I live in a small town and was told last week by the town administrator that there is no emergency electrical backup for the water system, which is pumped from a deep well into a huge holding tank. If the power goes off, the water runs out in less than two days. Now it's less than a month until January and I need a source of good water. Anyone had any experience with the several different water filters available?

-- dixie ray (dixieart@aol.com), December 05, 1999

Answers

Dixie,

We got ours last week. The best and the cheapest price!

http://www.pwgazette.com/gravity.htm

-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), December 05, 1999.

The best for the buck in sterilizing water is bleach so go to http://home.earthlink.net/~kenseger/surv/ and read the article on bleach. Specifically about $15 for 700,000 gallons if you purchase dry bleach. If you have money you can buy one of the various brands of microfiltration filters like the Katadyn or Berkfield either the portable or the drip type. You might want to purchase some aquarium charcoal to make the water taste better, get some coffee filter too to pre-filter the water, and to filter out the charcoal dust post-finishing. There is also iodine based pills or generators like Polar Pure, see the text iodine at my website.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 05, 1999.

The best deal I've found on water filters is the Aquarain filter. Go to my website at www.y2ksurvive.com and click on the Y2K Supplies link on my Water page (I think the Intro page may have a link also). I have one of these filters and am very impressed with it. It's made of stainless steel, not plastic, so it'll hold up forever. Also, it's only $239 (includes shipping) from Y2K Supplies, instead of the $279 and up for a Berkefeld. I think it's every bit as good as the Berkefeld.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 05, 1999.

Dixie,

I just ordered my filter 2 days ago, so you have time. The retailer confirmed it is in stock. I did tons of research, and everything pointed to the Berkefeld. Yeah right, if I have $300!!! The Berkefeld is the one that looks like a coffee pot with 2 to 4 ceramic "candle" filters made by Doulton inside, and an exterior of stainless steel or white plastic. Anyway, I did the research and found the same candle filter , by the same company Doulton, in a siphon style filter, for $41. I am quite relieved. Here is the address, incase you are on a budget similar to mine.

http://www.pwgazette.com/gravity.htm

I'm not sure if you have researched already. So if you have any questions, let me know. But the 4 filter $300 "pot" is good for 60,000 gallons give or take. The tricks to exttending the life are to first run water through a coffee filter so debree dosen't plug the candle filter, and then to rinse the candle from time to time if it looks like it is getting any sediment buildup. The candle core comes in silver (which I got) or silver coated carbon, which I read improves taste but doesn't last as long. I figure I should get about 20,000 gallons outta my $41, if I'm careful.

Now, I'm not a survivalist or employed by the industry, so this is my interpretations of what I read, and you should do your own research and form your own opinions. I just know that with my budget, it was such a relief to find the Doulton product in a rig I could afford!!! Otherwise, I was gonna do the "towel wick" filter then boil for 15 minutes; but I was concerned about running out of gas for my little stove cause again I don't have the monetary resources here on my own to prepare like alot of the folks on this board. I'm happy that I at least found a filter equal in quality (same Doulton filter) as every site I read says this is the best. Yet my siphon rig will require a little more effort in set-up.

Another poster said I could use 2 4-gallon buckets, and drill a hole in the bottom of one to screw in the candle, and then a drain hole in the lid of the other, to build my own "coffee pot" style. With no lidded buckets in my local suburbian hardware stores, and shipping and handling charges, the siphon was a lot less ($6, included in the $41 total).

Hope this doesn't help, cause that would mean you have enough cash not to have to waste time price shopping at this hour. Good luck!

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 05, 1999.

Water filter info click here.

Scroll down the page.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 05, 1999.

PS--some url's to get you started if you wanna research:

This company will throw in a free filter with the purchase of a berkefeld if you say Genesis Radio referred you. They are an online broadcast.

http://www.911water.com/

Some good deals on storage, and will match other online prices. Don't let your town buy all the $89 bags, cause I wanna get one when I get paid on the 15th!!!

http://www.911water.com/

Storage, etc. Great price on water ionizer ($12.75 for 126 gallons). Make sure you leave one for me to order when I get paid on the 15th! But if you store water for an extended "just in case" scenario, then this ionizer helps with taste, maybe as well as bacteria buildup if storing tap?

http://www.survivalunlimited.com/waterstorage.htm

More storage:

http://store.yahoo.com/year2000/waterbags.html

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 05, 1999.

Go to www.sportsmansguide.com to find the IDENTICAL filter used in the Big Berkefield model, but in a made-in-America model called AquaRain. Big Berkey is $279.00 from every single source I've researched. AquaRain from this source is only $229.00 and they have them in stock and ship immediately. Best wishes!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), December 05, 1999.

Dixie,

I suggest that you talk to the town administrator, A.S.A.P. If your tank has 2 days water supply at 90 gallons per person, it would have 180 days at 1 gallon per person. A notice to conserve water is in order.

Also, since water is a rather high priority, if there's a generator in town, it should be made available to keep the tank reasonably full.

Michael

-- Michael (mgentry@prodigy.net), December 05, 1999.

I agree with the first respondant. For my money the $57 dual element setup (A and C) with the standard ceramic 9" and the carbon element after it availale from

http://www.pwgazette.com/gravity.htm

is the smart money way, so I bought 1. May buy a second. This has the advantages of price, allowing the purchase of a backup, plus it is almost impossible to spill or leak the bad water into the good if you are somewhat careful.

Bleach (nor boiling) does not remove anything from the water that does not evaporate away. All it does is chemically and biologically modify it so that hopefully it is less deadly than it was. There are many possible chemical contaminants that will become more deadly when mixed with the chlorine. Plus, the by products of chlorinating bacteria to death are many times carcinogenic. It is always better to filter the water as well as you can before chlorination. As for boiling, the concentration of many contaminants is increased by the process. Most water is much safer to drink after boiling or chemical treatment, but these methods do not solve everything.

As for a water system good for 2 days at 90 gal per person per day stretching out to 6 months, this would not work, and would be dangerous to try. The municipalities water systems all leak. They are designed to leak outward some to eliminate leaking in. If you use so little water, the water in the pipes would become dangerously contaminated in many systems.

-- tree (thetrees@bigfoot.com), December 05, 1999.

Aqua Sun International P. O. Box 2919 Minden, Nevada 89423 USA Phone: 1.775.783.8566 Fax: 1.419.818.8295 http://aqua-sun-intl.com

Portable 12 volt DC and solar powered H2O purification systems.

Godspeed,

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), December 05, 1999.

I also got some from

http://www.pwgazette.com/gravity.htm

good service, price, quality

I got the "siphon" types A & B, plus candle cartridge types C-DS Sterasyl ceramic (Doulton) and C-KX1 block (not granular) carbon.

-- A (A@AisA.com), December 15, 1999.