instead of the gallon jugs. sealed unopen, and less waste.
I noticed the same thing with the laundry, so started buying the 1/2 liter bottles instead.
Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day!
Light a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!
Cat's are food... not friends!
If you're going to fight, then fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp into Noah's arc... and brother, it's starting to rain.
I dont have a Berkey, and am currently examining the poor man's berkey with food grade buckets and Berkey filters.
My point is, if your not buying a Berkey, you cannot honestly tell how efficient the filter is... Cheap chinese knock offs can be had for any given product.
At any rate, even if I were to run a poor man's berkey system, I would *STILL* filter it through play sand at the very least, thus giving my actual filters a fighting chance to do an efficient job with minimum silt.
No matter what I did, Id still keep bleach on stand by.
EB
I agree keeping multiple layers is the best bet. Two is one after all.
Having a sand type filter to remove any particulate is a must in my mind. Even with my backpacking filters I always prefiltered (after one distinct trip) to prolong the life of my filters, on long trips in particular. A bandana, tshirt, or some type of cloth is better than nothing. Again coffee filters are cheap and effective as pre filters.
Bleach is effective and pretty cheap, think pool shock in the correct mix. I just can't tolerate the taste. If it came to that, things are bad, but it would keep you alive.
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