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Anonymous
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# Posted: 25 Feb 2012 09:33am
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I've got a 2500 gallon water tank full of water collected off a shed roof, and I just had the water tested. It tested positive for coliform bacteria, but not for e-coli. My understanding is that lots of water supplies have some coliform in them, and it doesn't necessarily make anyone sick. I don't plan to use the water for drinking, just showering, flush toilet, washing, etc.
Anyone know-
How much chlorine bleach to use in the water to purify?
Disadvantages to chlorinating?
Other ideas
Thnx
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 25 Feb 2012 12:45pm
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1/4 oz per 55 gallon bbl is what I was told and it works for me. Most ppl overchlorinate. If you can smell it when your running the water taps you've put too much in.
Don't use cut rate bleach unless you can be certain that it is at least 5% sodium hypochlorite.
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razmichael
Member
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# Posted: 26 Feb 2012 09:41am
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There was a thread on water purification and filtering a while back (and likely not the only one) Thread . Lots of various opinions on the use of chemicals - what ones etc. Check out the EPA site EPA for more information. One of many cautions with household bleach - it breaks down fairly rapidly in the container and does not have a long shelf life so you may think you are using the crrect amount but not getting the needed effect. You also need to verify the posted strength of the bleach and make sure any calculations are based on this. An alternative is to use Calcium Hypochlorite granules (for swimming pools). This has the advantage that you can mix up the amount you need for a month or so and then make more when needed so you know the strength. It is very inexpensive this way if you think you will need to continue to use it over a period of time and you can be fairly sure of the effectiveness.
From wikihow here are a couple of paras about both:
Disinfecting: Disinfecting with household bleach kills some, but not all, types of disease-causing organisms. The bleach must contain chlorine in order to work. Don't use scented bleaches, color-safe bleaches, or bleaches with added cleaners. Most household chlorine bleaches have 4-6 percent available chlorine, in which case add 1/8 teaspoon (8 drops) of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water (2 drops per litre), stir it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it. Check the label; if the percentage of available chlorine is around 1 percent, or you don't know what the percentage is, use 40 drops per gallon/ 10 drops per litre; if the percentage is 7-10 percent, use 4 drops per gallon or 1 drop per litre. Double the amount of chlorine if the water is cloudy, murky, or colored, or if the water is extremely cold. If, after sitting covered for 30 minutes, the water doesn't have a slight chlorine odor, repeat the dosage and let sit for another 15 minutes.
Granular calcium hypochlorite: This works in the same way as household bleach. You can dissolve one heaped teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (about 1/4 ounce) in two gallons of water (1 heaped tablespoon or 7g for every 7.5 litres or 1 gram for every litre of water) to make a disinfecting solution. Then add one part of the disinfecting solution to each 100 parts of water to purify.
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 26 Feb 2012 11:27am
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razmichael is correct, there have been a number of threads on this topic. Just type "bleach" in the search box and you will find everything you need to know
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jeffgreef
Member
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# Posted: 26 Feb 2012 12:58pm
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Thanks!
has anyone ever heard that chlorinating the water is bad for the polyethylene water tank and pipes?
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SE Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 26 Feb 2012 01:48pm
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The bleach should be OK in the polyethylene tank and pipes. Bleach is commonly sold in polyethylene containers.
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razmichael
Member
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# Posted: 26 Feb 2012 04:52pm
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Also, unless you plan on using a constant chlorine drip system, you will be adding it, running it through the pipe and then letting it sit. The chlorine will break down fairly quickly in the water. I used to bring drinking water but chlorinate lake water for showers, dishes etc. I now chlorinate if the system has been sitting for a while and then use a filtration system to eliminate bacteria and viruses. Coming from a lake there is the possibility of some interesting viruses (beaver fever etc). The risk from rain water is a bit different.
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 3 Mar 2012 02:49pm
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I'm curious to know what your filtration system is,razmichael?I have a Berky drip filter system but it can only process a couple of quarts of water for drinking and cooking.
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razmichael
Member
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# Posted: 3 Mar 2012 06:01pm
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Hi Rayyy
I have a very basic system with a number of manual steps as we do not really use a lot of water. I have two plastic containers - the first with a basic screen across the top which I pour lake water into (all hand carried from the lake). An outlet on the bottom edge connect to a small 12v pump and then to a Sawyer .02 drip filter. I only rarely use the pump as the drip will normally be enough but if I'm in a hurry then I turn on the pump to force the water through the Sawyer into the main (and clean) storage tank. From here I distribute the water to both a hot water system (eccotemp) and cold water connection with a single slightly larger on demand pump. At some point I may pump water from the lake but for the time being this works fine for our needs. I can still get the water with no power if needed -just dripped through.
The Sawyer .02 is the "best" Sawyer model stopping all viruses but also is slower to drip than the .1 model. I like the sawyer because they have no filters that need to be replaced. If they get plugged up then there is still no risk of contamination and you just do a quick back flow. Down side is that they will not remove odor or color if this is an issue. Normally we end up bringing up drinking water (often frozen) but use one of those Brita filter jugs if the lake water is used for drinking.
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