Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFieldLab
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After almost 10 years of living out here I have finally set up a system to make my rainwater safe for potable use... starting with water that has been sitting in a 3,000 gallon greenhouse roof catchment tank for over a year. Although it may appear to be a lot of work, in really only involves about 19 minutes of my time since most of the process just works on its own. Step 1. Disinfect 3,000 gallons of rainwater with 1 pint of chlorine. I did this because this water has been sitting for so long. This step alone pretty much kills anything in the water that is gonna get me. I waited 24 hours before continuing on with the rest of the process. Step 2. Filter the water with a system from http://www.emergency-h2o.com/ (much cheaper than the Berkey filter systems). Activated charcoal in the filter removes any hint of chlorine left from step one. It took a little over two hours for 10 quarts of water to work its way through the .5 micron ceramic/activated charcoal filter by gravity. Step 3. Pasteurize the water by heating it up to at least 150° (3 hours to heat 10 quarts of water to 165° in my solar oven). I let the water cool down to ambient air temperature (2 hours) before adding it to the point of use bucket. Municipalities often suggest boiling water but that is only because the general public can't be trusted to heat their water to the correct temperature and need to be prompted to wait until they see a rolling boil (212°). Unless water is heavily contaminated, heating it to 150° for approximately 6 minutes is all you need to kill any bacteria or virus that can cause you problems. The main benefit of pasteurization over boiling is the significantly lower amount of fuel needed to complete the process. News Theme by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Artist: http://incompetech.com Jazz Piano Bar by Doug Maxwell/ Media Right Productions used by permission from the YouTube Audio Library.
wait.. a minute..does this have anything to do with the Doc visit and now you're giving up beer and other vices?
;-)
we do water filtration on canoe/camp trips... for big groups... they either use a large katadyn expedition filter.. or a combination of alum and chlorine ( iodine on the RIo Grande, ugh)... or boil it at night.. let cool over night then decant.
I think if you boil for 20-30 minutes - you don't need the other stuff... and that's river water...giardia, etc..
Back east - a LOT of people use ordinary wells without any treatment.. About 2/3 of the large bore wells have coliforms...(not ecoli) that are often present in normal runoff.. as long as it is not from a farm or animal operation.
Even then - most places that have wells... also have septic fields.. usually about 100 feet away or so... that's fairly typical..in the suburban/rural areas not served by water/sewer.
municipal water treatment is a serious chemical process that basically takes water apart then puts it back together minus the stuff not wanted.
Larry G... Has nothing to do with my recent checkup. I get constantly asked how I filter my rainwater for drinking. Now I finally have an answer. FYI - Boiling water for 20-30 minutes is unnecessary to kill any waterborne pathogen. Giardia is killed within 10 minutes at a water temperature of 130° and instantly at boiling temperature (212°).
This constitutes some of your finest work sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
Thanks for sharing this.
And for the metered bandwidth crowd, of which I shall be exiting this coming week, thank you for the explanation. If it is not too much work, providing a transcript of some of your best work is likely appreciated by others. On the road there are many times where YouTube is not affordable due to monthly data caps. I always appreciated the guys that provide a transcript.
We have settled after a year and a half of roaming, and always appreciate your sharing.
All enteric (intestinal) pathogens are quickly killed above 60°C (140°F), therefore, although boiling is not necessary to make the water safe to drink, the time taken to heat the water to boiling is sufficient to reduce pathogens to safe levels. Allowing the boiled water to cool slowly will also extend the exposure of enteric pathogens to lethal temperatures. Boiling gives a simple visual indicator that a high enough temperature has been reached when a thermometer is not available.
In southern Spain on the plateau, years ago, our car carrier flew off. A group of gypsies who lived in the caves nearby stood to watch us. We were all young. They were very polite. So I gave them our coca-cola. People were dying from the water. So we used bleach (yuck). By the time we got to Gibraltar, we had diarrhea. The British treated us for free. (My babies had been on some sort of milk and were o.k.).
Clorox. Does that sound right? It was rank. I don't know any more. Anyway, whatever was recommended. Some Military Americans had already died from the water in northern Spain and it was verboten.
How hot does the shower tank get? My old solar hot water heater got to 165 in the winter. ( Old electric hot water inner tank in a box with windows ). Then chlorinator followed by de-chlorinator (charcoal filter). Little different twist to same idea. Throw in sprinkler solenoid and timer for more automation. Your prototype is great idea.
