Best Water Purification System Review and Buying Guide

Is water purification essential for modern survivalists? As human beings, we are 80 percent consist of water. Are you ready to face the consequences? Thousands of people suffer severely every day due to poor drinking water when the concentration of chlorine, bacteria, and other chemicals is health-threatening. Water purification and filtration is the number one issue nowadays. As a genuine prepper, you must know how to filter water to maintain healthy energy. Learn about the best tablets, bottles, and membrane details to find quality solutions and remain secure.

Water is crucial. Almost everyone has a water bottle in their backpacks. And water purification is as well crucial. As the CDC states, roughly 2 thousand youngsters are dying regularly because of diarrheal illnesses, and unsanitary water conditions cause almost 90 percent of these diarrheal deaths. That is nearly 1936 youngsters’ deaths PER DAY due to lack of safe drinking water.

Presently, the biggest amount of these deaths are outside the US, yet these rates are shocking. And purification is crucial as it is the way toward eliminating unneeded chemical substances, biological toxins, suspended solids, and gasses from defiled water.

TOP 4 Best Water Purification Ways

There are various kinds of water purification systems accessible in the market. I will list the most famous techniques below and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

We will discuss everything in details, from a water jug that you fill with tap water and then let the water flow through a replaceable filter cartridge (water filter); to a portable water filter/ water bottle that you can carry in a bug-out bag or backpack and use a syringe mechanism to push the water through the built-in filter. Both of them are helpful in various survival situations. Contingent upon your conditions, you will pick which is best for you and your family.

Yet, the water purification process option you select HAS TO BE ABLE, at a bare minimum, to prevent the water from getting the pathogenic organisms.

Common bugs that can pretty much infect the drinking water include (but are not restricted to) e-coli, cholera, hepatitis, bacteria, giardia, polio, as well as all sorts of exotic proto- and metazoans, which can infect your bloodstream, brain, and bodily organs. You don’t have to study microbiology. You simply need to get that the unfiltered water is dangerous, and water purifiers are important.

The following is a list of the crucial treatments for water just as chemicals you can use to make your water safe to drink.

1 – Boiling the Water: Kill Infections With Warmth

Boiling is a general and most common treatment method for water. Boiling water literally slaughters various bugs, but not each of them. The World Health Organization (WHO) prescribes bringing water to a rolling boil, afterward allowing it to chill off naturally before drinking. The purpose of this is that consumers could eliminate the most common infections, microbes, and microorganisms. Some pathogens must be eliminated by superheating water utilizing a pressure cooker. In any way, boiling water will kill the vast majority of the microbes.

The greatest disadvantage of depending on hot water decontamination is how tiresome it is. To begin with, you need a warmth source. Also, in a crisis, you will not be able to use a stovetop; thus, you have to learn how to make a fire. Then you need to place water into a fire-safe pot and wait until it reaches a full boil. Afterward, you need to allow it to cool before drinking it.

So, despite being useful, boiling is not productive for cleaning loads of water. Boiled water likewise won’t eliminate particulates (for example, poisonous metals). To reduce those, your best choice is filtration (it can be done with water filters).

Here’s a short video on the best way to boil water in the wild with hot rocks:

2 – Eliminate the Impurities and Pollutants of Water

There are a lot of choices for water filtration using water filters, the most common is a ceramic filter. Many of those filters are made with hand pumps, so they are easy to employ. At the same time, they are compact and small enough to keep with you anywhere you’re going. Or wherever place you are staying currently.

Most of these filters capture microscopic particles up to 0.2 – 0.3 micrometers in size. Still, they don’t capture tiny viruses, so you necessarily require chemical treatment if you really strive to be secure!

Activated carbon can absorb many toxins from the water and also improves its taste. In this way, you can frequently find it combined with hand-pump filters. Ceramic or either carbon core combination filters are the TOP common kinds of water filters to use.

