Tips for Disinfecting Drinking Water
Typically, groundwater from different sources like streams, rivers or lakes tends to contain unhealthy germs known as pathogens. They can cause water-borne infections that can spread fast when human or animal feces infected with these pathogens get mixed with drinking water. Some common types of these pathogens include parasites, viruses or bacteria, to name a few. Let’s find out more.
Basically, water disinfection methods help kill or eliminate pathogens from the water you drink. It’s not difficult to disinfect drinking water. You can perform disinfection in many ways. For instance, you can use UV radiation, heat, filtration or a combo of these methods.
Usually, water suppliers ensure the safety of drinking water through different disinfection methods. You can also disinfect your drinking water to look for an alternate source like bottled water.
This can be the only choice for you if you can’t use or get water from a water supply unit in your area or the water you get is infected with E. Coli bacteria.
The Best way to Disinfect Water
If you are looking for the most effective way of cleansing your drinking water, you can try the boiling method, especially if your water contains parasites like Cryptosporidium or Guardia.
All you need to do is boil water for a minimum of 1 minute. The boiling time will be double if you are at an elevation of 2,000 meters or more. After boiling, store the water in a food grade container and cover it up.
The use of Bleach
Generally, it’s fine to use household chlorine bleach for this purpose as it can help eliminate most types of pathogens. However, you should stay away from scented bleaches.
Typically, bleach gives better results if mixed with lukewarm water. Just 2 drops of bleach can be more than enough for 4 cups of warm water.
Cover the container and wait for half an hour before you drink from it. You may experience a little bit of chlorine smell post 30 minutes, which his okay. Also, if the water looks cloudy, you can add two more drops of bleach.
If you don’t like the chlorine taste, you can keep the water container covered for a couple of hours. This will help eliminate the taste.
Heavily Contaminated or Polluted Water
If your water is heavily contaminated, adding bleach or boiling it won’t work. The reason is that these techniques can’t remove chemicals. In this case, you should go for a different source.
Cloudy or Murky Water
Usually, water gets murky or cloudy when it contains dust or sand. To reduce cloudiness, you can pour the water through coffee filter or a clean piece of rag. Allow the bits to sit at the bottom of the container, and then pour the clear water into another container before you consume it.
The use of Iodine
You can do so for a short period of time. However, there are some health concerns linked with the use of iodine over a long period of time. If you have kids and pregnant women in your house, we don’t suggest that you use iodine for this purpose.
In short, these are a few common methods that you can use to disinfect drinking water in a safe manner.
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