water purification

[1930]

If need be I plan to pull water out of an abandoned well on my property for consumption and whatever. Is it enough to simply boil the water and if so for how long? Thank-you

 

[mikester]

Let the water run for a while and get it tested by your local health unit for bacteria content. You should do that test regularly as a rule of thumb.

 

[oosik]

A rolling boil for one minute will kill anything harmful to man or beast. Remember - this is only necessary for water that will be directly consumed. Washing dishes or clothes - use chlorine bleach and detergent.

I MUCH prefer the boiling water procedure. When people use the chlorine( household bleach ) method they most usually use too much. Nothing nastier than the chlorine after taste in everything.

 

[Sigarms]

A rolling boil for one minute will kill anything harmful to man or beast. Remember - this is only necessary for water that will be directly consumed.

Boiling water is the BEST method to consume water to ensure it's safe to drink, but your first sentence has two factual errors from what I remember. First time in my life my organic chemistry class has been useful:laughing:

That said, I hiked the AT a very long time ago, only had a water purification bottle for water on the go, and never got sick. When in Mexico, always leary of Montezuma's revenge and used the same water purification bottle for water to drink, no issues.

To the OP, not to scare you, but the best method to clense water from any living organism in the water is by boiling as oosik stated.

The best approach IMO if I were the OP is to have the water tested. We live in out in the country in rural NC, and the house we bought was unoccupied for about 8 years. One thing we noticed was the iron build up in or around the sinks and toilets. Had the water tested, high in iron, had a water filtration system installed, and for the last 15 years, water filtration system has worked as advertised. Ultimately, any water you're consuming in a household should be tested to know exactly what you're dealing with IMO.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

A rolling boil for one minute will kill anything harmful to man or beast. Remember - this is only necessary for water that will be directly consumed. Washing dishes or clothes - use chlorine bleach and detergent.

I MUCH prefer the boiling water procedure. When people use the chlorine( household bleach ) method they most usually use too much. Nothing nastier than the chlorine after taste in everything.

Yep...but if it contains sediment, it should be filtered first. My concern with an abandoned well would be some sort of chemical contamination; probably not likely, but possible...and if it's an old dug well, anything is possible.

 

[ponytug]

I think that you want to get it tested. There are things like nitrates and pesticides that don't boil off.

If you plan to use this well, pump it for awhile to get the stagnant water out, and then test the water to see what is in your aquifer. Your local testing group should be able to give you advice on how to pull a water sample, and generally what are issues in your area. (Locally, we have nitrates, perchlorate, and heavy metals as the three leading items after coliform bacteria. Thankfully, not in our water...)

All the best,

Peter

 

[1930]

No way to pump it out right now. Im making a water bailer to lift the water out and will only be used if there is ever a time that we lose electric to power the regular well.

Thanks for the info. Boiling it is.

 

[user.69169]

How deep to water in well?

 

[denchen]

Modern methods other than evaporation, seem to include, placing in a vacuum whilst boiling [boiling temperature is reduced, so saving energy]. high pressure through ultra fine filters, adding chemicals. If the sun is kind in your local area, a little thought and using its power to completely raise the temperature to boiling point or increasing it to save the final cost of the final energy to separate. Using mirrors and an installation on the sunny side of a building would make a lot of difference. The same sun used to make the pure water, may be without care be the same source of heat that makes an ideal breading ground in the storage containers, so a little chemical might be worth considering.

 

[bigtiller]

I think that you want to get it tested. There are things like nitrates and pesticides that don't boil off.

If you plan to use this well, pump it for awhile to get the stagnant water out, and then test the water to see what is in your aquifer. Your local testing group should be able to give you advice on how to pull a water sample, and generally what are issues in your area. (Locally, we have nitrates, perchlorate, and heavy metals as the three leading items after coliform bacteria. Thankfully, not in our water...)

All the best,

Peter

Nitrates here also, it's bad stuff. The water supplier said use it only for flushing toilets and warns that boiling will make it a more dangerous higher concentration.