The greatest disadvantage of utilizing a water bottle or water pitcher for filtration is the cost of purchasing and looking after them. You need to buy the pitcher/water purifier, yet you likewise need to occasionally replace the filter, and for this, you will have to spend money regularly. In case you’re getting ready for a critical emergency, you’ll need to load up on changeable water filters ahead.

What’s more, the biggest disadvantage to portable filters in the past was their restricted shelf life. Like the replacement problem with the water pitchers, most of these personal filters don’t have changeable filters. Thus, it is a complete waste of money, as you simply throw off the gadget once the filter stops working.

Update: Introducing The Sawyer Mini

I really suggest getting some of the sawyer mini water filters. You may be confused right now – what is a mini-filter? Yes, really, a mini in size but not in volume! It can filter out more than 100 thousand gallons of water!

This small water filter is perfect for traveling and as well would serve great for building a huge-volume gravity water filter at home. So it would be an ideal choice for preppers who already have their stockpiling plan. The Sawyer Mini is so effective due to its built-in device capabilities.

One may use a plain rubber hose to join a Sawyer Mini filter between the storage containers and make large, fully passive gravity filters with one Sawyer Mini. Save 100 dollars VS. traditional gravity water filters!

3 – Eliminate the Waste With UV Light 

UV light cleans the water by causing the development of covalent connections on DNA. This method will prevent the microbes from reproducing. Moreover, UV light does not even kill the bacterias. It basically eliminates their capability of reproduction and re-contamination.

The UV cleaned water needs to be drunk right after the cleaning process. Or it should be placed in light-resistant boxes. This is because regular room exposure to light can reinforce the bacteria to spread. Steri Pen is considered to be the TOP compact UV Light producer. In other words, this strategy will preserve one from getting ill from biological viruses but not particulates or chemical compounds – for the latter. You will require water filters.

Below you can find a video of a working mechanism of a portable UV pen.

4 – Kill With Chemicals

Such halogens as chlorine and iodine are frequently employed to disinfect the water efficiently using only chemicals.

For example, chlorine bleach is accessible to be bought anywhere by consumers. When chlorine is combined with iodine, it kills a huge amount of the usual pathogens found in natural waters.

Another method is water purifying tablets, which use chemicals to eliminate organic contaminants in water, making it safe and clean. Those water purifiers are usually shaped in an effervescent form, just as vitamins, and they dissolve quickly in water. They get rid of the microorganisms by utilizing various chemical elements based on the tablet’s producer. Some tablets use iodine or some other kinds of chlorine, for instance, NaDCC (it can be deciphered as Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate, also known as Sodium Triclosan), to eliminate organisms that may live in the water. Water purification capsules are perfect for packing in a sack or take in a bug-out bag.

Good old Clorox is another amazing choice for water treatment, although you are the one to decide which chemical method to use.

The only thing that may be difficult while using chemical compounds is messing up the proportions. If one will drink some over-cleaned water with lots of chemicals – then he or she may find themselves being poisoned, particularly the youngsters and the older people. Additionally, chemical medicines can not shield water from dangerous particulates, for example, lead. Lead is a metal, and chemical treatment won’t kill it, filtration is your smartest option for eliminating such hurtful particulates.

For what reason is this so essential in survival circumstances?

Since all living creatures need to have drinking water to simply live. People are the same, and it’s been true all through the past and bygone eras. For instance, if you search for areas where human societies have developed and succeeded, you’ll notice they all have 1 thing that defines them: constant and abundant access to safe water. The search for pure and clean drinking water is the driving force for human cultural development. What’s more, when such a water source was found – clans, towns, and urban communities were quickly assembled nearby. A huge group of individuals living in a single location is unimaginable without a huge waterway close by, as human consumption and use of water has enormously high rates.

Let’s look at some examples!

• Egypt’s historical development is inseparably connected to the Nile: its yearly flooding pattern was used to flood crops and give clean drinking water to Egypt’s huge populace.
• Denver, Colorado, was developed nearby the Rocky Mountain snow melts.
• Las Vegas was only founded due to the Colorado River – it created a Lake Mead.
• Phoenix, Arizona, is based on the Salt River.
• Each long-lasting city or town should provide clean water to its residents (and near those cities, there were water sources of big size). And if the amount of water is not abundant or it is contaminated, people will go away.