After almost 10 years of living out here I have finally set up a system to make my rainwater safe for potable use... starting with water that has been sitting in a 3,000 gallon greenhouse roof catchment tank for over a year. Although it may appear to be a lot of work, in really only involves about 19 minutes of my time since most of the process just works on its own. Step 1. Disinfect 3,000 gallons of rainwater with 1 pint of chlorine. I did this because this water has been sitting for so long. This step alone pretty much kills anything in the water that is gonna get me. I waited 24 hours before continuing on with the rest of the process. Step 2. Filter the water with a system from http://www.emergency-h2o.com/ (much cheaper than the Berkey filter systems). Activated charcoal in the filter removes any hint of chlorine left from step one. It took a little over two hours for 10 quarts of water to work its way through the .5 micron ceramic/activated charcoal filter by gravity. Step 3. Pasteurize the water by heating it up to at least 150° (3 hours to heat 10 quarts of water to 165° in my solar oven). I let the water cool down to ambient air temperature (2 hours) before adding it to the point of use bucket. Municipalities often suggest boiling water but that is only because the general public can't be trusted to heat their water to the correct temperature and need to be prompted to wait until they see a rolling boil (212°). Unless water is heavily contaminated, heating it to 150° for approximately 6 minutes is all you need to kill any bacteria or virus that can cause you problems. The main benefit of pasteurization over boiling is the significantly lower amount of fuel needed to complete the process. News Theme by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Artist: http://incompetech.com Jazz Piano Bar by Doug Maxwell/ Media Right Productions used by permission from the YouTube Audio Library.
ReplyDeletewait.. a minute..does this have anything to do with the Doc visit and now you're giving up beer and other vices?
ReplyDelete;-)
we do water filtration on canoe/camp trips... for big groups... they either use a large katadyn expedition filter.. or a combination of alum and chlorine ( iodine on the RIo Grande, ugh)... or boil it at night.. let cool over night then decant.
I think if you boil for 20-30 minutes - you don't need the other stuff... and that's river water...giardia, etc..
Back east - a LOT of people use ordinary wells without any treatment.. About 2/3 of the large bore wells have coliforms...(not ecoli) that are often present in normal runoff.. as long as it is not from a farm or animal operation.
Even then - most places that have wells... also have septic fields.. usually about 100 feet away or so... that's fairly typical..in the suburban/rural areas not served by water/sewer.
municipal water treatment is a serious chemical process that basically takes water apart then puts it back together minus the stuff not wanted.
Larry G... Has nothing to do with my recent checkup. I get constantly asked how I filter my rainwater for drinking. Now I finally have an answer. FYI - Boiling water for 20-30 minutes is unnecessary to kill any waterborne pathogen. Giardia is killed within 10 minutes at a water temperature of 130° and instantly at boiling temperature (212°).
ReplyDeleteThis constitutes some of your finest work sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this.
And for the metered bandwidth crowd, of which I shall be exiting this coming week, thank you for the explanation. If it is not too much work, providing a transcript of some of your best work is likely appreciated by others. On the road there are many times where YouTube is not affordable due to monthly data caps. I always appreciated the guys that provide a transcript.
We have settled after a year and a half of roaming, and always appreciate your sharing.
well you've done your usual and come up with an excellent,cost-effective way to get the job done! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteAll enteric (intestinal) pathogens are quickly killed above 60°C (140°F), therefore, although boiling is not necessary to make the water safe to drink, the time taken to heat the water to boiling is sufficient to reduce pathogens to safe levels. Allowing the boiled water to cool slowly will also extend the exposure of enteric pathogens to lethal temperatures. Boiling gives a simple visual indicator that a high enough temperature has been reached when a thermometer is not available.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on another milestone for the TFL, John.
ReplyDeleteIn southern Spain on the plateau, years ago, our car carrier flew off. A group of gypsies who lived in the caves nearby stood to watch us. We were all young. They were very polite. So I gave them our coca-cola. People were dying from the water. So we used bleach (yuck). By the time we got to Gibraltar, we had diarrhea. The British treated us for free. (My babies had been on some sort of milk and were o.k.).
ReplyDeleteAlso, we had bottled and canned food so we were o.k.
ReplyDeleteIt was chlorine (not bleach) we used. That was too many years ago to remember.
ReplyDeleteTY for the rundown. It looks very professional. Let us know how it works over the long haul.
ReplyDeleteClorox. Does that sound right? It was rank. I don't know any more. Anyway, whatever was recommended. Some Military Americans had already died from the water in northern Spain and it was verboten.
ReplyDelete(Anyway I hardly sipped any water and we purchased more Soda Pop in Spain.)
ReplyDeleteHow hot does the shower tank get? My old solar hot water heater got to 165 in the winter. ( Old electric hot water inner tank in a box with windows ). Then chlorinator followed by de-chlorinator (charcoal filter). Little different twist to same idea. Throw in sprinkler solenoid and timer for more automation. Your prototype is great idea.
ReplyDeleteBeatiful soundtrack! The late great Bill Evans?
ReplyDeleteYes, the music starting the video is exciting.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the written explanation along with the video.
Andi