How to Make Water Potable – 6 Simple or Cheap Ways – Part 1

The US suffered a period of prolonged drought from 1934 – 1940.  This was part of what caused the Dust Bowl – a period of severe dust storms.  As I’m sure that you can imagine, six years of drought made it hard to find water.  The problem wasn’t just that water was hard to find – that was a problem.  But finding water wasn’t the only; when they did find water, they also struggled with making water potable – or drinkable.

Obviously, today, we currently have an abundance of drinkable water – most of the time.   But in the last three years, our family has been under several boil orders, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones.  So whether you’re under a boil order, your pipes have frozen, or for any other reason why you may have to take water that you find and make it safe for drinking, I have six simple or cheap ways to make any water that you find safely drinkable.

*** Have you ever noticed that you don’t see pop-up ads on this website?  I have committed to myself and you that I will never put annoying 3rd-party pop-ups or promote unrelated items on my website.  I have turned down opportunities to promote products – for which I would have been compensated – because I didn’t believe they would benefit my readers.

But what that does mean is that there are links in this post.  Some of the links may be affiliate links. I promise only to recommend the most economical version of the best quality items to serve you. All of these are the items that I have bought for my own family.  If you click on a link, your price will remain the same.  If you make a purchase, we may earn a small commission that aids in the cost of the running of this website.  ***

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” – Thomas Fuller

Before we jump into ways to filter water, there is one thing that we need to cover first.  Water that you want to purify first needs cleaned.

Filtering Out Particulate Matter

What do I mean by that?  If I would go down to my pond and draw water from it, it’s not going to be clear.  Before you can purify – or treat water, it needs to be clear – not cloudy – not colored.  So how do you clean water if you have to do that before you can purify it?

There’s a very simple way to filter out particulate matter.  Take a gallon-sized water jug and cut the bottom off.  Take the bottle lid off and poke 5-8 holes using a thin nail.  Replace the top of the bottle and find some clean rags to stuff down on the jug.  These will help filter out any particulate matter.

Place the head and neck of the bottle into a large jar.  Pour the ‘dirty water’ through the cloths and let them filter into the other large bottle, jar, or container.  Once you do this once, take a look at the water.  Is it clear yet?  If not, continue this as often as it takes to filter out the dirt, and the water comes through clean.  You may need to change your rags (old t-shirts also work well) before cleaning out all the dirt and debris.

Once you’ve got clear water, we can purify the water for drinking in one of these six ways.

Filtering

Of any of the methods, filtering is probably the most well-known and easiest method to use.  It can also be the most expensive, depending on what you use to filter the water.

Berkey

We have Crown Berkey.  We chose this one because it has a six-gallon capacity, and if all of our children are home, we have seven people in the house.  But we also have my mom and sister and my father-in-law who would come to us if something happened, so we believed this was our money’s best investment.

Now I need to tell you that I have heard and read a LOT of negative press about the Berkey, so I felt an obligation to really dig into this for you all.

Let me bottom-line what I’ve found.  Berkey has two types of filters – a black filter and a fluoride filter.  We started only using the black filters for the Berkey.  About two years ago, we decided to add fluoride filters because we were concerned with the effects of ingesting fluoride.

I’ve looked at information about the Berkeys filters.  And there is evidence that the fluoride filters are leaching Aluminum INTO the water.  Here’s another article that calls Berkey’s claims into doubt.

AquaCera

I had a friend who recommended another type of filter called AquaCera, but as I looked into the reviews of it on Amazon, I will tell you that I wasn’t impressed with that one either.  So I started digging further, and I watched two videos on YouTube.  The first one was on the efficacy of various water filters—everything from a $19 system to a 400+ dollar system.  The second video was specifically on Berkeys, done by an independent testing company.

After watching the second video, I have concluded that Berkey water filters are, in my opinion, the best way of dealing with your water situation – BUT you shouldn’t use the fluoride filter with it.

ZeroWater

But I wanted to tell you about another system that filters out almost all disolved solids – ZeroWater.  The ZeroWater pitcher holds 10 C of water, costs about $34 AND does a fantastic job of filtering out “Total Dissolved Solids.”  HOWEVER, it was not tested for bacteria or viruses.  If you watch the second video, their tap water tested positive for coliform, but when that water was run through the Berkey, it tested negative for coliform.  If you choose to use the ZeroWater, I highly recommend investing in ZeroWater brand replacement filters.

Bleach

So let’s talk about purifying water with Bleach for a moment.  First, if you’re going to use bleach to purify your drinking water, you need to use plain bleach.  Do not use concentrated bleach or bleach with scents, additives, or thickeners.

Shelf Life

What you also need to take into consideration is that bleach has a limited shelf life.  Most bleach has a shelf-life of 6-12 months.  For the most efficacious use of bleach, stick closer to the six months end.  If you’re interested in finding out how to determine the expiration date of your bleach, this article has a great description.

Using bleach to clean your water.  The ratio of bleach to water for purifying CLEAR water is:

• 1 quart of water – 1 drop of regular bleach (8.25% sodium hypochlorite)
• 1 gallon of water – 6 drops of regular bleach
• 5 gallons of water – 1/4 tsp of regular bleach
• 55 gallons of water 1 T of regular bleach

I just mentioned how much bleach it takes for a 55-gallon barrel of water, but have you ever considered different ways that you can store your water for use?

What About You?

Have you ever had to filter particulate matter out of your water before?  Have you ever used bleach to disinfect your water?  Please share your stories with us in the comments below so we can all be better prepared!  And never forget . . .

You’ve Got This, Mama!