Despite the statistics above, if numerous individuals live in the same space – there is a huge clean water challenge: sanitation.

People are dirty: we make loads of gross wastes that can, without much of a stretch, contaminate the water we drink. And contaminated water is a huge risk for your well-being.

Indeed, even in the past times, individuals knew the distinction between clean and contaminated water. Soiled water and water of a dirty color tasted terrible. While clean water tasted great, it was a pretty simple observation. Likewise, the fact that the messy water could be damaging to people was basic knowledge. And it was long before the microscope was created!

Individuals need to have clean water every day. Even if you getting water from the well by use of deep well hand pump – you need to purify what you collect. And they consistently will. Yet it wasn’t until the 1850s that the spread of diseases, particularly cholera, was scientifically connected with polluted public water sources. To be precise, John Snow discovered that cholera was connected with a public water source in London.

Alright, I’ve come to my meaningful conclusion, drinking water that is contaminated is terrible for human life. So let’s get down to business and discuss the contemporary situation with water purification and its purpose.

If The Power Grid is Not Working

You need to understand that in case the people would be unable to access a power grid for a long-term period (for example, because of the storm or an EMP attack, and so forth), the water pumps would not work, and the water would not be running with a great flow rate from the taps. This is all because water taps require the water pressure to function properly, as it is the thing that keeps the water flushing through the pipes and out of the taps; nonetheless, water pressure is not a thing that comes out naturally, in the vast majority of cases a mechanical system produces it. Automatic pumps make the water source stream into a huge storage container placed at a height higher than its services. And the name for this water storage container is a water tower. When the water is pumped and collected at this higher elevation, the pressure can work and provide the needed water pressure to the houses with a great flow rate.

The main concern is this: the water pumps are necessarily needed to make this magic happen.

• No power means no water pumps.
• No water pumps imply no water pressure.
• Zero water pressure means no water coming from the water taps.

So if a disaster happens to your neighborhood, the masses who are unprepared for such a condition will be forced to run to the closest water source and gather the water in containers or buckets.

That is the TOP challenge. However, let’s assume you CAN securely acquire water in such a situation. Are you sure this water source won’t make you seriously sick? The right response is no! You’re not sure, and that is the reason why you need water purification and why it’s the key to your survival.

Nowadays, Water Purification Concerns

With the appearance of technologies, we started underestimating tap water. When we turn on the tap, clean water starts flowing. This comfort condition is employed everywhere in our lives, utilized for everything from cooking and cleaning in our homes, to a huge number of mechanical employments.

This comfort is all over the place. We use tap water for cooking, cleaning, washing, drinking, and flushing toilets in our homes:

• As indicated by WaterSense, the average American family of 4 uses 400 gallons of water every day. Overall, roughly 70% of that water is utilized inside the house; the biggest amount of water is spent in the restroom.
• Another fascinating yet barely surprising fact is a statement by the EPA. They state that merely 90% of the world’s water is contaminated in some way.

My point here is that we use a huge amount of water (and drinking water) in our everyday lives, and in a desperate crisis circumstance, you won’t have access even to simple, clean drinking water.

Water Contamination Types

It is important to understand the various types of unhealthy water before discussing the water purification methods.

• The first type is biological contamination. These are the microorganisms, for example, Giardia. This simple small bug may produce intestinal disorders.
• The second type of messy water is called toxic. Toxic means chemical pollution. And toxic water may come from leaky gas or fuel containers flowing into water (e.g., rivers) or entering the water table. Toxic pollution can also come from the corrosion of lead water pipes (remember Flint, Michigan).

I’m not a scaremonger, water is vital and essential for our lives, and we need to realize how to protect our water supply. The purpose of my speech is as per the following: we need to realize how water purification functions if local tap water sources become cut off or defiled.

