[pct-l] water treatment - Clorox

[g l]

Campy-
   
  I am impressed with your post.  Getting down to the microbe level and delving into all the biology of it is meritous!  Thank you for the indepth report!  Well done!
   
  Famous communicater???  I had no idea, but I thank you!  And all this time I thought I was just one of the "poster children"  (those with the most posts)!  :-)
   
  Thanks again,
   
  Wheeew

Campy <campydog at verizon.net> wrote:
    Seems that Clorox did add a whitener, but I think its still primarily sodium hypochlorite - it sure smells like it.
  

  The water to be treated which is listed by Clorox is (potable) water, not wilderness water. Organisms which are listed within http://www.clorox.com/products/faqs.php?prod_id=clb don't include any of the protozoa and bacteria which cause our problems in wilderness water.
  

  Problem causers include: Giardia lamblia and Giardia l. cysts, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba, and Taxoplasma cysts (these don't all occur in one location).
  

  In past testing, a few drops of chlorine bleach has had little effect on the resistant cyst stage of Giardia, for example, which is found in stream water. I would expect that this is still true.
  

  Polar Pure is one manufacturer of a kind of treatment based on a nascent Iodine (aqueous) solution, and this works given sufficient dwell time and a water temperature which is not too cold. It is sort of ferocious and can penetrate the hard cyst, killing the Giardia organism. However, this treatment may miss the goal if things don't work out perfectly.
  

  Filtration is an old standby method used for western wilderness water, and this may leave one each Giardia organism present in a liter of water following treatment, or possibly none at all. Recall that no filter guarantees better than 99.9% effectiveness. That's how the one odd organism sneaks through. Fortunately, clinical testing has resulted in the notion that more than one organism is required to cause illness. I visualize that you need a half a dozen or more ingested within a day's water intake, and releasing themselves successfully from their cysts, to become meaningful. It is another matter whether these six will proliferate and make you ill, or fail to attach by their little suction cups to the small intestine and slide right on out.
  

  More can be said, but as is succinctly stated by a famous communicator: wheeew!
  ==^===Campy
www.trailprojects.com click on PCT
www.trailprojects.com/dif_log070805.html for info on PCTA crew
water filtration system

Time spent doing trail work shall not be deducted from your life!
===^==

    On Dec 14, 2007, at 1:44 PM, nosirreeb wrote:

  Note: Clorox changed their formula a few years ago, so you may find old web sites listing differing amounts of bleach to use for purifying water. Below is the current recommendation direct from Clorox.

http://www.clorox.com/products/usage.php?prod_id=clb

Disinfection of Drinking Water (Potable)

When boiling of water for 1 minute is not practical, water can be made potable by using this product. Prior to addition of this product, remove all suspended material by filtration or by allowing it to settle to the bottom. Decant the clarified contaminated water to a clean container and add 8 drops of this product to 1 gallon of water (2 drops to 1 quart). Allow the treated water to stand for 30 minutes. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and allow the water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can then be made palatable by pouring it between clean containers several times.

For cloudy water, use 16 drops of this product per gallon of water (4 drops to 1 quart). If no chlorine odor is apparent after 30 minutes, repeat dosage and wait an additional 15 minutes.


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