Pardon me if my search-fu is weak, but I’ve been researching basic water purification systems other than the tablets for making water safe and have noticed that even the most apparently popular filtering systems don’t offer any specific mention of being able to remove chemical agents from unprocessed water. It’s easy to find one that will get protozoa, bacteria, etc, but those aren’t the only things in water that concern me. What springs to mind first is fertilizers that will likely be found in run-off from agricultural areas that makes it into larger bodies, e.g. creeks, rivers, and lakes. Also of concern is run-off found downstream of more urban areas as there’s no telling what kind of stuff may be found there…everything from more harmful chemicals to prescription drugs.
Additionally, the info I’ve found on using the tablets, chlorine/bleach, or iodine make no mention of chemical removal. What am I missing?
Distillation is thought by most to be the best single method of removing the widest range of “baddies” from water. As long as the boiling point of the chemical is significantly higher than that of water it will stay in the pot and the clean H2o will be removed from it. If you know what chemicals are contaminating the water- you can look to see the boiling point.
Distillation will not remove every single chemical contaminant out there- just about 99% of them from what I’ve gathered. There are a many chemicals that boil at or below the boiling point of water.
Safest way would be to distill and then charcoal filter with a small pour size Activated charcoal. That would get about 99.99% pure water. That being saidd there are a few chemicals out there that won’t be removed even by distillation and charcoal filtering.
I guess I sort of blindly accepted that the high quality filter systems were “good enough” and that would be all I need. Video and news out of New Mexico and the EPA spill/dump brought it to mind that there’s more stuff out there in the water than the biological things that can be relatively easily filtered out. The distillation and charcoal filtering process you described would probably not be convenient when on the move.
Is the subject of what to do about chemicals in the water pretty much ignored due to its inherent complexity? I don’t remember coming across this in “prepping” literature.
Yes, it is quite complex- so many different chemicals.
I’ve seen it discussed a few times in prepping/survival realms, but often it is after a chemical spill or contamination and people are discussing what to do. I found one survival forum that discussed it- RE the W. Virginia water contamination; and they just stated that distillation, berkey filters, charcoal filters, RO filters et al cannot remove 100% of chemicals and there is little testing of commercially available devices to know just what they do and don’t filter. It was very specific as to the single chemical they discussed removing and which methods would and would not work for that single chemical.
Honestly, if you know a water source has contamination- stay away unless it is a matter of dehydration to the point you cannot get to another source before your body goes out and death is imminent.
My bugout equipment includes a distillation unit and a few pounds of commercially prepared activated charcoal with a bucket/spigot and hose. It’s bulky, but I like water and being hydrated- I have a lot of redundant equipment for water purification in my kit- I think it is pretty important.
You can reactivate carbon once it’s efficacy is lost and you can also source new activated carbon from your fire pit.
All that being said, most sources of water aren’t contaminated with chemicals that you won’t be able to remove with a katadyn, life straw, berkey, etc.
ETA: disclaimer- distilling equipment is to be used for water and essences/essential oils only. Or ethanol fuel with proper permits/license. Never to be used for alcohol production! Unless you have the proper license and are paying the TTB a shit ton of money!