My Personal Sugestions

It’s frequently proposed you ought to have 3 strategies for fire-starting for wild survival (and it is the bare minimum). All things considered, I accept a similar technique to likewise be applied to water decontamination.

You should plan for different approaches to decontaminate your water for a possible prolonged crisis emergency. Also, in case you stock up a heat source with kindling (you actually should), then you may simply count on boiling after all other attempts have been failed. You ought to likewise reserve chemical medicines. You can either purchase loads of water purification tablets on the web or purchase bleach in mass. Additionally, I truly like the UV alternative to stashing in my survival pack, bug out bag and get home bag.

Below you can find the UV Steri Pen that has a special place in my bug-out pack.

What’s more, if you purchase a Steri Pen (or convey some other gadgets), you’ll additionally have to have access to recharge the batteries. I suggest you look at the Anytime Charge Power Bank Solar Charger.

This sun-based charger is ideal for attaching to your pack and gather the sun’s rays for energy. The Anytime Charge Power Bank is a magnificent piece of survival gear that you can use in everyday life as well.

With every one of these water treatment techniques, you can’t “kill” particulate defilements. You should filter those out, so a water filter is, in any case, required. So in a combo with boiling, chemical treatment, and UV light, the water filter will produce great results. Having every one of these choices will help to give redundancy to most biological hazards and eliminate unsafe particulates as well.

Some Other Water Treatment Suggestions

Other than filtering the water, one should consider storing water and finding water sources in case that you live in a country location. In case you’re in an urban survival situation, you’ll be reliant on the local city water supply – just focus on water storage methods. Another chance to gather water is by building a rainwater gathering system. In case your local administration approves it – it’s a smart arrangement to set up quickly.

If things become disastrous in society, the stocks of abundant, safe water can also suddenly evaporate, and this, in turn, can result in all sorts of risky, dangerous situations.

You don’t want to play with life by consuming dirty water. If the SHTF happens, it’ll be a real problem except if you prepared for it. Here’s your basic activity plan:

• Work on Boiling Water in the Fire
• Buy A Great Water Pitcher or Water Bottle and Buy Loads Of Filters
• Purchase Some Compact Water Filters
• BUy A Great UV Light Pen (and get to know how to restore the batteries for off-grid circumstances)
• Buy Several Bulks of Chlorine Bleach or Purification Tablets

Do these simple steps, and you’ll have the water treatment method covered, for now, tomorrow, and what’s to come.

Remember: Plan, Modify, and Succeed.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ

What are the four methods to purify water?

There are 4 general methods for water treatments:

• Boiling the water. Just boil it to obtain clean drinking water.
• Killing with the UV light is another treatment process used to turn off the reproduction of the bacteria.
• Killing with chemical compounds is needed to eliminate biological contaminants.
• Water filters. The filtration system is used to get rid of the impurities of the water. There are sand filters, gravity filters, and many others. Many filters incorporate an activated carbon because it absorbs all the impurities.

Which water purification method is best?

You can’t simply state what water treatment method is the best out there. I would prefer to outline the most significant ones among them, although it is up to you to decide which one is the best. For heavy metals, reverse osmosis is needed. A water filter is needed to eliminate the pollutants of the water. For regular raw water, the boiling process is needed.

How is the water purified?

There are several methods for water treatment for distinct contamination levels:

• The water filter is used as a water purifier to eliminate impurities.
• For most of the other contaminants, the ultraviolet light, iodine products, and boiling methods would suit
• Chemical compounds are used for killing biological contaminants.
• The reverse osmosis process is another treatment method for water filtration to separate ions from hard water.

All of the strategies are employed to heighten the water quality, but a general treatment system includes all of them at once, so the water would be 100% safe to drink.

Why is purifying water important?

One significant reason for treating water right is not to get sick. Water frequently contains contaminants like a particle, a bacteria, microorganisms, e-coli, green growth, giardia lamblia, infections, parasites, and organisms. These elements are dangerous to the health of people, so make sure to drink only clean drinking water and do the water treatment.