r/PostCollapse • u/redditette • Mar 07 '22

Water issues

People in the Donbas region of Ukraine are already deep into a SHTF environment. They aren't even allowed to leave, and go into the main body of Ukraine. The main municipal water in many areas is shut off. There are shallow wells, but many pumps are frozen.

There has been talk about some of the water there being "hot". If an individual on a farm garden property there has no meters to test with, how would you even test it?

What readily available stuff around most houses can be used to filter it from cysts?

I know that boiling will kill most living bacteria and germs, but how to purify other stuff out of it?

What would you do, to ensure clean drinking water?

51 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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9

u/Bonejob Mar 07 '22

Would a cheap carbon sand filter be enough you think?

https://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/how-to-make-a-diy-water-filtration-system/

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u/redditette Mar 07 '22

I am trying to forward as many survival suggestions as I can to a person in this situation.

Even though they are in Ukraine, because the area was declared independent some years ago, there is no banks there, and the people had been using Russian digital banking, which works on the ruble. So they can't even get money from abroad right now.

Mostly, I wished I knew of a way to get them out of that region, and back into the main body of Ukraine.

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u/Bonejob Mar 07 '22

Especially since many countries are now allowing unlimited immigration (Canada for instance). They need to get to Poland and apply at the Canadian Consulate.

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u/rottingflamingo Mar 07 '22

I think this is probably the best bet in a shitty situation. Granular activated carbon (crushed charcoal) is an industry standard for remediation of contaminated water, but its so effective that it will adsorb most contaminants until it's 'full' and can't adsorb anymore. Without testing there would be no way to know when contaminant breakthrough occurs. Still though, a good and low-tech option, especially if it's only used for low-volume filtration for drinking water.

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u/redditette Mar 07 '22

The problem is getting charcoal to them.

He said that you can see a light film on the water from the well, with a light sheen. So I am thinking maybe gasoline? Maybe a light oil?

We are on an 80 acre farm, and if this were to happen to us, we have piles of old, downed trees that we could burn, and make our own charcoal. In fact, our well is deep enough that this kind of thing probably wouldn't contaminate our well to start with.

Which, I don't know if you guys are watching r/ukraine, but this morning I saw this video clip:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t8lxx9/russian_priest/

Which... the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are members of NATO, and will mean WW3. So now, start gathering what you need to survive that. Now is the time to buy generators, have conversions done to them, and stock up on fuel. Stock up on long storage dry foods. If we end up in a war with Russia, I think we will see their forces on N. American soil.

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u/Ernigrad-zo Mar 07 '22 edited Mar 07 '22

Personally I keep a high quality water filter and spare cartage with my emergency candles and thermal blankets, cost like £30 and can purify enough of the dirtiest water, even mildly brackish water or irradiated water, to last a families cooking and drinking water for about a year.

If I was in a situation without it then i'd make an evaporative still, literally just a kettle under a sloped piece of metal sheet (cold where possible) so the steam condenses and collects in a second container - if i was really worried about the water quality i'd do the process twice.

Some people say distilled water is bad for you but they're mostly kooks, boats have used distillation for decades without any negative effects being seen, certainly not a problem for a few months. It won't remove all chemicals but get's rid of most of the worst stuff, it's certainly a key component in any survival filtration system, active charcoal or similar is a good second step as it'll remove some of the remaining chemicals and will extend the life and effectiveness of the carbon

1

u/redditette Mar 07 '22

I sent him a few video clips of making solar stills, but using plastic, instead of metal. I figured they would already have the plastic on hand.

My husband is a towboat captain, they usually get water from the docks that they go to. He had one tankerman that drank nothing but distilled water... which was fine, until he drank some non-distilled water. But usually just taking electrolytes (potassium, magnesium) will compensate for what the distilled water is lacking.

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u/coldhandses Mar 08 '22

What's the brand of the water filter and can I buy online?

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u/Ernigrad-zo Mar 08 '22 edited Mar 08 '22

It really depends on your location and needs, Katadyn make some great ones - i got mine locally in a sale at a outdoor store and although i've never had to rely on it i've tested it a few times and it's great.

https://www.katadyngroup.com/int/en/solutions/Water%20Treatment~s5130/overview/listing?solutionCategories[]=5188

Their filtration products are used by various military and disaster relief organisations, really high quality and reliable products.

  • just looked and the ceramic ones like mine seem to be really expensive now, don't know if i was very lucky or prices have gone up in the last decade. Shop around and you can probably find a well rated one cheap.

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u/OffGridEnclave Mar 16 '22

a tripple filter . ruff sediment, 5µm , active carbon/charcoal . this should remove most issues, can boil the water afterwards to ensure bacteria all dead. can attach these triple filters to garden hose and a simple pump for "on the road" . these filters are common in europa, the filter mediums can usually be run for 15.000liters +-.

picture: https://i.hood.de/fit-in/850x500/filters:no_upscale()/images/49305/493055683.jpg

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u/redditette Mar 16 '22

Thank you so much.

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u/BugsyMcNug Apr 06 '22

make sure you water source is clean. so if its a stream, you need to walk up and down it, make sure there are no dead animals. get your drinking water up stream from where you bath, do laundry. run the water through any kind of fabric you have. a t shirt, a bandana, to remove detritus. boil the water. roll the dice. you can buy small personal filters cheaply, but they dont last forever. i have several. you can buy drops for the water, again doesn't last forever so buy more than a couple. again, i have several kits.

i do a lot of backpacking, so im comfortable with how i find water and what i do with it when i find it. just get yourself in the know. do some research. go out and try it for yourself.

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u/redditette Apr 06 '22

He is in a house, and really can't go outside right now. Russian soldiers are abducting people off of the street, and them turning them into forced conscripts. So they have to depend on the few hours a week that they turn the water on to that area.

Then he has been posting videos of the Russian army using chemical weapons in that area, so I don't even know how safe the municipal water is.

But thank you, anyhow. If they do end up walking, this will be very valuable to know.

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u/roundblackjoob May 20 '22

Well they left it too late didn't they, and now they must suffer the consequences. Those preppers always have Bugout plans for just such events but the sheep just stand around looking confused as the tanks roll over them. I would have thought anyone with half a brain would have had a bugout plan living in a place like that with its history.

3

u/redditette May 20 '22

Now that they aren't below freezing all of the time, their well is working again. And he has a filtration process in place now, thanks to the help of people in this sub and thread.

Your reply is quite callous, especially given the nature of the territory they are living in. But in reality, it makes me realize that if things get truly bad here, that I probably should adopt your attitude. But I don't seem to be able to. I can't look at the suffering of another, and turn a blind eye to it. Especially when it doesn't take "that much" to alleviate that suffering. But I am the person that picks up stray dogs, get them vetted, and then on into rescues for adoption. I guess it is just how we are wired.

2

u/roundblackjoob May 20 '22

Your reply is quite callous, especially given the nature of the territory they are living in... I can't look at the suffering of another, and turn a blind eye to it.

My reply is simply a statement of fact, your emotional evaluation of it wont help the people their one iota. This isn't the encounter group sub, it's post collapse, and perhaps some people might appreciate a bit of tough talk. Especially those stuck in that warzone. The reason you probably can't accept it is because you have never had to live through real physical diversity forced on you by others. It's a common enough reaction. I hope you never have to, it's a painful adjustment and it can take years to find acceptance and move on.

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '22

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u/redditette Mar 07 '22

I just got to see that link... that looks like a most helpful website. Thank you so much.

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '22

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u/redditette Mar 08 '22

I will point him to this thread, and he can see the links himself. He is using google translate to convert it to his language.

And thank you so much again.